Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Super Waterbaby!

After 7 months of being in Waterbabies classes (at Emler Swim School), in which Carter and I swam together, today Carter started the next level: SuperWaterbabies! In which he and the other 2yos in the class swim with the teacher, with no parents in the water.

I had been dreading this day for many reasons. Partly because it's just another sign that he's growing up, and it's sad that we won't take swimming lessons together any more. I loved our swim lessons together, and he loved them too. I was worried that he wouldn't like swimming as much in the new class. This is the first thing he's done on his own, really.

But the more immediate reason I was dreading it was that the 2yos have to sit on little mats on the edge of the pool, waiting their turn while the teacher works with each individually. We did a trial class back in November, and it did not go well. There was no way Carter was going to sit on that little mat, and I spent the entire half-hour chasing him around the pool.

When we got there this morning, we learned that he would have Miss Ashley, the same teacher as before, and this was a great relief to me. Carter really likes her, and I hoped it would make the transition to the new kind of class much easier. There were two other toddlers in the class this morning, and Miss Ashley was great with them. They didn't have to sit on their mats much longer than a couple of minutes at a time, and with the other toddlers sitting there patiently, Carter did pretty well. He actually sat and waited for almost two minutes at a time! He still got up quite a few times when the waiting got a bit long, and I'd chase him down and bring him back to the mat, but it wasn't nearly as bad as I'd expected! He was happy and splashing in the water when it was his turn to swim, and clearly enjoyed himself. It was a huge relief!

He did well swimming, though he has developed a habit of going vertical in the water when you let go of him, rather than trying to float. Miss Ashley said that was the big thing they would work on for the next month. She had him swim alone a few feet to the side of the pool and he would grab onto the side like he's supposed to and try to climb out. What I keep hearing from other parents is that most kids can swim independently by the end of this session, so I hope that's true for us! It would be great if Carter were swimming by summer. :-)

After swimming we went to the monthly toddler La Leche League meeting, which was today very busy with at least a dozen toddlers and their moms. I always bring a bag of toys, and our toys were so popular that there were quite a few scuffles over some items! Carter's little magnetic drawing screen thing was particularly popular. While a few other toddlers were trying to play with it, Carter got very concerned and said something I've never heard him say before: "My crayon!" I've never heard him use the word "my" or "mine" before today, or really even seen him behave possessively toward any of his toys. He didn't get upset about it or try to take it away; he just seemed to want to register his concern over other kids having his toy.

That's it for now. Sorry I don't have any new pictures yet!

1 comment:

Debby said...

My little man is growing up..it happens so quickly, all you have to do is blink your eyes...and he will be in first grade....Love you!