Swim Lessons

Max is such a big boy now. He doesn't even need me in the water for swim lessons anymore. (sniff, sniff).

I have had a few bittersweet moments like this lately. Since he was 4 months old, I have been doing parent & me classes. From The Little Gym to swim lessons, I was always required to be by his side.

But, now my little man is graduating to the big time. He doesn't need ol' mom anymore to accompany him in his gym class or in the water.

Check out my baby boy. Not such a baby anymore, huh?

(Max is the second one in on the side of the pool...)

Swim Time!

Max started swim lessons today! For the next eight weeks, Max and his cousin Eli, are going to be learning the freestyle and backstroke. Since Max and Eli are both such overachievers, I have a feeling they will quickly learn these two basic strokes and move on to more important swim techniques, like the butterfly. I certainly don't want to be that mom and aunt, but I can pretty much guarantee they will have the butterfly mastered by the end of the session.  

Ok, seriously, I am sure you are wondering what we actually do in a swim class at this age. First off, it's a Parent & Me class, which means mommy gets to participate in pool time. Second, mommy gets to sing a lot of nursery rhyme sing-songy songs. Next, while holding Max in a football hold mommy says to "reach reach" his little hands forward [a simple doggy paddle motion] and then lays him on his back and says "kick kick" as he learns to kick his little feet. To wrap things up, Max got dunked [lovingly by his mommy] underwater to the tune of "The Noble Duke of York." And that is all in the first class, people! 

If we keep our kids in swim lessons for the long haul, Max and Eli could be the next Michael Phelps [minus the whole drug bust photos and debacle, of course!].

Here's some shots of the boys doing their swim thing today:

Locker room before the big class

Swim and strategy talk

Before swim class

Loving the water? Not so sure.

After swim class

Having a blast together!