Hunter had never seen the ocean or sand before, so we wanted to take him to the beach for a swim during our holiday in Bintan. Can you imagine, seeing a HUGE body of water for the first time in your life? What about feeling sand under your feet for the first time? That is the privilege we have as parents – to be able to experience all these simple things through the eyes of our child 🙂
Chris insisted on decking him out completely with hat, rashie, boardshorts and sunblock.. because of his ridiculously fair skin which would probably sizzle after 2 seconds in direct sunshine 😉 He looked like a typical little Aussie boy. It was adorable!
His reaction? Rather LOL-worthy 😉 He was incredulous at the sand. As in, gaping, wide-eyed, incredulous. We popped him sitting down on the sand and tossed some on his feet, and he just gave this horrified, “what the…?” expression. He kind of froze and just STARED at his sand-covered feet in astonishment. Haha!
And touching cold, wet, sand where the waves lapped at the shore? Ummm.. his first time didn’t pan out very well 😉 He was flat-out overwhelmed by it all. Guess it didn’t help that he wasn’t in the best of moods, since he was pretty grumpy with his snuffly nose.
When we plonked his two little feet into the water and sand, he immediately “flamingo’d” – that is, bringing one leg right up to try and avoid it! He wailed, but we couldn’t help but laugh at his reaction. Yes, we are evil parents for laughing when he’s upset, but it really was pretty hilarious 😉
After all the excitement, shock and horror.. he got snuggled up and got loads of cuddles from us, for being a trooper. He generally is fine with new surroundings and rolls with new situations, so it was surprising that he was neutral-to-upset with his first visit to the beach. So I’m pretty sure it’s cos he wasn’t feeling well, as he was just fine the next day. Whew!
We spent most of the day lounging around on the beach. I mean, there’s not much else to do, is there 😉 Plus, not like we can go jet-skiing, hiking, or all the other activities available. Things are pretty constrained when you have a young baby on holiday with you!
For those of you with kids – how did yours react when they first experienced sand and sea?
Would love to know if they liked it right from the start, or were a bit freaked out by it all (like Hunter)…!
Love your pics, Bev! Hunter is extremely adorable! Yeay to him for being such a trooper 🙂
You and Chris are awesome parents!!!
Aww thank you sweetie! He’s still sick but pulling through.. thankfully 🙂
We went to Phuket with #1 when she was 7 months and OMG… she loves the pool but HATED the sand. We were at the beach for 30 mins and never bothered to go back… she’s 2 years old now and still hates the sand, sigh.
the sand is SO much fun, I can’t understand it! Maybe they feel unsafe cos it’s not firm like the ground??
Hi Bev,
May i know what app did you use on the first picture? one picture slash into two?
It’s Photoshake on the iphone 🙂
My son hated the beach the first few times he went, and he would have been about Hunter’s age when we introduced him too. The other thing to note which may cause them concern is the noise. The waves, wind and even the smell are all something different and that’s a lot for their little senses to cope with.
I can’t remember how long it took my son to get used to it, but with everything…if you show enthusiasm he will catch on. And that continues as they get older. You can imagine how enthusiastic this mum was to go swimming at a Victorian beach during one of the not so hot Aussie summer days last February. But in I went gritting my teeth as my son seemed to be oblivious to the cold water!
Oh true, everything was so new to him that I suppose he was so overwhelmed.. not to mention he was feeling pretty ill too!
The next day he was much happier in the water though, I guess it wasn’t as much of a shock anymore then 😛
hi there! Hunter looks so cute in his beach getup 🙂 Noey was ok when he first encountered the beach before he turned 1, then he hated it at about 15 months. Then he liked it again, but only with shoes, at 18 months. Now at 3 he goes barefoot instantly and the beach is one of his fav spots. I think they go through phases! Naomi (now 7 months) was ok with sand but I tried to keep it out of her hands cos she just wants to put everything in her mouth at this time!
So funny that he has ‘stages’ of liking/disliking the beach! I guess kids are crazy like that sometimes 😛
And same here, we couldn’t let him touch the sand cos it’ll instantly go into his mouth.. doh..
LOL! Melody did the flamingo both times she experienced sand & sea @ 4 mths & 27 mths!!!!! She still wouldn’t walk bare feet on sand unless forced to do so, forget about sea, flamingo all the way!!! Hilarious really!
Hhaha so maybe it’s a common baby reaction! Hopefully she’s better with it now 😛
K freaked out. She is still very wary of sand. J is much better now. 😛 so don’t worry, he’d likely grow out of it!
And… Flamingo-d is too cute a description. I can picture it perfectly too!
I wonder why they often dislike it at first.. sand is so fun to step on and play with!!
Thanks! They really love the beach and there’s now a clean one that’s only one hour away by car 🙂
Aww you’re so lucky! I miss our days in Australia when the beach was just nearby too..
A3 didn’t like the sand till he was 3! He would freeze on the spot n cry for someone to rescue him.
Awww cutie!! At least he’s ok with it now 😛
Emily and Eunice were exactly like Hunter when they first went to the beach. Both didn’t like the feeling of sand on their feet and both were terrified of the water. But after the second trip, they started to love the beach and would cry when we had to leave.
Hunter looks so adorable in his Aussie get-up! Hope he’s recovered from the flu 🙂
Aww so cute they love it now! I think toddlers in general love the ocean, but maybe the first time just freaks em out..
It’s your birthday this week, no? Happy Birthday in advance! !:D