Water and bonding.

SS's love of water has an added benefit, strengthening our bonding. Although she must wear a PFD at the water park, and loves to be on the water solo, we do our best to keep her between us. Yesterday, I took SS into the lazy lagoon while P was at work. Yep, she got water play twice in one day. SS was out of sorts because her Baba was not there, and requested to sit in the inner tube with me. I had her facing me, and it was a tight fit (the PFD adds a lot of bulk to her tiny frame). We spent about 45 minutes floating around, singing, practicing ABCs and numbers, and just being silly. SS was very comfortable and rarely broke eye contact. That did not stop her from asking for her Baba non stop. SS actually requested to leave the water ("Mama, out, NOW.") and pointed towards her stroller. When we got there, she looked all over for her Baba.

After a failed attempt to get her to play in the kids area, SS whined and said "home." She associates water time with her Baba and does not enjoy herself if he is not there. There's an exception, the love of her life, JJ. P was sad that SS did not enjoy herself, but I reminded him that it was a good sign. A sign that the steps we have taken due to our concerns about her attachment are working. It's a PITA to have SS wear hats indoors, keep her from touching and being touched, and have ignorant souls questioning our judgment and the validity of our concerns. But the pay off, no matter how small, brings such peace to us.

The other positive aspect of having a water freak is swimming. With SS's issues, handing her over to a swimming instructor would not have been an option. We are fortunate that P has the training and experience to teach his daughter. Although I was a bit hesitant about taking part in the "teaching," I am not only enjoying myself, but building trust with SS. Swimming is such a great way to bond. SS is helpless in the water (she has yet to get that memo), and must rely on us and trust us to keep her safe. Who knew there was fun to be had in this process?

SS is now swimming a longer distance between us, and the day before yesterday began to raise her head out of the water when she gets close to us. Now we wait for her to raise her head before we pick her up. On that same day, she also gave us a scare. Before we headed to the pool, SS was watching a video of her favorite twin sisters from China. One of the girls (only 3) was diving into a pool head first (wearing a PFD). We did not think much about it at the time. Later, when SS was jumping into the pool, she went in head first, and that took us by surprise. Geniuses that we are, we were wondering where she got that from. SS is very lucky that she is not saddled with our defective DNA. The funny thing is that SS is rather tentative about jumping in and must hold our hands. She is such a beautiful walking contradiction.


The Abus are ready for SS's visit. How come she gets a chair and we don't? They even bought her a doll. It appears that they are determined to make a girl out of my fabulous tomboy. Thank you Abus for thinking about SS's comfort.



Meet P, the fashion dude:

When I asked him if he was experiencing temporary blindness, he shrugged and said "it's comfty." Gotta love him, but he is not leaving the house like that.