Vivienne Swims!

We go to the pool (either in our subdivision, at Grandma's house or at the Y) probably about 5 days a week… sometimes more often than that.  The kids absolutely love it.  Just this past Thursday, we had quite a development.  Vivienne started swimming without her puddle jumper!

Earlier this week, she started opening her eyes underwater and trying to hold her breath (versus just quickly dunking her head under the water).  She did this for about an hour, and her eyes were red until the next morning.  So I decided to get the big kids their first pairs of goggles, and I think this made a big difference.  They really like being able to see under the water.

This past Thursday, we were at the pool with our friends, Kristi, Daniel and Natalie.  Natalie is about the same age and swimming level as Vivienne.  The girls decided to try swimming a few feet without flotation devices, and they both just took off!  They were swimming back and forth from the stairs to either me or Kristi and then back again.  It was only about 5 or 6 feet, but they were doing this for such a long period of time that we had to force them to take breaks and catch their breath.

Vivienne is slowly building her confidence in the water.  Today she would walk hand-over-hand down the side of the pool and when she got close enough to the stairs, she would let go and kick her feet to the stairs.

I'm hoping that Miles starts venturing out of his puddle jumper soon.  Right now, he's adamantly opposed to removing it.  Evelyn, on the other hand, is adamantly opposed to trying one on.   *sigh*

I'm dreaming of a day when I don't have to be on quite such high alert at the pool.  Between the almost-2-year-old toddler who refuses help of any kind and refuses flotation of any kind (which is a deadly combination) and an almost-4-year-old who is just learning to swim without flotation, I feel like I need a 2-hour nap every time we get home from the pool.

But it's totally worth it.  And I have a killer tan.