Summer Swimming Lessons

This summer has had one main component-swimming! Before school got out for the summer, I asked around about a swim instructor for Eli. Josh and I both knew it was time for him to learn to swim  especially since we knew we were going to get a pool. Luckily for us, my friend, Sarah, had already found a swim instructor for her boys, Clayton and Cooper, and she said it was fine if Eli joined their class, too! The first day of swim lessons Eli was a little nervous, mainly because he couldn't stand to have water in his face. I'm not kidding when I say this, the kid completely freaked out when he got water in his face. Bath time was awful for us! Oh, and it goes to show you that every kid is different because I followed the Baby Bible (What to Expect the First Year) and never gently poured water on his head during bath time. I dumped it on his head like it explained to, and well, he just hated it. I was crossing my fingers, toes, and eyes that his first day of swimming lessons would go well. I dropped him off and when I came back to pick him up, he had a big smile on his face. His teacher, Mrs. Sissy, said they worked on blowing bubbles and just getting used to the water. Eli loved it but he was still adamant about not putting his head completely under the water. It took a couple of weeks but by the second week, he was jumping in loving every single minute!

Clayton, Eli, Cooper

While he was going to Mrs. Sissy, I had another friend contact me and let me know she and her son were going to do a swim class for his age group. We decided to go ahead and sign him up for those lessons as well. We figured the more experience he got in the water the better! Addi, Eli's cousin, was in the same swim class and they had lots of fun learning to swim together. Tanya's swim class lasted a week and by the end of the week, our little dude was swimming like a fish! Josh and I were SO proud of our little man! 

Eli and Addi on their last day of swimming lessons together.

Eli and Mrs. Tanya

The boys in Eli's swimming class

Eli kept going to Mrs. Sissy two days a week in the afternoon, but we thought another full week of lessons would be good for him, so we contacted Tanya again. She said she and her son, Stewart, would love to do another week. This past week completed Eli's second week of swimming lessons with her. To see the change that's happened in just a month is unbelievable! Here was a kid who couldn't stand the thought of water in his face at the beginning and now he is swimming like a little fish!

He's going to keep going to Mrs. Sissy until summer is over because he loves going to swimming lessons, but we are SO very proud of his progress! Not that I'm not going to be extra careful with him around the water, but it sure does make me feel a little better knowing that he can swim now. I know it's not going to be pretty for awhile, but he has the basic skills he needs to get to the side of the pool, steps, or ladder. I can't wait to see what all he's doing by the end of the summer!