Capsized!

As it seems to happen every year in the Pioneer Valley, the heat and humidity rolls in right around July 4th. Today was the 6th, and so, as expected, the weather was hot and more than a little muggy. A perfect day for an evening swim! Mom was away on a work trip so it was just "the boys".

Now it's been only a week since Grafton got the hang of being in the water on his own. That is to say, he's finally happy to float around without having to hang on to one of his parents. Last weekend, he simply lost his fear of the water when he realized he could move himself around the pool (Dad missed it, but Mom was there). He now uses a kicking motion that can't quite be called "swimming", and it looks an awful lot like walking, since he still refuses to make use of his arms. But he's getting there!

This evening Grafton willingly slipped into his life vest without complaint. He had outright refused to wear this contraption up until just two days ago. He was clearly eager to get back in the water, which I was very happy to see. We had fun with our normal routine of aquatic games: Tummy "water skiing", "8 foot vertical catapult & catch", Marco-Polo (and Grafton's version, Lolly-Lolo), and Max Liquidator water warfare. Next, we took out the triangular raft so we could do some white water rafting. With Grafton on top, holding on to the two handholds, I pushed him around as fast I could and emulated white water rapids by bouncing him up and down. He loved it. But this sport is not for the faint of heart! Those class 5 rapids can be a doozy. And before either of us could see it coming, the raft flipped over, tossed Grafton head over heels, submerging him fully underneath the water. For the first time. Uh oh. He surfaced after a few seconds with the help of his life vest and his Dad's rescuing arms. I was sure the water streaming down his face was masking the tears that must already be flowing. His eyes were wide open and staring back at me in shock, and I immediately worried he was choking on water. His mouth was closed, but I was hoping he would cough up some water and everything would then be fine. Instead, he wiped his face, opened his mouth and yelled out, "That was COOL! Let's do it again!"


Phew. I thought I had just killed his enthusiasm for the water once and for all. But clearly, he loves it. I'm confident we'll have Grafton swimming for real, sans flotation devices, by the end of the summer.