I decided to sign Garrett up for swim lessons this year, so he could gain the confidence needed to swim without his floaties. He loved the lessons, did really well, but is still not ready to lose the floaties. I'm not going to force him, but I might do one more week of swim lessons.
I wasn't sure how Payton would react, she loves the bath and the pool in the backyard, so I thought she would do ok. Wow, ok is an understatement! She loves the water, but hates the baby floatie thing. She wants to be held, so she can float on her back, put her face in to blow bubbles, kick her feet, "jump" in. She's a bit out of control. By the second day at the pool, any fear she had was completely gone. Now, I worry she's going to run and try and jump in without me. Since the gym has 2 pools, I worry she's going to run into one while I'm in the other one. While we are in the big pool, everything is fine, she's content to hang out in my arms, well, until Saturday, then she started pushing me away and kicking at me. I went yesterday and bought her a floatie thing called a puddle jumper, we're going to try that this week and see if she's strong enough for me to let her go. If nothing else, it makes me feel better that if she did get away from me, she'd bob back up to the top and not sink to the bottom. I'm not a good diver, so the idea of diving to the bottom to save her is very overwhelming to me! She doesn't much like the small, kiddie pool, it's just a tad to deep for her, so for her to walk around, the water is right at her chin and she doesn't like that. I don't either, but my arms get tired holding her for 2 hours. I'm really hoping the puddle jumper works. I will not be putting her in the pool and laying out to tan, but maybe I can hold her hand while she kicks around rather then me having to hold her so tight.
A few parents have asked how long we've been doing swim lessons (with Payton), they are amazed that she's been in the pool less then a week. She doesn't mind going under, she loves to float. She wants to jump, but doesn't quite get it yet, so she wants me to put her on the side, but then she just kind of walks in, or falls forward, so we'll work on jumping.
Garrett is great, he has very little fear, with the floaties on. He was in a class with 6 year olds who have had swim lessons since they were babies, so I was impressed with his ability to swim. Now, if I can just get him brave enough to kick the floatie habit.
I don't have any pictures because I'm at the pool alone with them and I can't take my eyes or hands of Payton for even a second. So, maybe we'll get pictures one day!
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