Within minutes after we got into the pool, Kai wanted his life jacket off. He spent the first five minutes in the water in my arms closely observing the three siblings who were throwing two balls around and jumping in and out of the pool not too far away from us. After he became more comfortable, Kai started pushing me away and wanted to "swim" to the side of the pool where the kids (and balls) were. Thinking that he might want one of those balls, I helped Kai to the side, and he immediately started trying to climb out of the pool: he wanted to jump into the water like those kids! The youngest sibling is about to turn 3, and all of them are independent swimmers! But one-and-a-half-year-old Mr. William Kai "Ballsy" Martin believed he could be just like the boy twice his age... if only his Mommy would just let go of him.
When he was not busy trying to climb out of the pool, Kai used my thighs as springboards to launch himself forward. Even when he ended up face-planting straight into the water, he giggled and coughed, wiped water off his face and shouted, "gain!" (again)
Since Kai was the youngest in the pool, I was well aware and glad that we had the life guards' attention. The life guards absolutely adored Kai simply because he was so happy in the water, and I wouldn't be surprised if many of the life guards were exactly like him when they were his age. That, and the fact that Kai is just adorable, especially in his awesome skull and cross bones swim trunk.
Anyway, different life guards would interact with Kai in different ways when they walked by. One threw a ball at him, while the other squirted water out of a plastic yellow duck. Kai, however, seemed only interested in one dark-haired life guard. When she came over to tell me that Kai may be able to benefit from their young swimmers class (aged 3 to 5) as long as a parent is present, Kai started kicking hard and shouted, "Paddle! Paddle!" That's one of the words I use with him in the bath. How did Kai know that was an appropriate moment to use it? I guess the little boy understood what we were talking about and really wanted to impress the dark-haired life guard. Well, he made a lasting impression on pretty much every adult in the pool.
Right before we were about to leave, a mom with her 14-month-old son came to the pool. Kai had his eyes licked on the little boy as soon as they entered, murmuring to himself, "Boy. Boy. Baby." The mom took the boy into the pool, and we naturally gravitated toward one another. The Mom explained that it was the boy's first time ever swimming and they were both very nervous. She wasn't even done articulating the final -s in "nervous" when Kai all of a sudden slapped water with his hand, splashing all over the boy's face. It was one of those slow-mo moments when I saw the shock on that little boy's big blue eyes and pale face. Right next to it, there was my own son dipping his face in and out of water, giggling and shouting, "Water! Water!" with that slightly crazy look in his eyes.
So I grabbed Kai's hand and explained, "Kai, he's nervous, so you have to be gentle, okay? Don't splash water on him." As if an internal switch was turned, Kai became all serious. He softly said, "Niiiiiice." while gently stroking the boy's hair with the same hand he used to splash water on him. Kai was treating the boy the same way he treats small animals.
On the way out of the Y, Kai said "bye" to everyone we saw. The receptionists at the frint counter were all melting when he gave them that signature Kai look from under the eyebrows and flirtatiously said, "Bye~~~". A boss-looking older gentleman (maybe he's the supervisor) said to me, "Watch out for this little guy. I think he just got his own fan club."
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