Beach progress

When we were up in Manistee for the July 4th holiday we went to the beach and I figured that would be the time when Mason would venture into the water. I thought with his sister and his cousins swimming that would be the time for him to go. Nope. He wouldn't go near the water. The next week we went to the beach down the road from our house and he started playing in the water. He never ventured in pretty far but he started jumping the waves and once he fell down he would lay down in the shallow water. I was amazed that in just a week he had made that change.

We also started swim class that next week at an indoor pool and he was about 50/50. Half the time he was screaming/crying with a death grip on his teacher's bathing suit or he was OK to make it without screaming in the class for a small bribe (a new skull t-shirt). He never did ENJOY the class and we'll leave it at that.

We went to visit Mike's parents again last weekend and pretty much spent ALL our time at the pool. Mason was warming up to swimming (with a death grip on you), jumping off the side of the pool (to you) and going underwater on the steps. Pretty much where he has always been for skill but starting to get a little braver.

Today we went to the beach again and the sand was so stinking hot on the walk down the dune that I literally thought we had burned our feet. The kids were crying (I was almost too). We went straight for the water to cool our feet off. I then started setting our stuff down, got my chair out, started reading... when I look up and see Mason wading pretty far out in the water. I bring out his swimmies and tell him he can't go that far out unless he's wearing them. He hasn't really worn them in the water before so he instantly starts putting up a fight and whining. After some discussion (and I believe a threat to throw him in the lake) he agrees to put them on. After they're on he's standing there just scowling at me and I say, "well, go try them out". He stomps off still scowling and after a few minutes I see him smiling. I return to my beach chair and look out to see him swimming and floating! Next thing you know I have to get up every few minutes to yell out to Mia AND Mason that they're going too far out and need to swim closer to shore. What? When Mike got done with work he met us at the beach. I saw him coming down the dune and pointed to Mason who had taken off running back into the water. He wanted to show Daddy how he could swim and proceeded to swim out into the water. I think Mike was a little shocked seeing how that only last week if you showed Mason a noodle/inner tube/etc. he would have just started screaming. We've made big progress this summer and I can't wait to go back to the beach again.