We were really excited for one of our 30 Things to include blowing up the kiddie pool that G'ma Grover bought for Hollie during her stay earlier this month, dressing Hollie in a cute hand-me-down swimming suit from her cousins (Thanks, Sarah!), and watching this little water baby soak in some tepid hose water with real room to splash around (the kind of room that her little baby bathtub just doesn't accommodate).
However, as soon as David started spraying water into the pool, Hollie tensed up. She's started to become really tender and sensitive to people and things that have never bothered her in the past. If a friend comes over and even looks at Hollie, it is enough to send her over the edge. Her lower lip will jut out and quiver, and her whole face will scrunch up into fear. It has made getting a babysitter very problematic. Although Hollie warmed up to both of her grandmas after they spent the night (something about showing up again at breakfast in pajamas makes you family), it seems a little out-of-control to ask someone to spend 48 hours with us non-stop so that they can then babysit for us for a couple of hours. Poor little girl. She has inherited her mom's worrywart gene.
She also hates the vacuum, the red-winged blackbird toy that makes a real red-winged blackbird chirp when you squeeze it, the dryer when it makes clunking noises, and the garbage disposal. She also hates it when I go outside and wave hello to her through the window while I check the mail. She'll laugh nervously and then break immediately into tears. Poor, poor little girl.
However, Hollie loves bath time. If she is ever in a terrible mood, a bath will almost immediately make her all smiles and goofiness again. She loves to splash, and she is inventive in different ways to get her parents all wet. I've spilled water in her eyes, even soapy water in her eyes, and I'm pretty sure she even got straight shampoo in her eyes once, but she's never complained about it. She loves being in the water.
But this baby did not like her swimming pool. No sirree. Not one bit.
But since Dave and I are scoundrels, we still managed to enjoy watching her tentatively touch the toys that had been in the water and then immediately revert back to panic mode as soon as we tried to place her hands, feet, or bottom into the pool itself. We'll have to try it again another day.
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| Hesitant, but still curious. |
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| After stepping into the water, she decided that this was definitely not for her. Absolutely not. |
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| Look at the distrust in her eyes. Seven months old and already questioning her parents' judgment. |
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| Feeling a little safer with Dad; still incredibly concerned for Dad's hand, however. |
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| At this point, her fear transformed into something more akin to revulsion and disgust: "You've got to be kidding me. You think that duck is going to trick me back into that wet plastic trap?" |
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| She lasted in this position for about twenty seconds. She absolutely did not feel safe being even within eyesight of this thing. |
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| Safe at last, but very disgruntled. Cute, though. |
Or,
Thing #22: Blow Up Hollie's First Pool and Fill it with Tepid Water and Make it Look Really Awesome and Fun and Soak Our Own Feet in it While Our Child Looks on in Terror = ACCOMPLISHED!
P.S. While I was in the middle of writing this blog about how cowardly our baby girl has become, the little scamp adventurously found herself stuck under the couch, a place even I am not bold enough to explore.
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| If she's this good at exploring new territory by moving around backwards, we're in real trouble once she figures out how to move forwards! |
8 comments:
We're not bird nerds, but we have red-winged blackbirds living in the marsh behind our house. We identified it by it's call before we actually saw one. We love them and the little baby killdeers that are never far from their mamas.
Kids are so weird. We live on a busy avenue next to a fire station and a subway right beneath us and Edie is constantly intrigued by all the noises. She seems to freak out if we take her to quiet places.
I don't know if it's environmental or kids just programmed because of who they already are.
The best photo is her struggling.
That bathing suit is so cute but is definitely not for a one year old. Lina's bday is only 2 weeks after Hollie's so she was the same age when I tried to squeeze her into it and it was cutting off her circulation. I was so irritated b/c I had just bought it! For some reason with babies bath loving does not translate into pool loving. I think it has to do with being outside and the water being cold. And pool loving does not equal beach loving. When the kids were little we all rented a beach house and we had to buy an inflatable pool and haul it down to the beach and fill it with water from the ocean b/c Faith would do that but she WOULD NOT do the beach. Kids are nuts.
James, I know what you mean. Hollie will wake up to a loud footstep at the house, but she slept like a log at the bowling alley. It's impossible to know what noises (or lack thereof) are going to set her off. But I kind of love the unpredictability of babies, especially the unpredictability of what is going to make them laugh. Getting accidental laughs out of her is the best.
Sarah, an inflatable pool filled with ocean water at the beach is just about the best thing I've ever heard. That's hysterical.
Ha ha funny little Hollie. She looks so cute in her swim suit and by the end of summer she will love her pool. Emily you didn't swim in yours until you were about a year old. Love the under the couch picture. Miss you all!!
I love the picture of Dave and Hollie! Typical that she loves baths but hates the pool. I love seeing the pool set up on the porch--my sister used to say, "You're set up your pool in the SHADE? Don't your kids get COLD?" Not in Texas, baby.
Love the bathing suit! My David is the same with new people!! The other day I sat down with him and MADE him like a binky, and it has solved most of our problems. he is like a new child. Sleeps longer, isn't as afraid of people or being alone in a room...although we haven't vacuumed in weeks because he freaks out (same with the blender and loud sneezing). I can't wait to see if he will like the pool, though. i hope he doesn't freak out!
I love her expression in the pool pictures! She is a cutie!
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