Big Fish, Little Fish

I'd like to think that being born in water has given Jasper a special connection to it. I'll never forget both the relief and the joy I felt seeing his plump little body quietly surfacing to meet us.

A waterbaby!

And he has already spent a lot of time around water with his brother around. How many hours we've logged at the pool either swimming with Will or watching him in swim lessons. How much time we've spent at beaches, sailing Lake Union, or just simply enjoying the view.

We also have tried to go weekly to a warm water therapy pool nearby so he can stretch his little limbs in the warm waters. I opted to not do any infant swimming lessons both because the public pools here are awfully cold for baby (read: me) and because I could get more value for the money by using it on pool entrance fees at therapy pools insead of classes. Turns out I much prefer the flexibility to go whenever we can, stay for as long as we want, and progress at our own pace. The only thing I miss is the larger group of babies for songs and dancing.

I do see him really enjoying the water more fully than his brother at this age. The other day towards the end of an hour in the pool he stretched out on his back like a cat and backfloated while I just pulled him around the pool. This weekend we found him copying his big brother's jumps off the side by plopping off the edge of the pool after a "ready, set..." with a big grin on his face.