Tuesday, August 25, 2009

'Vu' (aka Fish)

For awhile, Logan was actually able to pronounce "fish" pretty well. Then just recently I noticed his word for "fish" switched to something that sounds more like "vu". Don't ask me why....

This summer Logan and I have been attending swim classes every Tuesday and Thursday nights. We did the first 8 sessions with Robert and his mommy Jenn back in June. We then took a month break and just recently started up another set of 8 sessions (Jenn and Robert decided not to join us this round).

I'm not sure if Logan had a fairy-fish godmother visit him during that month break, or if he finally started connecting the dots on his last class, but the difference between the two sessions has been amazing.


In June, he was okay with the water, but not one with the water. He tolerated the class. He wasn't happy about getting his face wet and he certainly wasn't happy about laying on his back and getting his ears wet.


This time around is a completely different story. From day one, he's been swimming like crazy. When I tell him to kick, he pounds his feet up and down as fast as he can. When I tell him to use big arms, he reaches as far out in front of him as he can, doggy paddling to the nearest toy in front of him. When I say "1, 2, 3... Big breath! Eyes in!" he laughs, giggles, squeezes his eyes shut and LUNGES for the water in front of him (regardless of whether I'm there or not).

While I'm holding him and listening to instructions from the teacher, he is generally splashing in the water, or kicking his feet, or dunking his face head-on into the water, or tilting his head from side to side, getting his ears wet voluntarily. All the while laughing and giggling and having the time of his life.


I try my best to hold the squirming kid tight so he doesn't drown. Meanwhile, he's pushing off of me as hard as he can. Because apparently I'm holding him down.


WHO IS THIS KID??

Tonight was no different of course. We practiced "wall walks" - where the kids hang off the side like monkeys and hand-over-hand walk the length of the wall. Most of the kids were screaming and stopping mid-wall, scared they were going to fall. Logan, on the other hand, was crazy strong, holding his head high above water (unless he intentionally dropped low enough to take a SIP of the water, yes he does that too...) and moving way too fast for the line.

Several times I had to slow him down to pause and wait for the girl in front of him to catch her breath. He'd get impatient and push his feet against the wall to launch out at me (standing behind him) and I'd scramble to catch him before he took in too many gulps. What's amazing about all of this is just two months ago, in the June sessions, when we practiced "wall walks" - Logan didn't get it at all. Every time I'd try to get him to hold onto the side of the wall, he'd just LET GO.


I can't help but think that the (near) back-to-back classes have made a difference. And it's definitely convinced me to continue on. I don't think I'll keep up every single month, and thankfully, once we start the Fall sessions, it backs down to once a week (twice a week rushing out of work early is brutal!). But, I'm definitely going to keep him in the classes as long as I can keep up myself.


Speaking of keeping up, tonight I barely made it to the class at all. Since Jon isn't home this week, I had to run and pick up Lola from her checkup appointment (cancer is still in total remission and she is looking fabulous!) first, before going home to change Logan and I. Traffic was a pain since there was an accident on the way home, so we were running late. Still, I got us both changed and packed up the car to go. Once we got there, I grabbed Logan and our bags to rush to class, only to notice I had forgotten to bring towels.

Uhhhhh. We kinda need towels Bree.

Class was about to start in a minute or so. There was no way I could drive back home to get some towels and still make it back in time for even part of the class (the class is only 30 minutes long).

Luckily, I still had Logan's travel tent in the car, where I keep some spare (baby-sized receiving) blankets stuffed inside.

I thought OH WHAT THE HELL.

I grabbed the blankets (which barely cover my ass) and off we went. A sight to behold I'm sure.

3 comments:

Cat Shipman said...

sounds awesome and i love the pics!!! Cant wait to see him in action!

Elizabeth said...

I grabbed the blankets (which barely cover my ass) and off we went. A sight to behold I'm sure.

I lolled.

Mama Bree said...

@Elizabeth - since you're around a little baby lately, you know just how ridiculous that is!! ;-)