Just Keep Swimming!

Toby has attended his third week of swimming “lessons” now so I figured I would do a re-cap post on how it’s going so far.  The facility we go to is great – it’s specifically for younger children (there are no adult lessons offered there).  There’s one large locker room which at first we thought was strange until we saw how it was set up.  Basically you enter into the waiting area/viewing room and then there’s the locker room entrance straight ahead.  To the right is the entrance to the pool – they separate that entrance it into two areas so there’s a “dry” and a “wet” space.  I like how this is designed to prevent falls on the wet floor.  Also, this allows for wet kids to get right out of the pool and into the locker room to change.  In the locker room there are several changing stalls and a few also include showers.  There are three changing stations for babies and tons of cubbies and lockers for storage.  We figured out a pretty good routine after week 2 so we’re able to shower Toby, lotion him up and change into dry stuff and get out of there in about 20 minutes.  Would have been quicker last week but he puked all over him and me right after I changed him into pj’s…sigh.  Need to make sure he doesn’t swallow as much pool water next time.

As for the actual lessons, we definitely like his regular instructor  (we think there were a couple substitutes for week 2).  She just seems more in tune with younger babies and feels comfortable with their developmental level.  She was great with encouraging Toby and trying to get him to cruise in the water on the platform.  Here’s a video of her helping him float on his back.  As soon as she gave him the mirror to look at, he was instantly okay with being on his back. 

Here’s a picture of him practicing using the platform in the water.  He can stand up on it so his shoulders are above water.  This was from week 2, but in week 3 the instructor used little penguin toys to try and get him to side step towards one end.

There were four other babies in his class, though last week none of them showed up.  Some other things they do during the thirty minutes are using different toys and props, pouring water over their heads so they get used to it, using the noodle to make a fountain spray so they can go through it, and signing some songs.  It’s a long session – 20 weeks – so we’ll keep going until June.  So far we’re pretty happy with everything and we’re just glad Toby doesn’t cry when he gets into the water!