Success in the backyard pool

Well, I have to say, I think swimming lessons are paying off. We had a major success during Marcus' birthday party on Saturday the 7th of July. At our house, we have her in a swim suit that has "floaties" built into it. She discovered the fun of an inner tube floating toy. She decided that Dadda didn't need to hold onto her, so that she could move the inner tube around in circles.

Well, Dadda was holding her and she wanted to get to an inner tube she wanted to get into. Instead of helping her get there, he simply let her go on her own. He then told her "Irene, look at what you're doing! " Realizing she could do her swimming on her own essentially dog paddling, she decided that she was going to stay in the pool forever :). We had to have several people switch off with us so that we could take breaks with following her around while she swam. Adding to the fact that she didn't nap that day, she fell asleep at 7:15. :)

Seeing this happen, though makes me glad we decided on the swim lessons this year. I just want her to learn to swim properly so she has no need for "floaties" come next year. We'll see.... It's a MAJOR breakthrough though. It's the first time she hasn't been clinging to us for dear life...again..not sure how I feel about that ;)

Swimming Update

Well we finished our first set of lessons the Friday of the 4th of July week. Since the 4th landed on Wed, they postponed the class to Friday due to the holiday. I, in my mush filled brain, didn't realize that the classes ended that week and scrambled to try to find a new class. We talked with her teacher afterwards and were told she was sooooo close to floating on her own that she could move to Level 2 if we wanted. I opted to be safe and stick with Level 1 once more. I didn't see her looking nearly as confident as the teachers did and with having the pool in our backyard I didn't want any false hopes.

I left a message with SV Rec Center, fully expecting that all sessions were full, but I got lucky. There was a 6:30 level 1 still available (she got the last spot!). So Monday we started another 6 class session. Her teacher (Teacher Peter) this time was one I saw working with Level 2's during session 1. I thought he was talking way too fast for the kids but they seemed like they were getting it. He also does different exercises that Irene hasn't tried before. As a result, I was very happy that she did level1 one more time. She's with a "gaggle of girls" this time where as the last sessions there were 2 boys and 2 girls. The poor guy teaching this class isn't quite sure what he got himself into. :) It was quite hilarious to see the differences between the 2 groups.

As I result, I am going to sign her up for Level 2 for Session 3. *sigh*. Expensive, but if this keeps swimming a happy thing for Irene and she learns to swim better with greater confidence, then I'll take it. Here's hoping.