Go For The Gold....or Yellow

I was pregnant all through the summer of 2003 with Lael.

It gets very humid in the summer here in DC so I went to the pool whenever I could.

I always bopped around the water and Lael would kick and punch and I knew then that she would be a swimmer.

Right after she was born I would soak in the tub and I would sit her in a bouncy chair next to the tub.

She would squeal and cry and I couldn't figure out what she wanted.

She wanted in. So I put her in. She smiled and cooed and all was well.

As she got older she loved to take baths and splash. I started to dunk her head and she never once cried.

I took her to the pool almost everyday when she was about 8 months and she was in heaven.

By the time she was 2 she was jumping into the the 3ft pool with a life vest and floating on her back. She could put her own face in the water and never got scared.

By 3 she was swimming in the Junior Pool alone with a life jacket but was determined to get it off.

By 4 she was jacket free and swimming underwater, jumping in and having a great time.

Now that she's 5 she is moving on up. At our base pool you start off with a red band which means you have to be either in the baby pool or junior pool. You can be in the big pool but only with a life jacket. We have cool water slides there but red bands can't wear them this year.

Lael got to slide last year so with the rules changed she wasn't very happy to see her friends slide without her.

Last weekend she took the "test" to see if she could move up. She did well but not good enough. She does not give up easily.

Yesterday I watched as she stared at the big kids slide down and she bopped around with her life jacket while they had all the fun.

I pulled her aside and convinced her to re-take her test. She protested that she couldn't do it and I reminded her that I don't like to hear I can't. She needed to keep trying, never give up.

So she did try again. She passed. And then the pictures tell it all.














My kid rocks!!