Beach Bum(mer)

So the all-important first birthday came and went. Since we're away from all of my friends as well R's growing coterie of teeny friends, we decided to postpone the all-out cake 'n balloon celebration to later in the month. Instead, we marked the day with R's first visit to the beach.

R is total water baby since birth. He adores bath time and the mere sight of a tap causes him to dissolve into delighted squeaks. So, we figured, this would be treat for him - water as far as the eye could see and permission to splash away! But, as I have learned before, Fate and babies always have other plans.

We got to the beach just as the sun was preparing to set in all its orange glory. (I swear I heard music playing in my head thinking of how perfect the setting was for this momentous event). But the moment the first wave neared the lovely golden sand we stood on, sonny boy burst into loud, sobbing wails. Get a load of that! The water baby!? Here I was, all armed with a camera to capture that first touch of water, and R clung to me for dear life, staying doggedly turned away from the water. Something about the ocean had upset him enough not to give his darling water a chance!

With a lot of pacifying and coaxing, I got him to sit a fair distance away from the water in the sand. Once the pressure to like the ocean was off him, R spent a considerable time fingering the sand, curious about how it slipped through his chubby little fingers, enjoying the feel of it. He made sure I didn't move an inch away all the while, or so much as step towards the water. I wondered, just then, if I push him to do what I assume he would or would not prefer, messing up his own simple system of like and dislike. There did not have to be a logic, a need or reason to not like something. What is, is.

Persistent mommy that I am, I took him to the beach again the next day, in a totally different setting - bright warming sunlight, squealing children and no mention of water. I eased towards the water as I spoke to him, distracting him with other sights, and as I bent with him, tiny toes dangling, to a wave petering out, I was awarded with a tentative smile. We spent a good fifteen minutes dipping into waves this way, not moving from our station, letting the waves kiss our feet if they made it that far.

Whew, he could get to like it after all. In his own time.

And Mommy gets another lesson in taking.it.slow.and.easy.



p.s. Since there would be all too many A's in this set of mommies, I decided to opt for an R to stand for my A ;)