Cole can SWIM!!

I am so excited to write this post!! Cole and I went swimming yesterday afternoon and he did awesome! I am just so amazed at how much progress he makes every time he goes swimming. Last year he never wanted to practice swimming but this year he loves it! It has been so good for him to just get to play around in the pool (at my Mom's house) because it really has helped him with his swimming.

When we first went swimming in the beginning of June he was able to kick on his front with a kickboard with no help - a big improvement from last year! He loves to put his face in the water which is super helpful!

Yesterday when we first started swimming he was able to swim under water by himself! His legs are getting much better but his arms were staying under the water rather than coming up out of the water. He was doing more of a breaststroke with his arms. Then, this little boy (who is also four) started swimming. This little boy was able to swim getting his arms up over the water so I pointed it out to Cole. I really think that helped Cole understand better what he was able to do. I tried to show him but he wasn't real interested in watching me swim. So then Cole was able to swim, with his face in the water, completely horizontal, legs kicking AND his arms moving coming up over the water one at a time!! I was SO EXCITED!!

He's really good at holding his breath and keeping his face in the water which allows him to swim farther. Once he needs to come up for air is when he stops and stands up. I tried to explain to hiim that he should just pop his head up, take a breath but not stop his arms and legs. That will come in time and then we'll working on proper breathing. I would say that he was able to swim about 10-15 feet(I'm a bad judge of length) as long as he was able to hold his breath the entire time!

Then we worked on diving. We had worked on it a little bit the other week and it is amazing how he remembers what I told him after not practicing for a while. We worked on diving, first sitting down and then standing up. He is really good at keeping his arms together and leading with his fingers. He just needs to work on keeping his head down and chin tucked to his chest a little bit more. When he enters the water he keeps his hands together but lifts his head a bit.

I am just so excited that he can swim all by himself! He is more comfortable and willing to swim in water that he can stand in. If I take him further out he is less comfortable and doesn't want you to let go.