Since last time, one of the big events in our lives has been swim lessons - Cole's first. You may remember than when he was only 4 months old we took a trip to St. John, where he had his first experience with a pool. Of course, back then he was too young to even understand what was happening (plus the pool was refreshing no matter who you were, given the heat and humidity). 2 years later, we decided it was time for Cole to become reacquainted with pool life, to get some familiarity with water bigger than a bathtub (not to mention some survival skills).
Our fine city of Richmond, CA recently reopened the fabulous - and chemical-free! - Richmond Plunge, but our swim lessons came about a month too early. So, we went twice a week to the old city swim center behind John F. Kennedy High School. It was a bit chilly there - ok, downright cold - mostly because it was seasonably cold and foggy during our scheduled days, and they always kept all the windows open for the health benefit of pool staff, who spent their days breathing in pool chemicals. Little blue-lipped Cole was NOT a fan of the cold. In fact, for the first two weeks he cried every time we said it was time to go to the pool, and it took us that long to figure out his objection wasn't too the water, but the cold. A fun Sheriff Woody towel and some warm-parent bear hugs immediately before and after the pool dips helped with that, and then we had a blast.
Cole learned a lot, including how to kick his legs and arms to stay afloat (and maybe even move forward), and how to go underwater - which usually started like this:
Then went something like this:
And ended up like this:
Not his favorite activity, can you tell? He also quickly got the hang of climbing out of the pool on his own (a skill that made Mom and Dad quite happy):
And enjoyed running (with our pleading, walking very quickly) back along the pool edge to the stairs, where he could repeat the entire procedure:
And then there was his second-favorite activity, the kickboard. Despite the band-aid covering a pretty nasty boo-boo on his chin, Cole was happy (as usual) to pose for a few glamour shots.
All in all, a great time had by everyone - and we're planning on going for lessons Take 2 in just a few weeks, at the new Plunge. Surely more pics to follow then!
