::swimming::

This post will just be a celebration of a cute and adorable baby loving the pool.

This is notable because the last time I put him in a pool--at Disneyworld I think--he was very unsure of himself and skeptical of it all. And when I took him over to a little splash pad he just started crying.

So when we were in Phoenix a couple of weeks ago I wasn't sure whether he'd be excited about the pool or not.

But when he saw it--just saw it--he got so excited.  All he wanted to do was walk over there and GET IN.

And once he was in, he was so happy.  Splashing was the best.  Max chasing him in the water was also the best.  And as all little baby boys do, he got overconfident and dumped himself in several times.










The baby floaty was great.  Those are hard to find.  When we were in FL in jan I saw one at a grocery store and snagged it.

When I had to get him out of the pool he bawled and screamed.  Many adults sitting around the pool doing nothing gave me dirty looks, which was lame.  He just didn't want to get out EVER.  But it wasn't that warm and his lips were blue.

The rest of that trip anytime we left the door of the hotel he tried to run towards the pool.  I was just glad there was a fence around it.

And yes, Max is wearing the GoPro, so if you're interested in some super cool footage you can come over and check out the swimming videos.

::max swims::

Max has always loved to swim. He's been basically a fish for a long time. I had him take a couple of rounds of swimming lessons at the Y when we lived in Providence. Those were basically a joke. They started with about 100 floaties on, and then if the kids were wimpy the teachers would let them put even more floaties on. I think all they did in those classes that was worth anything was blow bubbles into the water and kick.
Anyway, it turned me off swimming lessons.

But when Sandy was born I realized that I was going to need Max to be a solid swimmer if we were going to go swimming in the summertime with just Max Sand and I. So I got him into some private swimming lessons at the beginning of the summer, and it's been amazing. The teacher is the nicest old retired guy. He's jolly and kind, but not afraid to push and ask a lot.

Max went from refusing to even try to roll on his back to floating on his back quite well. He's also doing the backstroke along with freestyle strokes, the butterfly and all sorts of other things that I haven't a clue what they're called.

I just have these pictures because the other day Kris asked me to bring my camera and take some video so that he could see how Max is doing, since the lessons are always during work hours. I felt like a dope, dragging my huge camera to document every little thing my kid was doing, but as always the photos made up for it. They're just so fun to have!
And my mother would be interested to know, these are straight out of the camera. I really should probably have lightened them up a bit, but I think they're pretty great.


Hopefully Max can continue to improve, and most importantly continue to love swimming and it can be something he can enjoy doing for a long long time. We're proud of our little fish!