Pool III

It's official, Anna is a water rat! Not only does she love to play with water but she also loves to play in the water. We've been going to the town pool quite a bit this summer and each time we go, she kicks and paddles more and more. We've been trying to teach her to close her mouth so she can put her face in the water. In fact, we dunk her a couple of times each session so she can get used to the feeling. She doesn't like it, but amazingly she doesn't scream when she comes up for air. She has caught on to me though and gets a little more agitated when she realizes what's coming next! We only do it two or three times throughout the 45 minutes to an hour that we're in the pool because I don't want to turn her off to the pool altogether. Gratefully she seems to like to put her mouth/face in the water as we swim along, but she still hasn't quite figured out that if she closes her mouth, she won't swallow a mouth full of water!

Yesterday we went to our neighbor's pool, and Dave put her on a raft for the first time. She absolutely loved it. She couldn't get enough of the pool. At one point, she was sitting on the top step kicking away - I think she enjoyed the bit of independence it offered her. Last summer she enjoyed being in the water but really didn't move around at all. This year her improvement from the beginning of the summer to now is remarkable. The only thing she doesn't like is the first minute or so when the pool is a bit chilly, but once she's warmed up, she's willing to stay in for a long time with us. And if the pool is as warm as it has been since we've had such a heat wave, she can't wait to go in. Dave and I are swimmers so we're thrilled that she seems to be following in our footsteps. Hopefully next year she'll be tall enough to stand in the pool, which should make even a bigger difference as far as her swimming and independence in the pool is concerned.