Swimming!

This past weekend it stopped raining long enough to have Ben’s swim lesson!!  I was super excited.  I think Ben was excited because something was going on, but he got really happy when we got to the pool.  This year we did the Water Babies class.  We were going to do that one last year, but not enough people signed up.  They let us do the preschool with parent class, but I was looking forward to being with kids closer to Ben’s ability.  

Despite being the younger class, there was still a big range of kids.  There was another 21 month old like Ben, but there were also babies closer to six months.  It was cute to watch all of them experience the water.  A big different between this class and the preschool class- at any point in time one of the kids was fussing or crying.  I know that sounds bad, but it was actually pretty funny.  Getting put in a pool, being all wet, getting water in your face- these are all things that can be upsetting when you are little!  Ben did not like being put on his back.  The fun part about this class though?  That just meant we didn’t do that part.  The kids didn’t learn any real swimming skills.  The point is just to be comfortable with the water.  We played little games, sang songs, and played with toy watering cans.  It was almost a workout for us moms.  It was a lot of bending, squatting, and moving the kids through the water.  I enjoyed that part of it.  (Yay for bonus workouts!)

Meo, Omi, and Pat were all there to cheer  Ben on.  He really liked that part.  He kept turning to wave and make sure they were watching him.  He liked kicking and being allowed to splash as much as possible.  He really liked ‘jumping’ into the pool.  The watering can toys were a favorite of the whole class.  I love that the pool we have the lessons in has a zero depth walk in end.  Ben can stand and even sit in the water on his own to play with us.  It’s so fun!  I can’t wait to take Ben back to the pool to play in it more.  Until then we will just have to wait til next week’s lesson!