Last week Drew completed his third time in the introductory swim class "Starfish." Since the class is designed for children 6 months - 3 years, many children take it multiple times. Anyhow, Drew first took the class last fall right after his 2nd birthday, and while he was quite happy to be in the water, he wasn't so interested in blowing bubbles, floating, or even kicking for the most part. He did love to jump in the water though and never seemed to mind when we dunked him all the way underneath (first picture). Since I don't have any pictures to accompany his latest round of swim lessons I thought I'd post some from this class last fall.
During the winter and early spring, we took a little hiatus from lessons and just brought Drew to open swim or splashtime a couple times a month. Then in April we tried the class for a second time. Drew picked up on more of the skills this time, learning how to blow bubbles, not open his mouth when he goes under water, and becoming more comfortable putting his face and eyes in the water. He still was very opposed to floating on his back, however.
A couple of weeks ago we started Starfish for what we assumed would be our last time. As I mentioned in the post about Bill's family's visit, Drew finally showed some willingness to go in the big, slightly cooler pool and that is where the next level of swim class is taught. So off we headed to the warm pool for one last round of Starfish. Amazingly, the first day we were in the pool he was suddenly willing to float on his back. No kicking, no screaming, just willing to lay there. It helped if we had a fish or boat toy to put on his tummy, but it was like someone just flipped a "willing to float" switch on him. Drew also started asserting his independence during this round of swim lessons, frequently saying "Leave me lone!" (I think he figured out that since he could stand with his head fully over the top of the water, he didn't need Mommy to hang on to anymore.) I guess I didn't need to be worried about separation anxiety for the next level of swim class where the kids go in the water with just the instructor and no parents. Drew is getting the hang of kicking and has started to show some interest in paddling his arms. He gets quite a charge out of watching Mommy dog paddle! So yesterday and today Bill and I each took him to a morning of Splashtime to encourage his willingness to stay in the big pool, and he seems to be on track. So "Otters" here we come! I should be able to get some action shots of him this time around since I'll be on the sidelines watching.
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