Swim Lessons

LB and I did the winter and spring sessions of swim lessons at a nearby community center. Their pool is amazing and is perfect for little ones because it is zero entry. Honestly, I was always exhausted afterwards but it was worth it. (And it meant I had to shave my legs all winter. A major con but again it goes to show what a mom will do for her son.) I basically grew up at the pool and I want LB to love the water as well. He is naturally a cautious kid and I knew it would take some time for him to feel comfortable playing without being in my arms. We went swimming once last summer and he really loved it but either D or I were holding him the whole time. Towards the end of the winter session he started to get more and more brave and would walk into the pool on his own and would stand on the edge and try and jump in to me. The teacher was great and LB still talks about him even though we haven't been in a few weeks. It is also worth mentioning that I was so excited when we showed up the first day and learned that LB's teacher was African American. It's interesting all the little things that I notice now that I probably wouldn't have if we had a biological child. Since all the other kids in his class were white it was nice that the teacher looked like LB.

The last class of the spring session happened to be the week that D was off work. I was so glad that he got the chance to see LB at his lesson. And it was nice because D was able to take some pictures. My mom was actually in town for LB's first class so luckily we have documentation of his first and last class of the season. The teacher used all these great toys as encouragement to get the kids to reach deeper in the water and possibly get their face under. We actually had a little incident midway through the spring session when LB's face went under unexpectedly and it really scared him. It scared me too for about the 2 seconds it took for me to realize he was okay. He coughed a lot on the water and that really freaked him out. Needless to say it took a few weeks for him to regain his confidence. But I think in those situations I am glad he isn't fearless because it does probably keep him safer.

I think D got some great shots of LB in action.

I love the expressions on his face and it is clear that he is proud of himself and having a good time. At the end of class the teacher would turn on the fountains and the kids could splash around and go down the slides. I was really proud of LB because at the last class he told me he wanted to go down the big slide. It is like one of the twisty slides at water parks. We did it on the last class of the winter session because his little girlfriend was doing it so he wanted to follow along. We got to the top and he was a little surprised at what he had gotten himself in to. We did it and he didn't cry but he definitely didn't want to do it again. But he caught me off guard when he told me at the most recent class that he wanted to do it again. I am not sure if he wanted to show off for D or what. But we did it and D took a little video and LB loves watching it over and over. It doesn't get much better than watching your kid overcome a fear!