Swimming

 

We decided against putting up the blow up pool this year. I am not sure if that is the right decision or not. He is really doing great and has graduated from a mask that covers his nose to goggles. If we could, it would be the perfect time to do swimming lessons, but it is not going to happen right now.
We are very glad that Uncle Trav has moved back home and has a pool at his house. We have gone over a couple of times. This is video of him jumping off of the diving board and having fun with his dad.

Water park

Once a year our water park offers discount tickets. There is only one catch. You have to get in line very early because they only offer that price to the first 2000 people in line. The doors open at 7 AM. We got up at 5:00 and made the 45 minute drive. Zander did really well waiting in line. We got in and went to a pool first. It had a large pirate ship that you could jump off of. He loved it until he fell off of the side and skinned his knee. My favorite ride is the Cyclone Cove. It is a round circle with a current. You put on a life jacket and just let it pull you around. It is very relaxing. Zander and Dad rode the Bonzai Pipeline. It is a very tall slide with a bump in it. Most of the time you become airborn at the bump. I was a nervous wreck. Zander was too small to hold onto the handles so Summers just wrapped his legs around him the best he could. THey are on the right in the video and you can see them just hanging before they start down. They made it and he rode it 3 more times. I didn't watch anymore. Then they went on the Tunnel of Terror which has a 4 story drop. It is totally enclosed and in complete darkness. He loved it! We had a great day and were all very tired. Once a year is enough for me.

swimming

 

Daddy throwing Zander in the pool!!

swimming

 

The pool....
What should I say. I have tried not to write about that pool. It has caused alot of stress. However, I have also really enjoyed it. Zander and I spent alot of time in it on Saturday. I bought him a new mask that doesn't fog up and really keeps the water out of his nose. He finally decided to go underwater and that was it. He was swimming. We took off his floaty swim suit and he was swimming. Now, granted it is 3 feet of water, but he is doing great and just in time for the beach!

July 4th Water Park Fun

We had a great July 4th (Independence Day) holiday. Unfortunately, Daddy had to work, so it was a Zander and Mommy day. We had breakfast at home and nap time and then we went to the water park for the first time this year. What a difference a year makes. Last year, if Zander fell down on his bottom in the pool, his head was completely underwater. This year, most of the time he could get up by himself. After we had been there for about 45 minutes, he asked to put on his swim vest. That was much easier. He could float on his back and swim with out help from Mom.
Since it was a holiday, they were giving away prizes every 15 minutes. We didn't win anything. We had a great time. I think that the swimming lessons at the YMCA helped Zander to not be as scared of the water. He should do fine at the beach next week.

Swim Lessons

Learning to kick

Zander swimming - not happy about it.

Zander started swimming lessons this month. I took pictures the first day, but of course I have not had them developed yet. I was very apprehensive about these lessons. They take 12 children out of his class and 2 teachers walk them over to the pool where they meet the swim teacher. Now, anyone that knows Zander, knows that his attention span is about 1 second long. If he sees something interesting, he is going to go do it, regardless of what he is supposed to be doing. That would include getting into the water. So I was really nervous about this. I decided that I would watch the first lesson. The water is 36" deep.

The first lesson went really well. He had a very sweet teacher, the kids listened very well and the two teachers from his school were right there (although not in the water and did not have on suits, which I did not understand) in case they were needed. I decided that I was overreacting and went on to work.

Last week, I decided that I would go back and take some pictures. He had a new teacher. He had been sick with a high fever for 5 days and this was his first day back to school. He did OK for a few minutes and then he started yawning. Once he started yawning, he then started crying. Once he gets to this point, he needs to go to sleep. I decided to let him stay in and see if the teacher could get his attention back. She proceeded to look at him, with me standing there, and said, " I don't do crying, whining little kids!" and then she jerked him in the pool by the arm. I just couldn't believe what I was seeing. Of course, this did not help the crying any at all, he is now scared of her and didn't want to do anything else that she said. I knew that was not the time to make a scene in front of the children, so I waited to see what would happen.

If you look at the last picture, you can see that she had the kids just hanging from the side. She is back about 10 feet with another child. This was even making the life guard nervous. He came over and sat beside of me and eventually took Zander and sat him on the side. Even with the blue belt on, he could hardly hold on to the side. Another child got off of the wall and started coming toward her and she pushed his head away from her and he went completely under the water. That was the last straw for me. I took Zander out of the water. The teacher went over to her after I left and said, "You do know that was his mother, don't you?" She replied, " I don't do crying kids." Needless to say the Aquatics Director and I had a rather long talk later that day. He watched the next lesson and even the teachers said that she was a different person and did a great job. I never know what to do in that situation. It has been my experience, if you say something, they take it out on your child when you are not around. Any one else have any advice on how I should have handled this?

I took Zander to his room and he went to lie down in the book center and went to sleep. All he needed was a nap.