Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Swimming Lessons

Morgan started swimming lessons on Monday. He will have three weeks of classes Mon-Wed. So he just finished off his first week. I've noticed some improvement from him, but that's mostly in staying where the teachers put him.
So, the first day of lessons we walk across the street to the pool. Morgan is very excited to go swimming. His swimming teacher was his nursery leader at one point, so she knows him and he knows her. Morgan walks toward the pool. The shallowest this pool gets is 4 ft. deep. Morgan has only ever been in the pool with me and Aaron, and he almost always wears a life jacket. So when his teacher told him to get in, he said, "Where's my life jacket?" And when he didn't get one, he insisted on entering the pool via the stairs. His teacher went over to meet him there, but another little boy beat Morgan to it. While the teacher was carrying the first boy to the wall, Morgan kept going down the stairs. I didn't quite see how it happened, maybe he just jumped in, but soon he was standing on the bottom of the pool with a foot of water over his head. The teacher was near by and scooped him up, but from that moment on, Morgan was pretty terrified that first day.
The kids would all be sitting in the little gutter thing or hanging onto the wall, and Morgan kept climbing out of the pool completely because he was scared. And everytime it was his turn to try a float with a teacher, he would freak out thinking he would be dropped or something.
He chilled out a lot the second day. Today he even stayed inside the pool and hung on to the wall like the rest of the kids.
Still, he is one of the worst listeners in the class. He'd rather be splashing the other kids or spitting water than listening to the teachers explain what they will be doing next. This is why he is always so surprised when he is dunked under the water. Most of the kids are okay putting their entire heads under. Morgan HATES it. He always comes up spluttering and spitting and frantic, even if it's a quick bob underneath.
But he has fun.
I took pictures today.
This is Morgan doing the ship float across the pool while kicking his feet.
Here he is getting dunked. He's supposed to hum while going under the water. That way his mouth will be closed and no water will go up his nose. He doesn't do this and ALWAYS opens his mouth when he goes down. It's funny because he kind of gets his revenge on his teachers when he comes out, since he sprays them in their faces with a jet of water from his mouth.

Here he's swimming across the pool with his windmill arms.
Morgan's class has grown each day. I think they are up to ten students now. Here's Morgan's waiting for his turn to do something with half the class.
Mr. Cheese.

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