Swim Lessons

Dear Jack,

I signed you up for swim lessons this summer and technically, you were kicked out.

That's right, in our first lesson with our private swim instructor, Angie, you blew bubbles, passed from one adult to another underwater, jumped from the side of the pool and went under, monkey crawled on the wall, and floated. After Angie saw all of that, she said you knew all of the things two year olds can reasonable be "taught" and we could have our money back. All you needed, she said, was time to practice all of those skills and time to become coordinated enough to put it all together.

We decided to keep you in "lessons" anyway because it was nice to have another adult to practice with. Also, I realized after your sister jumped in the water for the very first time after seeing Angie playing with you jumping in, that your sister really liked Angie and when your sister really likes an adult, she likes that adult to pay attention to her and having Angie playing with you meant your sister would seek out her attention -- by doing braver and bolder things in the water. So really, your lessons were a big help to your sister.

You really are amazing in the water. You can truly swim underwater at this point. The only limitation you have is that you have not learned to come up for air on your own. Although at the Splash Pool yesterday, I had you swimming from me to the steps and knowing you could stand up at the steps, I let you go a little longer underwater than I normally would, and you flipped yourself over to get that breath, so maybe you will be learning that step very soon.

You like to swim from one person to the other and don't even mind swimming to your sister who thinks it's really neat to catch you.

One of the things I love about Angie is that she is oh so careful with her words. She agrees with your sister than you and she are both swimming very well. But one day, when your sister was out of earshot, Angie confided to me that she had never, ever seen a toddler swim as well as you do and that she has been bragging about you to her friends.

Makes a mama proud, my little Jackfish!

Love,
Mom