Like a Fish in the Water

Nathan has come a long way this summer with his swimming abilities. On our first trip to the pool, he wouldn't even put on the bracelet or the life jacket required to swim in the big pool. Then, though multiple pool visits, he slowly agreed to put on the vest, go into the big pool, release his death grip on me or Brian, stop screaming or squealing when he got splashed, start kicking his legs, and jump into the pool. Then today he eagerly and excitedly started swimming by himself!

We met Molly and Baby Luke today at the pool and had lots of fun playing with them in the kid's splash area. But Nathan was begging me to take him to the big pool, so Molly graciously offered to watch Sarah and just let the two of us go. On our last pool trip with Nana and Granddad, Nathan (reluctantly) swam from Brian's arms to my arms. Today I immediately let go of him and had him "chasing" me around the big pool. I was laughing excitedly, encouraging him and he was laughing along with me! He swam and swam and swam before I told him we had to go back to the splash pool.

But Nathan was eager for more big pool fun, so after a while I tried taking both kids with me into the big pool. Nathan immediately started swimming all around the pool, kicking his legs using a running-type motion. Then he figured out how to spin around in a circle and bounce himself on the walls, while Molly and I bounced the babies in our arms. When it was time to go, Nathan told me he wanted to swim all the way back across the pool to the steps by himself. Sarah had started really fussing about the life jacket, so she and I both got out on the side of the pool, but Nathan just kept swimming: all along the edge of the pool, under the rope and maneuvering himself using the hand rail until he could walk up the steps by himself!

Brian and I are hoping to take the kids to their second "swim lesson" tomorrow, where the kids (with their parents) experience being in pool without the life jacket. I hope he amazes us further with his increased comfort level in the water!

Here we are at an earlier family pool outing.