Learning to Love the Big Pool

Nathan and I have been going to the city pool 2-3 times per week this summer.  My neighbor asked me, "Are you trying to turn him into a fish?"  Well... yes.  Nothing says "summer" to me like the combo of sun and water.  Preferably at the beach, but the pool comes in at a pretty close second.  So in the best interest of fun summers for years to come, I want Nathan to love the water just as much as I do.  Plus going to the pool gets me and Nathan out of the house and helps pass the time while Brian's at work.

The city pool we go to has a splash pool, where Nathan and I usually spend most of our time.  It seems that every time we go, we have at least one little kid (usually a little girl) that decides Nathan is going to be her new pool friend.  From the little girl, probably 3, who just wanted to sit next to Nathan and stare at him, to one going into 3rd grade that kept saying "Nathan's so cute" and "I'm going to call him 'Mr. Tongue' because he always sticks his tongue out."  As Nathan is usually interested in what the big kids are doing, he tends to enjoy the special attention. 

However, even with the big kids to watch and the toys I bring for entertainment, eventually Nathan bores of the splash pool.  So we strap on his life jacket and head for the big pool.  They now have slightly smaller life jackets then the one Nathan was wearning at the beginning of summer, but they are still pretty large on him, which I think is part of the reason that Nathan seems resigned to our time in the big pool.  He mostly likes to stay on my hip, but sometimes will be ok with me holding him under his arms right in front of me.  We practice going underwater, and he sputters and kicks and looks at me like "what in the heck do you think you're doing to me!?!"  But anything more daring then that would make him unhappy, not that he was actually happy to begin with.  That is, until this past Saturday. 

I'm not sure what the difference was, but finally Nathan was enjoying the big pool!  He was looking all around and smiling.  Then he saw something that made him giggle!  I was able to hold him by the life jacket at arms length, and he was happy!  We spun, we splashed, we laughed, we blew raspberries at each other.  We had a great time!