Fun at the Pool

This afternoon at the pool, Julia spent the majority of her time jumping off the diving board.  After a few rounds of jumps, she would then swim over to the shallow lane to hug Madeleine and ask us what kind of jump she should do next.

Madeleine was thrilled with the ability to have some sort of say in Julia's jumping.  And you can see she took her job very seriously.

JULIA: Okay, Madeleine, what sort of jump should I do next?
MADELEINE: (earnestly) TURTLE jump.
JULIA: (laughing) Uhh...turtle jump?  What's a turtle jump?
MADELEINE: Like this: (contorting her body around at weird angles as she tried to figure out, herself, what a turtle jump is.)
JULIA: Well, Madeleine, do you want me to do a pencil jump, a straddle jump, a-
MADELEINE: (adamantly) Turtle jump.

I then decided to offer MY suggestion: a standing dive.  Julia has done them from the diving blocks at the Y, but has not attempted the feat from the much higher diving board at our town pool. 

I didn't think she'd even take me up on my suggestion.

JULIA: Oooookay, I'll tryyyy...but Mom?  If I feel too scared, is it okay if I just jump instead?
ME: Of course.

So off she swam, and guess what she did?  Not a turtle jump.  Not a pencil jump.  Not a straddle jump.  She took the plunge (literally) and did a standing dive!  Maybe not perfect form, but she totally did it:




I managed to get a few seconds of Madeleine flailing around in the water as well to show that she's swimming without touching the ground for support, but she's so spastic and splashy that she started spraying my cell phone as she got closer and I had to divert it out of her aim:




All in all, I'd say it was a successful afternoon at the pool!