beach

We had a major breakthrough at the beach yesterday.  Like, BIG.

Are you ready?

Jack – wait, I don’t feel like you’ve prepared yourself enough.  I’ll give you another few seconds.

Okay.

Jack played in the water.  For reals.  He was hesitant to go in at first, but he was willing to take one slow step at a time in, his back up against my legs and his hands in mine, all the way up to mid-shin.  Then he scrambled to get up in my arms, but from there, he pointed imperiously out to sea.  “Mama, DAT!”  So I did.  We waded out together, John close behind, until I was waist deep and waves were splashing us both.  He kicked his legs and splashed with his hands, laughed when waves got him in the face (He LAUGHED!  He still wails when we get water in his face in the bathtub!), and giggled when we spun him around in circles with his hands trailing in the water.  When he got too heavy for both of us (we were taking turns holding him), we went back to where he could stand, and he marched and splashed and played, and it was like he was a whole different kid.  And he protested getting out of the water!  I promised him we would come back after the holiday weekend, and he agreed to come out.

What a nice surprise.

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.