Parental bragging

We spent the weekend in our usual hotel in Alexandria, Louisiana, where we take our boys to play in the water and/or with the elevator. They had the indoor pool area closed yesterday afternoon for a wedding, so DW, Toby, and I splashed around until about five minutes before the ceremony, then we had to improvise for a while. We ended up running around a McDonald's playland, something we haven't done in a while. Toby laughed and laughed as I chased him around the place.

This morning, we took Adam to the hotel, and, for the first time, played in the hotel's outdoor pool. It was a wise choice. After about half an hour of our normal routine, Adam started having me get out of the water, then he would pull my hand and push me into the deep end (7'). He would then run all the way across the enclosure and grab onto the fence. He would see me swim to the ladder, and he would start the whole thing all over again. This happened several times. DW commented that it looked like he was using me as a proxy for what he himself wanted to do. Our kids tend to do that. So I took his hand and pulled him after me a couple of times, then pushed him up and to the ladder. Then I picked him up and threw him in all by himself. I made sure he landed about 2 feet from the ladder. I threw him in several more times, each time a little further from the ladder. Now, get this--Adam swam to the ladder! Mostly he dog-paddled, but it was the first time I've seen him move, on his own, in a coordinated fashion while holding his head above the water. I suppose most parents take this kind of thing for granted, but this is a freakin' huge big deal for Adam, and for his parents.