Monday, June 14, 2021

Spoken Word

Inspirational song: Words (Missing Persons)

Holy crap it was hot today. Tomorrow will be worse. It was my intention not to do anything or go anywhere during daylight hours. I wanted to sit under a fan, and let wet hair keep me cool as long as it was able. We are still in the honeymoon with the solar panels, and I find myself reluctant to use anything that draws a lot of electricity yet. Thus the portable air conditioner remains put away in my closet, despite the uncomfortable heat wave gripping the west right now.

Mid afternoon came around, and I was lured over with a promise to float in a cold pool with the cutest little girl in town. I waited until around 5, so the sun wouldn't be blazing overhead, and I went where I was beckoned. We chatted a bit when I arrived, about the yard project and the trials and tribulations of getting this pool set up correctly. I held Val for much of this time, and while the others were in conversation among just the adults, she and I communicated with the syllables and sounds she likes. Then I turned our attention to the water next to us, and asked her to say "pool." It took her a few tries to get the vowels right, but she went through "pah" and "peel" and at least twice said "pooool." I do not feel like her father and grandfather gave enough weight to the advance in language that occurred. That kid said the word I asked her to!

She and I changed into swimwear and got in the water. She got set into a cool floatie, while I had to navigate an awkward ladder that doesn't fit this pool. Amazon was sold out of the right size ones, so in the short term, I may take over my spare set of stairs from the hot tub. The water was brisk, but eventually I eased all the way up to my shoulders in it. Val floated around, and we had a grand time for about half an hour, until I started worrying about her being too cold for too long. I don't remember how long babies are generally safe in 85 degree water, so we got out and sat on the deck in towels. Red towels, that is. We discussed how towels were red, grandma's swimsuit was green, the pool was blue, and the handle on her bottle was pink. She never repeated any of these for me, but she did seem to be listening. I took her inside when I was ready to be dressed again, and I tried to take her picture. She was like a dog, refusing to stay still for the picture. Instead she moved up to my phone every time, wanting to grab it and play with it. I wanted full-length pictures of her walking. She wanted the phone camera so close, all we would see would be nostrils. She's still cute, though, even from too close.

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