Monday, June 16, 2008

Swimming

Luke has been terrified of the pool since sometime last summer. The jets scare him to death. We have been calling them bubble makers and underwater fountains in hopes of fooling him. He is not fooled. However, his fear has lessened this year and he has been very courageous where the pool is concerned.

We started slowly last week, swimming together in Mom & Dad's pool, just going in on the steps and with me holding him in the pool. We put floaties on him and I held the floaties instead of his hands and tried to get him to paddle.

Then he started swimming lessons last week at the Coppell Aquatic and Recreation Center. He is in the Starfish class for beginning swimmers. There are six kids in his class.

They hang out on the wall while they wait their turn to swim. There are two teachers, though, so they don't wait long. Here's Luke blowing bubbles with Miss Alex:
and practicing kicking with Miss Caroline:

We took a break from swimming for most of the weekend, but we had a swimming party with the family this afternoon for Father's Day and Jenny's birthday. Again, he started with the floaties, holding our hands.
We tried his new life jacket on him and taught him to lie calmly on his back. He even practiced kicking while floating on his back. His confidence really grew while he had the life jacket on--so much so that he wanted to jump off the diving board!

Jason, Mom took this picture for you (note the feet):

Other pics of Daddy & Scott:


And here's the video that says it all, "I Can Swim By Myself!"