Just Keep Swimming

Yesterday was Luc's first swim class at the Howard County Parks and Rec new community center. The young teacher didn't really seem to know what she was doing, but I'm hoping it was just because it was the first class.

Before the class started, we got to hang out in the shallow end where they have a 'beach entrance' with little fountains. Luc enjoyed himself stomping on the fountains. He saw other kids using the beach to go into the deeper (3 ft) part of the pool and so he started walking down. The first few times he held my hand and only went up to his waist before turning back to the fountains. Then he suddenly started to walk by himself and kept going, without holding onto my hand, though I was close behind him, until the water was up to his mouth. Then he got a little nervous and wanted to go back where he could walk.

For the class we were in the 3'5'' section of the pool. The instructor had the kids hold onto mini kick boards. I tried to get Luc to kick his feet behind him, but he didn't really get it. Then we had little toys for the kids to throw and we would 'swim' with them to go catch it. Luc loved this game. Since he was having so much fun, I took advantage of the chilly air and kept myself mostly under the water, which meant when we went swimming for the fish, I got Luc under up to his chin. A few times I tried to get his mouth under and teach him to close his mouth and hold his breath. He didn't want to try floating like he's been practicing in the tub, but I got him to blow a few bubbles in the water.

The last exercise was for the kids to sit on the edge of the pool and jump into our arms. The instructor then wanted us to dip the kid completely under the water, but no one was comfortable doing that yet (even the kids). But jumping off the side was still fun for Luc. And when we could spend another 5-10 minutes after the class was over in the pool, at first Luc wanted to get out because he was cold, but then decided he wanted to go back in the pool. He started to walk down the ladder to then jump in by himself before I could get in.
Seven more classes to go. I'm curious to see how Luc adapts to the pool and how many other risks he'll be willing to take.

learning to kick

fetching the fish with our chins under water