Confession time. I am absolutely engrossed in the Olympics
right now. Feel free to chant "U.S.A." with me for approximately the
next two minutes so that you can really get the patriotism flowing. I'm setting
the timer on my watch right now. Don't worry, I'll still be here when you're done.
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| See Ricky Bobby Celebrate America? Celebrate America with Ricky Bobby. |
Oh good, you're back. Anyway, as I said, I've been totally
keyed in on the Olympics. It's funny because I really have no recollection of
ever paying much attention to them before the 2010 Games held in Vancouver.
Since then, the Games have always kind of been something to look forward to and
get excited about in the Holt household. Side note, I don't know if this is
controversial or not, but I totally prefer the Winter Games to Summer. Anyone
else feel that way?
Anyway, with all of the Olympics talk in our home right now,
it's possible little Ellie has begun to feel left out. She doesn't
really have the strong attention span to just sit and watch for hours on end
like her lazy, good for nothing father. She's also not really big enough yet to
participate in any of the typical Olympic disciplines. Therefore, she has had
to be creative and institute her own personal Games. Today, especially, was big
for her as Ellie chose to compete in three different sets of events. And with
that, I proudly declare the 2018 Baby Olympics to be open!
We started with our first event this morning at 10:00 am, held
at the Park Hill Aquatic Center: Water Babies. Now, I should probably add that
no medals are being contested in this event. Instead, we're simply looking for
some semblance of moderate proficiency in staying afloat. Guess what, Ellie did
just that.
Now, not only did she stay afloat but she's improved
spectacularly over the past couple of weeks. Whereas she was nervous and timid
initially, Ellie has since channeled her inner dolphin and was happily cruising
through the water, moving both her arms and legs to perfection. Don't worry,
I'm still holding onto her at all times. The girl even was willing to turn her
head sideways and submerge her ears in the water!
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| Did you know there's no set age limit to compete in swimming in the Olympics? |
With Ellie recording an amazing 9.5 in the Water Babies
competition, it was onto the second event: Competitive Dusting. I should lead
with the fact that I absolutely DID NOT put a rag in my daughter's hands and
tell her to go dust. Basically what happened is following our lunch, I grabbed
a washrag to clean off Ellie's face and the table in front of her. Then I
grabbed the broom and dustpan and went to work cleaning the floor. While I was
doing that, Ellie helped herself to the washcloth and began assisting me in my
cleaning by wiping stray bits of food off her high chair.
Honestly, I figured Ellie's help would stop there but I was
mistaken. Instead, I sat back and watched my daughter tear across the living
room and kitchen cleaning anything and everything in sight with her trusty
washcloth. Kitchen chairs, the couch, her rocking horse, the carpet, our oven,
the dishwasher, the radio, the front windows. The list can go on and on. I'm
serious. Ellie even cleaned my feet with said washrag to polish off her run
with a mean 9.2 score.
Following Ellie's wild cleaning spree, I decided that just
as Mikaela Shiffrin had to pull out of the Super-G competition to avoid
exhaustion, it was time for Ellie to take a brief respite from the Games with
an afternoon nap. So take a nap she did. Of course, it was on top of my chest
while Daddy happily took a break from the Baby Olympics with some real Olympics
but who's being picky.
Once Ellie awoke from her rest, it was time for us to travel
to Platte Purchase Park for the final event: Jungle Gym Obstacle Course. Unlike
most obstacle courses where the route is carefully laid out for you, in this
version, the route is at the discretion of the athlete, or you know, Ellie. Over
the next forty minutes, Ellie would tear across her own personal obstacle
course. She wrangled the rope bridge, scaled some mean stairs, and successfully
flew down the slides, averaging a score of 9.7 for the afternoon. In all honesty, this was the first time for Ellie to continually get
herself to the top of a slide and down successfully so it was a blast to watch
her play.
As you can see, the Olympic Baby Games were a rousing
success. While Ellie didn't gain any medals for her day, that's not due to a
lack of success. It's more due to the fact that Daddy simply didn't have any
medals to award her. However, that's probably a reflection on my lack of
preparation more than anything. #DaddyWrite
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