The Journey of Parenthood…

Spring Swim

I know I am kinda hardcore about several things, but swimming is def on that list! I am SO thankful we did survival swim lessons with both Kye and Britt and we will 100% be doing them with Leo as well as any future babies. To me, it’s a must have…especially since we own a pool!!! I LOVE Tiny Bubbles and the skills they have given my children. Seeing how awesome they are in the water is truly amazing to me!!! 

Not only do I think it’s important to have survival swim, I also think it’s important to keep the kids in the water and to refresh them each year. Kye has learned so much every time we do lessons! This year Kye swam in the afternoons (one afternoon a week for 6 weeks) and Britt swam in the mornings (one morning a week for 6 weeks). Each child had an individual instructor for their 30 min in the water. I was more nervous for Britt’s only b/c she hadn’t had any experience with Tiny Bubbles other than her survival swim and I wasn’t sure how she would do! Plus we haven’t been in the pool for several months…I had no idea how she would respond or how many of her skills she’d remember! 

Kye, of course, was eager to get in the pool and excited to learn new things. At first I debated about doing a 6 lesson class or a 12 lesson class and he said he only wanted to go for 6 which shocked me b/c he’s always LOVED it. Sure enough, once he started going he remembered how much he loved it and I regretted not having him go for longer! Good to remember for next year 🙂 

I feel bad that I don’t remember Kye’s instructors name! She was super sweet though and he really liked her 😉 These mats are awesome and help position them correctly in the water for kicking!

Learning freestyle!

Slide is still his favorite part 🙂

Britt had her lessons while Kye was at school but obviously she also had to tag along for his lessons in the afternoons. I brought a ton of toys and things to keep her occupied but she ended up never needing any of them. She just wanted to watch him the entire time! So, so sweet! She would cheer him on and say “go Kye!”

Lots and lots of thumbs up were given as well 😉

Zach was able to come to one of Kye’s lessons but sadly couldn’t make it to any of Britt’s (mornings are a tough time for him with work)

Practicing his “big circle” arms. When he first started trying to do freestyle stroke it was hilarious. He improved DRASTICALLY by the time we finished with our lessons!

First time learning back stroke

Kye is SUCH a great swimmer. It is so amazing to me to see how the things they taught him early on are now leading up to him legit swimming actual strokes. I love seeing him in the water and love that he enjoys it so much. Since we went to Disney the last week of Feb we had to double up on lessons the week before our trip so Kye actually joined two older children in their class. Y’all. I was MEGA impressed with him!!! He really thrived with the older children. Seeing them do so well and watching their abilities pushed him in such a positive way. He was SO cute and was SO proud of himself that day! 

Swimming is one of those things that pictures just do not do it justice. So I took a good bit of videos! Here are all the ones of Kye:

Britt’s first couple of lessons were pretty rough. She cried a LOT. At first she was very excited for swim and came into Tiny Bubbles acting very sure of herself 😉 Then when she got in the water, it all changed. She was very upset! I even had to go inside and sit so she could calm down. After the first two lessons though, it clicked and she was back doing her thing!

I am SO glad I worked with her so, so much over the summer last year. We swam at least 3-4 times a week! I am BIG about practicing b/c survival swim is no joke! It’s amazing, but it’s also very time consuming and much more expensive than just “update” lessons are. My goal is always for my kids to only need one round of survival lessons. I work hard to help them maintain those skills so we won’t ever need a second survival round! I know many people who have their kids do the full survival course twice (or even more) simply b/c they started very young with it the first time or because they may not have a pool or a place to really keep them in the water a lot. I was nervous that Britt may need a repeat of it but she def didn’t! She has grown a TON since last year so it took her a bit to adjust, but then she took off 🙂 

She cracks me up because her favorite part of swim is getting to jump off the steps. I could never get Kye to jump off the steps to me when he was little, I’m eager to get in the water with her and see how crazy she will be haha! Zach wasn’t able to come watch her but one of the mornings Kye was actually there for her lesson to watch b/c he was on winter break. It was ADORABLE. She was so, so, SO proud to have him there watching her. She legit couldn’t even SWIM b/c she kept looking at him the entire time. She also kept saying “watch this Kye! watch this!” and every time she came out of the water her eyes went straight to him to see if he was watching. She adores her brother and it was one of the most precious things ever 🙂 One afternoon both she and Kye swam at the same time (again, it was due to Britt needing two lessons in one week leading up to Disney!) and both Casey and Mrs. Charlotte came to watch. She was also excited about having them there and kept looking at them, showing off for them, and telling them to watch her 😉 Kye was proud to have them there too! But he was even more excited to have his sister in the water at the same time as him haha I think she was a bit of a distraction from his lessons!

Child has a BEAUTIFUL starfish!

Both of my swimmers!

So thankful for Mrs Margie, she’s truly amazing!

Britt’s biggest struggle: keeping her mouth shut haha shocker 😉

Swimming to the steps!

Jumping off the steps and swimming

My personal biggest struggle with swim this year was finding bathing suits to fit Britt! Child is SO LONG but SO SKINNY!!! She is in a 2T clothes (actually is in the 3T length limits but needs the 2T b/c her skinniness) but none of her 2T suits fit. I tried a bunch of 3T and found a couple that worked but had to tie back the straps on a couple because they were so big! 

Once everything clicked with Britt she really did amazing with swim! Her jumping off that step truly amazed me! She watched Kye go down the slide at his lessons and always said she wanted to do it too but when it came to be her turn, she was always too nervous. We started her at the bottom of the slide, then the next lesson moved her up to the middle, etc until she did finally go down on her own and, of course, she LOVED it 🙂 Big girl, growing up!!!

Here are some notes from her lessons for me to be sure to work with her on over the summer:

  • When she is in her starfish have her put her hands on her belly button before she turns back over
  • Remind her to “zip her lip” before going under!
  • I need to make sure I am in as deep of water as possible for me…like it needs to be at my shoulders when I swim with her. She tends to put her feet down when swimming when the water is shallow
  • When Britt is in her starfish she turns towards her left…so the left part of her face goes into the water first. Important to remember when I help flip her, to flip her the correct way!
  • I need to work on rolling from her back to her tummy and also to keep her legs straight when kicking
  • When she turns from her starfish back to swimming she needs to have her legs together
  • Her legs need to be higher when she is kicking so put my hands under her thighs when on the mat. 
  • Practice “humpty dumpty” with her by having her sit on the ledge and sing the song then tell her to bend her belly and come off the ledge
  • I need to get a swimming ring to have her get and bring to me!

I also took a couple videos of Britt:

With being SUPER pregnant over the summer I am SO thankful both Kye and Britt not only enjoy the water, but can SWIM. I think we will be LIVING in the pool and I can’t wait!!! I’m so proud of them both and how amazing they did during their lessons this year and I know we’ll be back at Tiny Bubbles soon 🙂

Emily Parker
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1 Comment

  1. Katie1315
    March 26, 2014 / 6:33 pm

    Great swimmers!!!Re: Britt's swimsuit–I can't get Arabelle into a one piece because she's so long and skinny. I search around for tankini style suits and that works. I've actually gotten her some off Land's End at the end of the season for super cheap and they have lasted 2 years.

    Reply

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