Last day

Today was the last day of swimming lessons for the summer -- it flew by!

At the beginning of the summer, Hannah was comfortable going under water, using a kickboard, and jumping in by herself in the shallow end. She could do lots of things with someone holding on to her, or when she was holding onto someone, but she wouldn't swim without help -- she was very afraid of not having something to hold onto in the water.

Today, she swam across the pool by herself, coming up to breathe when she needed it. She did the backfloat by herself, including getting into the backfloat in the first place. She can do the pieces of the breaststroke and is beginning to learn the dolphin kick that is the basis for the butterfly. She jumped into the deep end and swam across. She started to learn to tread water. She swam from the deep end back to the shallow end by herself. She got a toy from the bottom of the pool by herself.

At the beginning of the summer, Naomi didn't like to go under water, and would repeat that to Miss Connie several times at the beginning of each lesson. She refused to blow bubbles. Today she was going under water frequently, kicking, blowing bubbles, and using her arms. She jumped into the deep end without holding anyone's hand. She touched the bottom of the pool with her feet and got a toy from the bottom of the pool (with help). She swam several feet on her very own. She still needs help getting into the backfloat, but once there, she can do it without help.

Both girls have made amazing progress this summer, and we're so proud of them!

Simeon spent the swimming lessons trying to convince me to let him into the pool. When we go swimming (not in lessons), he spends most of the time doing full-body kicks. He's certain that he could do all that his sisters can do and more...