Jeffrey the Fish

Jeff got to go swimming for the first time on Saturday - he is officially a Bubble Baby now. We signed him up for the same class Erin took when she was his age. Since our little man is a splashing machine in the bathtub I expected he'd love the pool.

Our trip to the pool started a little rough, mostly because Erin saw me getting ready with my swimsuit. She ran to her room and got her suit yelling, "Erin go swim! Erin go swim!!" Mind you last time Erin was near a pool she was terrified of it, so we didn't sign her up for more swimming this winter. I calmly explained that Jeffrey and mommy were going to swim and she might ask daddy to take her to the park. She did not understand one bit and was obviously devastated that she was not going to get to swim. Luckily it was warm enough that Tom did have the chance to take her to the park.

Jeffrey and I got to the pool early enough to give him a few minutes to play around in the locker room before getting him ready to swim. Once we headed out to the pool, we just hung out on the deck for another few minutes so he could get used to the sounds and echoes of the indoor pool. He was very subdued during the whole thing.

The same teacher who taught Erin's class was teaching this one so I knew the basics of what was going to happen. I got into the water with Jeff and bounced him around a little. I tried to get him to splash, but he wanted none of that. He clung tightly to me, but did not fuss. I expected either he'd love it and give us those big Jeffrey smiles or he'd scream bloody murder. Amazingly we got a middle ground. He stayed pretty subdued through the entire class.

I got him to do all the things we attempted including relaxing onto his back while I held him up. Apparently most kids hate floating on their backs. He also did Humpty Dumpty off the wall into the pool, floated with me on his tummy and some other stuff. I don't know that I ever got the big Jeffrey smile, but he did uncling from me and let me move him away from my body a little. He did about as well as any of the other kids in the class so I was proud of him.

Since Tom and Erin were at the park, I didn't get any pictures of him in the pool. There won't be a chance to take pictures again until the end of the class, so I'll share some then. Until then I expect he'll enjoy each class a little more than the last and we'll eventually get the big Jeffrey smile to come back out.