Swim Class

*
Today was D's first swim lesson! I've been super excited about this for a while. Once he got over some initial issues with his bath (or the getting-out-and-dressed part, anyway) during his first 3ish months, he's ever since seemed to LOVE water. Bath time is great fun, giving him water out of a regular cup is tough b/c he loves to stick his fingers in it, and the few times we've made it to a pool he's had loads of fun splashing and just enjoying the water. Just the other day he discovered small puddles of water outside from runoff after water some plants and he was fascinated by slapping the wet ground with his hands. So I figured swim lessons? This would be a BLAST!

Unfortunately it may take a big more getting used to than I'd anticipated. He did fine, really, just I think a bit overwhelmed. When we got there and the class before us was finishing he seemed excited and was pointing at the water, but when we got in he got a little nervous. His thumb stayed in his mouth almost the entire time, and he kept trying to smoosh his face against mine, which is what he does when he needs comfort. It was a bit loud (our class was only 2 other kids, but across the pool was another class with older kids) which I guess did it a bit. He also was tired-- woke up an hour earlier than usual this morning, which meant his first nap was earlier than usual, and thus by 11am he usually is awake and fine but today was getting pooped. He even fell asleep in the car on the way back, which he hasn't done in a while. But, overall there was only a couple of minutes of whimpering and at the end he even gave a few giggles, so I think after a week or 2 he'll be loving it.

The class was 30 minutes long and fairly basic to begin with. The age range for the class is 12-24 months. One girl who I think was a bit older than D had clearly been taking lessons for a while, and was putting her head underwater and everything. Another boy about D's age was also just starting, and loved the whole thing. The teacher was super nice, and showed us how to get in and out of the pool safely, and we worked on trying to teach the kiddoes how to kick, start showing them how to float on their backs, and also just did some games.

Part of me wonders if I should've signed D up for this sooner-- mainly thinking how I'm trying now to teach him to kick, and remembering his first time in a pool (at about 4-5 months old, in Texas) how he was kicking instinctively. But I also doubt long term it'll make any sort of difference, and he'll probably be getting the hang of it all pretty quickly.

Meanwhile, I'll take D's cue after his interest in the water puddles from the other day, and find a shallow tupperware box to use as a water table for outdoor play, since it's getting warmer now. Am pretty sure he'll love that. =)

*No, the pictures aren't of him at the pool, but I figured him in the bath tub would be close enough...