First week of swim team [check]

Phoebe just ran up to me and said, "Mom, can I...actually, not you!"

And then she ran down the hall and said, "Dad, can I play Minecraft?"

She knows precisely who to ask for what. And she's brave about asking about things as well. 

*****

At swim practice this afternoon she noticed the team manager getting out some freezies when we were walking toward the restrooms.

"I want a pop'skull!" she sang. 

"Those are for the kids..." I said (like the dream-dasher that I am). 

"I am a kid!" 

"Oh, she can have one," said Ms. Julie (the team manager/popsicle lady).

The popsicle was well-deserved. Phoebe has spent hours at the pool watching the kids this week. To be fair, she's also spent hours in the pool this week. We've gone early before practice every day, then have sometimes sat through practice—and through stroke-and-turn clinics—to swim after practice as well. 

Phoebe snagged her popsicle after the youngest group of swimmers (including Zoë and Alexander) were finished. When Benjamin's age group finished she tried to get a popsicle then, too. 

"You already had a popsicle," I said. "You don't need another."

"But I can always ask!" she said—and she tried to, too!

I successfully stopped her, though (see—dream dasher). Her swimsuit was another victory for me today. She got this super cute swimsuit as a hand-me-down last year. It checks very few of my boxes as far as swim safety goes (that is, it's not very visible in the water), but it's a two piece, which makes going to the restroom a breeze, and it was free (always a good thing), and it's got ruffles on the bum (and I'm always loved a good bum-ruffle). It's a super cute suit.

She agreed to try it on and things were just fine until she decided that...they weren't. 

"I tan't wear this to the pool!" She began begging as we were leaving the house. "Please, Mom! Please let me change into a wimsuit that is actually cute! Please! I just want one that is actually cute!"

We managed to convince her that it was fine after discovering that her real issue was that she did not feel okay about the bottoms. She's always had swimsuits with shorts on them, so she felt like these were just underwear and...was not sure she was comfortable with that. 

So many people told her that her swimsuit was cute today, though, that I think she's convinced it qualifies as cute.

Here she is trying on one of the kids' swim caps:

She wants to be a "rabid barratuda" so bad!

And here she is trying on Mommy's sunglasses. I told her they'd probably make everything look funny (they're prescription), but she said they were just fine. So either she has no idea what she's talking about or we need to get her eyes checked.

And here she is swinging on the new swing at the pool playground:

We've spent hours swinging and sliding here this week!

And, as a bonus, here is Zoë testing out her giant beaded gecko (made out of pool noodles). Hers is named "Noodle," and Alexander's is named "Gecky." They're very creative with names.