Rudy's First Public Pool Experience

So. It definitely wasn't love at first sight. I guess I kinda freaked little Rudy out when I whisked him from his cozy nap, plopped him in the car, drove to an entirely different city half an hour away, scurried into an unfamiliar building, entered a cavernous room filled with noise and the pungent smell of sterilized water (chlorine--ick!), stripped him down, popped a water diaper and swimming suit on him, and proceeded to prance into the pool to say hello to the rest of our family who were all giving warm welcomes to my poor, traumatized little man. When he screamed and squirmed in protest, it dawned on me that this was indeed a new and somewhat anxiety causing experience, and decided to let him take things at his own pace by putting him down at the edge of the pool to look at the fountains there. Well, the damage was already done and Rudy would not calm down until he was safely in Daddy's arms and far away from the pool. Needless to say, he was a bit of a Daddy's boy the rest of the outing. Sigh.

Jason (who has his own anxieties about water and babies) handled things much more sensitively and soon enough, Rudy was feeling brave enough to stand in the water. But he was still quite serious about the whole thing.

Woohoo! Our adventurer has bounced back, and he's ready to explore the wet world on his own. (With parents hovering just off camera) ;)

Of course, Rudy's first destination once he found his sea legs was to check out the pool maintenance gadgets. Our little gear-head-you gotta love him!

Aubrey, about as comfortable in the water as a mermaid, was working on helping our little man feel a bit more at ease. She played peek-a-boo with the help of her daddy. This is about as good of a smile as she got.

Anyway, the trip was a fun one for Jason and me, and maybe even a bit fun for Rudy. We plan on taking him to the pool more often, so that he'll warm up to it and feel more comfortable. I really think once he feels a little more familiar with the whole situation, he'll LOVE visiting the pool with his Grandparents, cousins, aunt, uncle, Daddy, and maybe even his Mama. ;)