First Swims of the Summer

Friday afternoon, Will and I went to Grandma and Grandpa's to swim in their pool. It was the first time I'd taken Will in the pool since last summer. He had a ball! Until about 20 minutes later when he wanted me to let go and threw a little tantrum over it ... can't tell you how tempted I was to let go of him and let him see what happens if he doesn't hang on!

Saturday morning, he and I went to his first swimming lesson. The main purpose of the class is to get kids under 3 used to going under the water, learning to kick, float, and learning to jump from the side of the pool, turn around and hold on to the side. Because his grandparents have a pool in the backyard, I wanted to give him that extra safety measure of being a little more aware of the water.

It went great - I was so proud of Will. He is like a little fish! There are 4 kids in the class. All the rest are over 2 years old and are girls accompanied by their daddies. But, for being the youngest, Will did great! First, we started by kicking front ways and then on our backs. Will didn't quite get that concept yet. He'd rather just float while I took him around the pool. Then we sang, moving in a circle, while the instructor would pour water on their back and head. Will loved that. Then, we moved the kids under water for a dolphin-like swim. I was nervous of what Will would think, but after a couple of tries, he was eager to go under the water and smiled when he came up. I even passed him under the water to the instructor and then we did it back to me. He did it with flying colors. And the first exercise in learning to grab the side of the pool went well too - Will would sit on the side of the pool and I'd hold him and then count to 3, lift him into and under the water, and back up for him to grab the side to get a little toy waiting on him. And he did it - like 5 times!

I'm very happy with the class. Everything is made fun and is very low key. And they certainly don't make any of the kids do something they are not comfortable with doing, especially going under water. Ellis is planning to come next time and maybe get a few pictures! :)