swimming

This is Isaac at the beginning of the summer--lifejacket, timid, hated getting splashed and don't even mention the idea of going underwater. No way!
I knew his swimming would probably progress this year, but I had no idea the answer lay in a snorkle. It was actually Isaac's idea to get one. He saw the Backyardigans snorkeling and he told me that if he could get the "mask thing that covers your nose, and a breather", then he would like to go underwater. Couldn't hurt to try, and so we bought it.
It was an immediate transformation. He refused his life jacket and snorkled throughout the pool on the first time out with the new snorkle--even the deep end without any worries of not touching. Snorkeling looked like so much fun that pretty soon we invested in another mask and "breather".... I'm the hottest mom at the pool.


I can't believe how much his swimming has changed this summer. Yesterday we headed down to the pool and this is how he decided to jump in. Amazing! I love those moments when he does something completely out of the ordinary.

And of course I made him do it again...

And again...
So this is a shoutout for how miraculous a snorkle can be for a timid swimmer. One of my favorite moments this summer was our family heading down to the pool just as the sun was setting. No one was around and we had the whole pool to ourselves. We swam and snorkled and dived for stuff with only the pool lights and the moon lighting the way. It was so much fun. I think we called it quits sometime after ten o'clock.

Here's another cute video of him being a dolphin in case you're interested.

Oh yeah...Isaac just reminded me of the best part from yesterday. After numerous flips and some wrestling time, he climbed on my back for a piggy back ride and threw up. Yep...throw up clear down neck and back. So gross.

So this post is a little out of order. We went to Oregon for Labor Day Weekend and I'll have to post about that next time.