Swimming Lessons

It's swimming lesson time!

Today the kids just finished their swimming lessons. It's been everyday all week long. It was really neat to see how far they have come in just a week. Kate has made huge progress. Kirk, is still warming up to the water. I'm so proud of both of them, they are both a little timid when it comes to swimming. I'd call them "sit on the stairs and splash", kind of kids. You know the kind, when you take them out into the deep end, their giving you the choke hold. Not that I blame them, I actually think a little fear of water is good for kids. I'd be more worried if they weren't afraid of the deep end. Kate can now do the back float, go under the water without plugging her nose, and she's learning the "arrow" swim (I'm not sure if that is the real name of it, it's what her teacher called it). I was especially proud of her today when she went all the way under the water. That was always something she'd vehemently refused to try. Kirk took alot of time warming up to the new pool, and the new teacher. I think he was expecting to go to his grandmother's pool. But I still think that the few minutes he cooperated was really beneficial. I'm hoping that because he got his first set of lessons over with, next year's lessons shouldn't be as intimidating.

This was the typical view of kirk at the beginning of each lesson. It took him several minutes to actually get into the water. I think he was scared of floating on his back. After several bribes didn't work, I told the teacher to just grab him and take him out. Once he was in, he did alright.

Kate learning the back float. She's become very good, it's her favorite and loves practicing it.
Kirk learning to "hummm" under the water. This is how the instructors taught them to blow bubbles. He's gotten pretty good. Kate "hummms" too. Yesterday we were swimming and she accidentally lost her footing and went under for a second. She came up to me crying and so sweetly said "mommy I fell of my noodle and forgot to hum." She got water up her nose which she hates. I thought it was so cute that she had remembered her "humm" lesson that day!