Sweet Summertime

 Summer is here and it's Susie's favorite time of year, POOL TIME. Susie adores the pool, specifically the Hamilton Pool. 

For the most part, Susie has always loved water, and has had zero fear. She has always liked baths, except for one point in time when she was terrified (we think it was maybe the drain that scared her). 

Baby Susie at the pool!

Susie has always been good about wearing her puddle jumper at the pool. Which I now realize is because she probably likes the compression it provides! We are thankful she likes it, because she will jump into any area, whether we are there or not! She is not afraid of getting her face wet, and will move her arms in a swimming motion. 

Always loves her puddle jumper! 

Susie is a very routined gal. Once you start something with her, you need to expect to spend every waking moment doing that activity. Don't even consider driving past the pool, it won't work in your favor. No, Susie can't tell us when she wants to go to the pool. However, it becomes obvious when her puddle jumper, water shoes, swimsuit, and sunscreen wind up in your lap! 

While at the pool, Susie picks a route, and repeats that route until it's snack time. Her route is different every time. It usually includes jumping in at the same place, climbing out at the same place, or walking to an area of the pool to stand! This year, we are trying to enforce break time. In the past she has been able to stay in the pool during break, but this year we are making her get out! She doesn't always like this idea! 

Daredevil 

When Susie is ready for a snack, she runs to the window, and the concession stand workers wait until we come with money! Most of the time we will give Susie two choices and she will pick what she wants. Sometimes, she helps herself to other people's food. Thank goodness for a small town! 

Swimming calls for a pepsi

Snack time!

Now, being around water is not always a fun time for Susie. She mostly likes her pool, and her pool only. She gets overwhelmed at a new and unfamiliar place. Susie also hates sprinklers, fountains, or water hoses. She cannot stand a shower or a splash pad. If she thinks we are turning the shower head on she gets violent and runs away! She will dip her head in a bucket of water but will not tolerate being sprayed! The best explanation I have for this is that she cannot process the sensation of the water being sprayed on her and it overwhelms her. 

Not so sure about a new pool!

That being said, Susie is quite curious about the shower and will stand outside the curtain while we are in the shower, but doesn't offer to get in! She also has been interested in rain and one night during a rain storm we sat on the porch and she purposefully put her hand in the rain to feel it! This is a huge step for her! 

Doing a rain dance! 

We did have one scary incident at a friend's pool last summer in which Susie jumped into the pool without a puddle jumper. She knew what to do and was headed to the ladder as her dad jumped in to get her. Since she couldn't tell us how she felt, we headed to the ER where they checked her vitals, and all was well. We now put the puddle jumper on as we leave the car, and take it off when we get back in the car seat! 

Thank you for continuing on this journey with us! I have had some people reach out with questions, please don't ever hesitate to ask me anything. We love sharing our story and learning and growing with our friends and family!