Swimming Part 2

Rebekah finished another two-week session of swim lessons, and we are finished for the summer. This second session was quite a bit harder than the first. First of all, she had a new instructor to whom she had to learn to adjust, and secondly, the challenges were harder and put Rebekah out of her comfort zone. I had originally asked for Ms. Sandy, Rebekah's instructor from June, but she was unavailable due to personal issues, so Rebekah had to adjust to a new coach. Although Christina is gentle, she made Rebekah do a little more on her own the first day which scared her a lot. Rebekah was terrified to get into the pool, but after a talk with Christina and the director I felt much better, and Christina was able to work with Rebekah and help her through her fears.

On the first day Rebekah was afraid of swimming with a noodle wrapped around her chest and under her arms, but by the end of the first week she loved it! It became her favorite part of swim lessons. They also worked a lot on floating. While Rebekah never got to the point of floating on her own, at least for more than 6 seconds, much less 30 seconds for the required mastery of the level, she did make slow progress over the course of the 8 lessons. She did become more accustomed to lying on her back and relaxing in the water and would even do so only holding Christina's fingers at times.

While Rebekah was receiving her private instruction Joshua and I enjoyed some time in the pool as well. He and I participated in the Mommy & Me class the first week on Monday and Wednesday. On Tuesday and Thursday as well as a couple days the following week we just got in the pool together and practiced what he was learning. They ended up canceling the class since we were the only participants, but what little classes we received helped us to work on skills.

Joshua is doing really well reaching for and grabbing the wall. I can then grab one of his hands and he will reach over and give me his other hand while I stand a distance away from the wall. This was one of the skills Rebekah learned the first day of her lessons, so Joshua is preparing for next year. We have been working on him "falling" in the water (i.e. me pulling him in the water) and he flips over on his back. He is automatically flipping over on his own, although he is not floating yet and is not comfortable lying on his back for any period of time. Joshua is also working on reaching and pulling as well as kicking, although he's not doing them simultaneously yet.

I wish I had some video and pics to share of Joshua, but I did manage to get some of Rebekah her last two days of lessons. Although she has a way to go to reach that third level I am so proud of the progress she made. A big part of it is just becoming more comfortable in the water and not panicking so much.

Swimming with the noodle. This first pic Rebekah is swimming to, reaching for, and grabbing a toy.


Blowing bubbles




Learning to float




The very last day Rebekah slid down the slide. She took a while, scooting down slowly, until she finally fell all the way into the pool.