Our Little Tadpoles

With the exception of one time, we haven't gone swimming as a family all summer because Dace seems to be afraid of the water. This was something ww wanted to overcome quickly for several reasons but wanted to go about it the right way so as not to create some childhood phobia. For the long weekend, we went to Charleston Sunday night for an overnighter and stayed at the Sheraton, which has an indoor/outdoor pool. After dinner, we went swimming. Dace threw an absolute fit when we tried to put him into his swimmer diaper. So we resorted back to his diaper then headed for the pool. He was excited at first and went in with Daddy but then got scared, started crying and ran to sit on the couch. I headed in with Zade and the 3 of us swam around, talking to Dace and trying to gently coax him in. He was watching Zade and was soon laughing at the fun Zade was having. So I went and sat beside him and suggested we sit on the edge with out feet in. He agreed and had a blast sitting there kicking in the water. Then he progressed to sitting on the top step, then into the water on Daddy's back, then me holding him in front and swimming all over the place practicing his kicks. The fact that there were two cute la-las (little girls) for him to watch and want to play with was also great encouragement for him. By the end of the night, he didn't even want to get out. When we got back into town Monday afternoon, I told Dallin we should carpe diem and swim with Dace as much as possible til it cools off. So we headed over to the Staff's and had another family swim party. He still didn't want to wear his swim dipe but he was so excited to get in the water. Progress. One little splash at a time.