Fear of water is a funny thing. We went to Shawn and Lacey’s apartment tonight to go swimming in their pool. This is the first time this summer that Landon’s been at a pool. We’ve gone to the creek a few times to dip our toes in and throw rocks, but no swimming. Last summer he really didn’t want anything to do with the water. Sometime around 1 1/2 years old something clicked and he had a huge fear of water. He was ok with the bath, as long as the water wasn’t going into his eyes or on his head. He never had a traumatic experience or anything that would warrant a fear, he’s just been very cautious and timid. We tried several times last year to expose him, but the most that got wet was his toes.
I really wasn’t expecting him to get into the pool today. He was super excited about it and was all he could talk about for the last few days. He made it to the first step, and even put his legs over the edge to splash Daddy and Uncle Shawn. At one point he was ok to “fly” in the water while Brad was holding him, but once he made contact with the water he wanted out. I’m really proud though at the progress he made. I honestly believe that the best way to get him ok with the water is frequent positive exposures to the pool that are fun and not pushing his comfort zone too much. I think that from the progress I saw today that he may not be a fish by the end of summer, but I think that he’ll be much more comfortable and willing to get into a pool.