Swimming & trucks

I know it's only noon, but so far today 2 really cool things have happened that I want to put down.

Today, for the first time in a long time, Max had fun in the pool!

When we first started swimming, Max loved it but lately we've been going through a period of clingy-ness in the pool. I thought it was because the pool might be a little bit cold, as he loosens up in the therapy pool that is slightly warmer. So of course I was worried when I went in today and Jacoline was checking the water temperature. It was a couple of degrees cooler than usual, so I just figured we would go in briefly and then go into the therapy pool. But no, Max played at the edge (mostly in knee deep water) for 20 minutes, "brrrrrmmm"-ing the boat around the tiles. When he wanted up, we went in and swam around for a bit in the deeper water.

Of course we swam over to visit the class in the big part of the pool and Max kicked and jumped and wasn't the usual monkey clinging to his mum. He went down the little slide a few times and smiled as we splashed in the water. He jumped in and went under the water, getting his hair wet, sputtered a little, but smiled and hugged me. I like to think it was a hug and not Max digressing back to being a monkey, especially because he had a big smile on his face! Yay Max!

We played around in the water jumping and spinning around as Max kicked his feet... we counted 1-2-3 and then jumped out of the water. There were a ton of giggles and laughing, it was great! I'm so glad that I've continued to go to the pool with Max every week.

After the adventurous morning we had at the pool, I thought Max would be ready for a nap, but all he said in the car then entire way home was "truck, truck, trucks". The minute we walked in the door, he was looking for his trucks. He usually can't resist coming up the stairs, but the trucks won out. So, rather than try to separate Max from his trucks, I brought them all upstairs and put them in the crib. It was so cute watching max in the crib with his trucks. I was expecting him to say "up" at any minute, but he just laid down and "brrrmmm"-ed his trucks around. I asked him to put his head down, which he did, as he kept his hands on both his trucks. I left him playing with his trucks, thinking that eventually, I may need to take them away, if I expect him to get any rest. I told him it was time to sleep, and closed the door as I left.

I came downstairs and did some cleaning up, expecting to hear some yelling or at least "brrrmmm"-ing, but I heard nothing. So, I snuck up and slightly cracked the door open to see Max fast asleep, with his trucks in the opposite end of the crib. Yay!

Why is this so remarkable? In my head, I was thinking that Max should not be bringing toys into his bed, it's not a place to play. I was also thinking that I would have to take away his trucks and that he would probably have a tantrum, especially with it was already passed nap time. I was already dreading that I was going to have to do something to make us both unhappy because that is what I am "supposed" to do. And of course the usual... what would a "good mum" do? heheehee.

I'm so glad that I chose to do what I did. It made the morning, and now the afternoon, a much more pleasant experience for both Max and myself.