Icing on the Cake

~89~

That night, Calum and I saw on the news that the next few days were going to be very warm, record warm for Sydney winters. We decided this would be a good chance to start teaching the twins to swim.

We brought up the idea to Julia. She said that she thought it was a good idea. She also mentioned she liked to swim a lot.

We took the twins shopping that morning for some swimwear. We also bought them pool toys and a few new outfits as well.

We waited the appropriate hour after lunch before swimming, then we all changed into swimsuits and went out to the pool. We put little water wings on both of the twins.

Staying in the shallow are, we tried to coax the twins into voluntarily walking into the pool using the steps. Anastasia voluntarily walked in, but slowly, and only with Calum sitting right there. Adam was clearly scared.

Neither myself nor Julia could coax Adam into the water. We decided to get a little aggressive with our approach. Together, Julia and I both lifted him by an arm, and we place him gently on the first step.

The water went up to just about his hip, and I anticipated him to freak out. He hesitated for a minute, then relaxed. He didn’t have much of an expression.

Knowing how Adam was, it would take him a few minutes to get comfortable in a new situation, but then he would get really comfortable quickly. He then started to lean down on the first step. I sat down on the first step, letting my legs go down the others. As he sat down, I held onto his hand.

After another minute of letting Adam get comfortable, he let go of my hand. I got to the bottom step where the pool floor started, and I put my knees on the ground. The water went to a little below my neck as I leaned down.

Julia said something to Adam in Ukrainian about swimming with your sister. I looked over to see Calum swimming in the middle of the pool between the shallow and deep area, with Anastasia on his back, laughing.

Cautiously, Adam leaned forward, and I put my hands out to support his body, while still letting him decided where to go. He kicked forward, and he came up to me. He could no longer reach the bottom, and he was clearly scared by that.

I didn’t let him go. He leaned up to me and gently put his arms around my neck/shoulders.

Notes