Swim Lessons

I knew I wanted my boys to take swim lessons again, Benjamin for his second year and Jonah his first, but it was hard to find a good block of time during the summer.  I finally found an evening slot that went through the month of August on Tuesday and Thursday evenings.  I know it seemed crazy to pick that time when I was due with Ethan on August 4th, but I figured Peter could always take the older boys and it would give them a nice 'distraction' in the evenings since having a newborn sometimes slows life down a bit (or at least it should, ha!)

And since Ethan was born on August 1st, we all got to go to swim lessons.  I didn't want to miss out, so despite feeling tired, off we went!  Here's my cute boys before their first lesson....

Both boys did great at their lessons.  Jonah took some serious reassuring and encouragement (with a few threats mixed it) from mama to not stop the lessons half-way through or after his face got too wet, but overall he did great.  Benjamin started the week not wanting to put his head all the way under and was a bit timid.

Jonah cracked us up because it seemed like he had the teacher wrapped around his finger.  He would get to play with whatever pool toys he wanted, whenever he wanted.  I don't think she could resist him batting his big blue eyes!  After the last lessons, his teacher and the lifeguard declared my boys the cutest boys they had ever seen.  Of course, I couldn't help but agree, but we chuckled at how they fell prey to their cuteness :-)

Before the final week of lessons, we challenged the boys to really try hard in their classes.  We told Ben to really jump off the side of the pool, rather than sort of fall because he was nervous to put his head under.  And we challenged him to put his head all the way under when it was time to practice their bobs.  We challenged Jonah to really kick his legs and to put his face and head under the water too.  And we promised them a little toy treat from Wal-Mart if they succeeded.

Well, they totally surprised us.  Ben was just holding on to the edge of the pool and all of a sudden determined he could do a bob and put his head all the way under.  He was SO PROUD.  And so were we.  He kept putting his head all the way under over and over, and smiling sooo big, then he would give us the thumbs up sign.  It was adorable and we were so excited for him.  He also jumped in so much better after realizing he could put his head underwater and survive!

And Jonah really worked hard to be brave during his floats, kicked his legs GREAT, and finally put his head under.  We were so proud of how well he did for being just two years old!!

The boys loved their swim lessons and we were so glad for their enthusiasm and improvement.  Hopefully we'll be able to take them to the local pool more this fall so they can get in some more practice!

And little Ethan was a trooper while they swam.  He was mostly happy in his car seat or being held by mama or Auntie Amanda or Nana when they came to watch one night.  Here's a picture of my 3 boys on their final night of lessons...

And this mama survived getting 3 boys out the door for their 6:15pm lessons, with Peter's help of course.  Fun memories!!