Swimming Time!

My list of things I wanted to do this summer wasn't long.

1. Plant vegetables in our garden (completed) and eat them fresh (still waiting)
2. Sign up William for baby swimming lessons (in progress)
3. Take William to the outdoor swimming pool with kid play area.
4. Take William to the St Louis Zoo
5.Go on a family trip together (completed x2)

Two weeks ago I realized the summer was more than half way over and we needed to get with the program if I wanted to get done the few things left on the list. So, we signed William up for the swimming classes and Tuesday was our first session. The goal of the sessions we signed up for are to get kids comfortable in the water and have a good time. We have struggled on and off with some water issues and I thought this would be a great way to have fun together and hopefully increase his confidence/comfort in the water. So, here are the pictures!

Mama got in the water for the first session. Dada was the photographer - they are going to be taking turns. Dada is getting in on Thursday. Here we are practicing our kicking - I'm supposed to be hanging on to the board and kicking my feet. I was more interested in trying to drink the water and making boat noises. Mama is doing all the work of holding me up.

More kicking time.

Then they had us sit on the edge of the pool and jump in the water to our Mamas and Dadas. Mama was sure I wouldn't do it because as recently as July, I wouldn't willingly jump into the water for any reason. Imagine her surprise when I did it right away! Splash!

I am the only one in my class of 3 that was brave enough to do it (I'm also the oldest in the class by about 6 months)!I got so brave, I didn't even need to look and see where Mama was - I just jumped right in! Look how hard I am laughing!

Here is our little group. We're singing the "Wheels on the Bus" song together and splashing in the water. After singing, we got to go down the yellow slide (about 3 feet of it or less) with the help of our teacher. I loved it and wanted to do it over and over and over again. Mama kept on saying things like "It's not your turn....give the other kids a chance." I wasn't having any of it. I wiggled and squirmed in her arms until I got what I wanted.

In the background you can see the super fun kids play area for little ones. It sprays water (it is turned off during class time) and has a slide to play on. We went last week to play on the slide so I would be comfortable with the pool. Maybe too comfortable though....as soon as we walked into the play area, I would not sit still because I wanted to get in the water. I did not want to wait!

Swimming with Mama is fun! I'm sure next week we'll be covering the big stuff like diving and the backstroke. They just don't want to scare off the babies during the first lesson! Watch for pictures of me and dada this weekend!