Jack was totally adorable at the beach yesterday morning, but he is still not ready to actually go in the ocean. When we stepped onto the sand from the parking lot and he could see and hear the waves (when I stepped onto the sand – I was holding him), he immediately said, “No.” He let me put him down so I could lay out the mat, and then he took to the sand right away (which surprised me a little).
He seemed perfectly content to play right there, and I certainly wasn’t going to push the water thing, not on our first trip to the ocean since September.
Then Emily, Sean, Graham, and McKenna arrived, and guess who wanted to see what everyone else was doing in the water? Turns out peer pressure DOES work. A little.
Once he saw the others playing in the waves, he decided it was okay to at least investigate this craziness going on where the beach ended. We walked into the very edge of the surf (Jack was wearing water shoes). The water was FREEZING, and it was still foggy and pretty chilly out, but that didn’t seem to bother him. A few baby waves got him in the knees, and after about a minute, he’d had enough. “Hold up, this isn’t the bathtub. Up-up! Up-up!” I squatted down to his level for a little bit, but that wasn’t safe enough for him, so up he went. The ocean is SO much more enjoyable from four feet off the ground.
And that was pretty much that. Voluntarily walking into the surf is a HUGE step after last summer’s timidness and this past winter’s reluctance to swim in the pool. We’ll have to see what happens the next few times.
momma Betty
Bit by bit. So many new experiences. But just putting him into that adorable outfit is enough Pat finds the cutest things. Wet sand is not my favorite thing but I’m glad he likes it.
I’m sure I’ve told you about my first big disillusionment. I was 4 years old–May 1952–and my parents took their first real vacation, driving all around the coast of Florida. It had a justifiable reason since my father had been offered a job in Pensacola with DuPont, building what’s now the big Monsanto plant. And they had never been to Florida. I think they had just bought a slightly used 1949 Oldsmobile 88, my father’s pride and joy, and this was a good chance to let it out.
Anyway, from the start, all they talked about was the ocean and the waves and how beautiful it was going to be. As we started down the east coast, we must have been driving along A1A because I could see the ocean and the beach from the car. I was so excited, couldn’t wait to jump into those frothing waves. So much fun!
Until I stepped into those swooshing, frothing waves that looked like bathtub suds, and they knocked me over, salt water in my eyes and nose. I couldn’t stand up! I probably weighed no more than Jack does now, but without his solid base. Huge disappointment. So much for those fun frothy waves.