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Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Swimming with Zack

You may remember that a few weeks ago I put up a picture of Zack at swimming lessons. That face that he's making... he smiles that big from the moment I lower him into the pool at 6:30 until I take him out of the pool at 7:00. He LOVES to swim.

However, being 2 1/2 he is also fearless about the water. Let me set the stage for you. Swimming lesson #1 occurred right after his toddler class so he was pretty worn out. I thought all would be well. He listened to the teacher, he seemed to sit fairly still.

Swimming lesson #2 - June 22nd he started to bounce. Up and down up and down on the table they put in the water (so the kids can stand up). I'm sitting by the wall and I see him bounce... bounce.... gone. I jumped up really quick and rushed over to him as he was standing back up all smiles.

Let me ease your fears by saying that they all wear life jackets so I knew that even if he fell off of the table he would float... it would just be a matter of fishing him out. (This will be important to the story later.)

He, of course was unphased by the falling incident and didn't understand in the slightest why Mommy looked like she was going to have a heart attack.

Moving on... Swimming lesson #3 - June 24th. They are swimming out into the water to retrieve rubber ducks. The teacher would give them one, they would throw it and then she would help them to swim out and get it.

Zack has his turn. She turns to help another child and he is just standing there innocently on the edge of the table. Next thing I know he throws his duck and jumps.

He sinks like a rock.

Luckily the teacher is right there and as she turns around he is coming back to the surface and she grabs him and puts him back on the table.

Are you seeing a pattern here? It is at this point that I turn to one of the other parents and say, before all of this is over, I think I might be getting wet.

The second week of swimming lessons he did much better. He was listening and mostly following directions and above all... keeping his head above the water when the teacher was not around. Then the 4th of July happened and he had a week off from swimming lessons.

Cue last night.

I'm sitting by the wall and Zack is standing on the table. They had been practicing their swimming and he thought he would get in a little extra practice. He was doggie paddling along and the teacher was way out in the pool with another little girl.

He's swimming, he's smiling, he's swimming... he's gone.

AWW CRAP!!

I jump up along with two other Dad's (who complimented me on my quick reaction time...) and as I get to the edge of the pool I see him bobbing there. He's not really panicking, sort of just doggie paddling giving me this look like I'm kind of stuck can you help me out here?

So I lean down and fish him out. This time, just my pants are wet.... next time.... perhaps I should just wear my bathing suit!! :-)

4 comments:

Lynsi said...

Cute story! :) He's growing up so fast!! Seems like just last year I saw you at the fair when you were preggers with him :)

kbreints said...

So funny! I can picture it all! At least he is a little fish :)

erica said...

i think just jeans and cowboy boots. afterall you must always look cute.... ;)

DD said...

That's why it bugs me when our YMCA tells us parents cannot attend the classes (you can be there for the 1st and last). B/C watching my son suddenly struggle in the deep end on the other side of the glass almost gave me a bloody heart attack!

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