Summer swim

Being a new mom has been my saving grace this year. Having my son in January is by far the best part about 2020. It has been so fun to watch him grow and learn more and more every day.

It’s hard to believe he is 7 months old as of Thursday. These months have gone by so fast. Lincoln has such a personality already. I can already tell we will have our hands full with him. He is so adventurous now I can just imagine how he will be when he is fully mobile.

We celebrated another first with him this past weekend. We visited my brother and sister-in-law in Marshalltown.

They have a small above-ground pool at their house. They said we could bring our swim stuff and allow Lincoln to have his first swim.

I was so excited for this. I bought him a cute swimsuit for the occasion. I picked one that was a little big in hopes he can wear it a few times before outgrowing it.

He did really well for his first experience. I got into the pool first and just dipped his toe into the pool. He just gave me an odd look and wondered what I was doing. Then I started to submerge more of him. He didn’t freak out, but he didn’t splash around excitedly like I thought he would.

He loves bath time, so I assumed he would be just as happy in the pool. But he mostly just relaxed in the water. As I submerged him up to his shoulders, he didn’t put his feet down to touch the bottom. He just let them float up in front of him. I had to laugh, it wasn’t what I expected him to do at all.

Of course, I think he may have been a little confused because we had an audience. My husband, Tim, was taking photos and video of the experience of course, but there were several relatives who wanted to see Lincoln’s first dip.

My dad, brother, sister, sister-in-law and uncle all were watching, as well. My mom would have been included too, but she was holding Lincoln’s cousin while she napped at the time. Grandpa kinda had a feeling Lincoln might relax a little bit more if he had less eyes on him.

So they left to play yard games while I stayed in the pool with him with just Tim left watching.

Without the audience, Lincoln seemed less distracted by the attention. He finally figured out he could touch the bottom of the pool, and as soon as that happened, he started to play in the water more.

Tim crouched near the edge of the pool and Lincoln and he played and splashed and had a good time while I held on to our squirmy little guy.

We didn’t want him in the water too long, so soon his first swimming experience was over. It’s a day I will not soon forget.

As he gets older, Lincoln will have plenty of chances to get in the water. I can’t wait for swimming lessons and hot summer days spent at the pool.

But I don’t want to get too far ahead of myself. I want to enjoy every moment I can with my baby boy. Growing up will happen whether I want it to or not without hitting the accelerator.

I can’t wait for more of Lincoln’s “firsts” for years to come.

Contact Pam Pratt at pampratt@newtondailynews.com