Fears, Fireworks and Family

As long as I can remember, Dave and I (and other family members) have feared for Aiden. His lack of fear in his approach to life has caused some concern. Before now, his zest for life has also come with a lack of fear, in anything. Jumping off objects that are too high for our comfort level, running without any attention as to where he is going, nothing seemed to cause him concern... until now. Now, are almost 3 year old (said fighting back little tears, ohhh there's a blog to come about that..) has entered into a fear stage. It started with his inability to jump into the water at swim practice, something he loved last summer.

















We naturally just assumed it would take some re-getting used to. This has not been the case. Instead the boy who loved the warm waters of the JCC, clings on for dear life.












I thought the best solution would be to practice more, get him more used to playing in the water, we did, however, have months without access to a pool. So one day we called Aunt Nina and asked to come swim at her apartment. Once we got there I remained optimistic, certainly with his favorite Aunt around to show off too, he'd jump right in. Nope! Now instead of one person to cling to, he had two (though at least this experience awarded some smiles).



























Oh, how I wish I could say this was the only fear hurdle we are desperately trying to jump these days. Instead, we were sad to learn of Aiden's fear of fireworks (and the loud noises that go with it). Needless to say, the Fourth of July, was spent doing a lot of holding, comforting, and ear covering.














Though in the midst of all the trauma, we did manage to get a lot of great family time in. And at one point we were even able to convince Aiden to try out a sparkler, and lo and behold he did really enjoy watching those colorful smoke bombs. While this proved to be somewhat short lived, he at least got some great play time in with Dylan and Sophia.