Swimming Lessons

Luke and Caden have finished their first round of swimming lessons for the summer.

Here is Luke on his first day.  He was excited to start swimming again (yay!), but was also the tiniest bit nervous.  He has come a long way since last year with regards to his huge fear of water.  I thought he would have regressed somewhat, but he surprised me by picking up right where he left off.

He loves any apparatus that helps him stay above water.  He's laughing (not crying) in this photo.

Jumping in.  This is one of his least favorite things to do.

His teacher, Miss Jo, had a break between lessons and allowed us to come a little early so the boys could play in the water during her break.  By day 3 he was playing in neck deep water...something he would not even have considered attempting last year.

Floating...with a little help.

This too is something he feared last year and spent most of his floating time in a panic and grabbing at Miss Jo's arms.

Using the "boat" to swim...with his face in the water! 

By day 4 he was more than willing to continually put his face in the water as Miss Jo counted to 5 each time.  To most, I am sure it seems that these are baby steps, but having watched him battle last year with his fear of water, I see them as monumental strides for this boy.

After this lesson I was praising Luke on how well he did putting his face in the water and he responded with, "I think I like it now."

Wahoo!

Swimming to Miss Jo.

He still panics when it comes to actual swimming (without a floatie) and refuses to do it voluntarily.  He is going to get there. He has another round of lessons in July where he will hopefully figure it out.

Caden's favorite part is playing with all Miss Jo's swim stuff while she is working with Luke.

Caden likes the floatie things too.

Being shown how to dive for rings.

Jumping in happens to be Caden's least favorite thing too.  Here is Miss Jo trying to convince him it's okay.  He ran from her a few times. 

Floating.

Swimming to Miss Jo.

By day 4 & 5, Caden was done running away and began enjoying the water.  His fear of water has never been anywhere close to Luke's fear.  I think he will do really well with the next round.

Miss Jo telling the boys what a "super good job" they did.  I love the confidence she has given these two.  They were excited each day to go to their lesson.

Porter was just itching to get in the water.  He cried a lot during the first lesson since mom and dad wouldn't let get as close to the pool as he wanted to be.  While Miss Jo was talking with the big boys, Porter was feeling left out and so got down on his knees to have a chat with her.  She let him know that his turn will come.

I sure hope he feels the same about getting in the water next year when he is included in the lessons!

After the first day, Porter was resigned to the fact that he wasn't getting in with his brothers and was content (mostly) to hang out in the shade with mom.