Fearless

Along with the spirited child front, my child has one characteristic I want her to keep throughout her life because I have struggled with this myself.  She's fearless.  Bravery.  Seriously, the kid has no fear.  I have yet to find something that scares her.  Thunderstorm?  No.  Lawn mower?  No, she runs toward it.  Same with the vacuum.  We were in Michigan with my family last year, and as we walked along the pier in South Haven, the kid was leaning over trying to reach the water.  Climbing rocks, wanting to explore.  She has no fear.  I love that, but at the same time, fear that, about her.  
We went swimming with friends the other day, and Aubrey could not have been more excited.  We've been in a pool maybe one other time with her so I'm not sure why the word pool got her so excited, but she was.  We got her in the water, with her water floaties, of course, and she was giggling like crazy. Then it started.  She saw the big kids swimming so Aubrey wanted to swim.  She got frustrated because she wanted us to let her go on her own.  I tried to show her what would happen, but that didn't deter her.  "I need to swim, I need to swim!" she kept saying.  (Side note:  Her new thing is to say she 'needs' something instead of 'wants.')  She then saw kids jumping off the side into the pool so she climbs out of the pool and tries to do that herself, with her Mommy scrambling out of the pool with her.  We did a modified "jump" with me holding her up to Daddy in the water.  It seemed to fool her for the time being, but I'm afraid that will only last so long.  She wants to do it on her own.  She thinks she is as big as those other kids jumping and swimming.  That's my kid.
It scares me because of obvious reasons, of course.  I'm already paranoid with my kid around water but now I have more reason to be eagle eyes with her.  It's hard to keep up with her, and as she gets older and more independent, I know that will only get worse.  She's fearless.  To a fault.
I want to strike that fine balance between encouraging her to be fearless but also reigning in her over-braveness.  I love the fighter in her, the daredevil and the strong girl she is.  I just want to make sure she does not think she's bigger than she is.
Did I mention my kid is spirited?  Oh I didn't?  
God help me when she's a teenager....