Birth Month - Day 17

There is something about water that, for me anyway, is inviting and calming.  When Andrew was young he felt the same way.  During the summer we were constantly at the pool and would sneak off to the beach whenever we could.  He was as close to being a fish as a little boy could be - until his first bout with swimmers ear.  After that he was cautious in the pool and eventually decided he preferred to never go under the water.

But up until then he loved going swimming.  My mom lived in a condo that had a pool so we visited regularly during the summer.  Andrew would even try to convince anyone that came over to take him to the pool and it would be totally fine with his mom or Nana because he knew the code or had a key.  I remember my mom's favorite story to tell about Andrew and the pool was how confidently he would walk through the gate.  She recall that there were usually already some people down at the pool, and whether he knew them or not, he'd throw open the gate, give a wave, and shout, "Hi guys!"  Here's a picture of him jumping in just after arriving one day.

Matt liked swimming okay but it was Andrew and I who could stay all day, jumping in and out.  Matt was good for diving for things or sharks and minnows.  Andrew loved all that too but he was also content to just float or jump in and out over and over.  Here are some pictures from my mom's pool showing just how much we all loved swimming together!

And another one of my favorite pictures of Andrew taken at his daycare.  This just seems so Andrew at the time - with that sweet bowl haircut and cheesy grin.  I sure hope Heaven has swimming pools and he never gets swimmers ear again!