GARNERing Stories: It's a love/hate relationship with water...

In other words Alexis LOVES (yes I know that's in all caps) water, and Andrew HATES water...kind of.

When Alexis was a baby (Andrew's age and younger) she wasn't wild about the bath, but she tolerated it, and once she got a little older than he is now, she started really liking toys and splashing and water in general. Now, she asks to swim all the time (swimming lessons will definitely be the next consideration after we get our routine with gymnastics), she negotiates for extra time bathing and was willing to hang out in the absolutely freezing cold ocean. I think she wishes she was Ariel sometimes just so that she could be in the water all the time. On Sunday we went to our neighbors and she had her life jacket strapped on and was ready to jump in before we even left our house! (at least this time she remembered to take her underwear off before putting on her swimsuit!) In the 4ish hours that we were there, she only got out when we made her eat or so that she could jump in again and make a REALLY big splash.

Andrew on the other hand loved water as soon as he could have more than a sponge bath and started splashing much earlier and used to cry when we took him out, but lately bath time has been very different. Ever since Andrew has been mobile, bath time has been torture. He gets excited, tries to climb in the bathtub by himself at the first sound and site of the water in the tub, but once he's actually in, he hates it. I don't get it. For a while he would crawl around in the bath which presented its own set of problems but we were able to work with it, then he began standing which terrified me, but dealt with having to hold him with 1 hand while washing him with the other and quickly getting him out. Now he tries to get in himself and once he's in he tries to throw himself out (I am constantly getting my hand smashing between his chin or forehead and the side of the tub as he has not mastered diving out of the tub). It's the most pathetic crying fit I've ever seen. It's not the water temp, believe me, I've checked and tried various ranges of temp. It's not the ac kicking on even though it blows right into the bathtub because we closed that vent so that the kids wouldn't get cold. So because he wants to stand, I tried letting him shower but he screamed while the water was coming down. We took him swimming (same time mentioned above where Alexis didn't get out unless we made her) and he sat in a little baby floaty and wimpered. Now later during the swimming adventure, he was better when sitting on daddy's lap on the top step splashing his feet. He then discovered that he could walk with the water only up to his ankles which was fun until he lunged forward and went under for the briefest of moments which induced more crying, but that's beside the point. I don't get why he went from loving to splash and can act like he can't wait to get in the water, to flipping out as soon as he is actually in the water. Any baby water tips are welcome!