My Water Baby...

Water is something that Roo has always loved since he was a baby...he has never shown a dislike to getting wet..he absolutely adores water...bath times have never been an issue..he gets in, sits down and just for a moment he is completely still, staring at the water & his smile gets wider and wider till all of a sudden he becomes so alert and starts playing with the water! Its so lovely seeing him being so happy..when he is unhappy or sad or in pain take him to some water and he will be cheered up... He has taken to putting his mouth to the water, puts his tongue out and makes a licking motion on the surface of the water! He reminds me of a cat sometimes! 

In the bath a year ago licking the water...

This is Roo yesterday in the bath (29/08/13)

This summer he has loved going to the beach as he loves the sand strangely considering he has sensory issues...he even eats it - urgh -it only results in gritty nappies...not nice....but take him near the ocean and he is desperate to get in...it takes two arms to hold him back which then sometimes lead to a meltdown as he doesn't understand why he cannot go into the ocean...he doesn't understand the dangers...also whenever we water the garden Roo will think of nothing of walking in front of the hose and laughing! He doesn't seem to bother about how cold the water is...

Playing with the water from the hose...

Since he was a newborn I have taken him swimming on a regular basis...he is always happy to go into the pool as long as I am holding him...funnily enough in the swimming pool he isn't too keen on putting his face in the water but other than that he just loves having his whole body in the water..we have to hold him all the time as he is now too big for the toddler seats which is a shame as it gave him a wee bit independence ...we cant use armbands or floats as due to his big head he doesn't have good muscle control and struggles to keep it up if we were to let him float with the armbands...if I sit him down at the edge of the pool he will lean forward himself without holding on and jump (fall)  into my arms! Swimming is suppose to be good to strengthen his muscles so I take full advantage that he loves water so much by going swimming every week with him.

But despite all the fun sides of water there are also the dangers...as you know it only takes an inch or so to drown a child so I am extra vigilant especially now that he is getting older and due to his severe developmental delay in learning he has no awareness of danger, at my in laws they have two ponds...the bigger pond is fenced off but the smaller pond is accessible although there is a wire metal grate on top to stop the kids from falling in but there are still gaps big enough to put a arm through... well if Roo is out in the garden he always heads straight there first and puts his arms in the gap so that he can splash in the water! He is fascinated with it and stays there for ages and ages... once I took my eyes off him for a second to look at my other son who was yelling for me and I felt Roo move so I looked at him to find to my horror that he had lifted his leg and put it through the grate! His shoes were soaked and took forever to dry!!! But it showed you how quick he was to get that leg up...if the grate hadn't been there he would have been in the pond ...it only takes a second...Whenever we are near the big pond he struggles to get out of your arms as he just wants to get in ..

Now he has grown a little bit in height it means he can now reach the taps in the bathroom and he quickly learned how to turn them on ( they are the easy taps where you just swing it to the side- even the cat can turn them on! ) so at any opportunity he is there turning them on full blast soaking himself and the bathroom resulting in me having to change him ...he even puts his hands and head down the toilet as he knows it contains water!!! Urgh... so as a result we have to now lock our bathrooms from the outside which is a pain sometimes as if you are in a rush you forget they are locked and go crashing into the door!! But its essential for his safety...

While I love that he has a passion for something its also a dangerous one... I wonder if he will remain obsessed with it as he grows up to the point that it affects his daily life or if it will get easier... but for the time being we have a water baby in our hands...