Swimming Lessons

Ian has been taking swimming lessons with our friend from church, Amber, each summer since he turned three. She is a wonderful teacher! It's been amazing to watch Ian's transformation from a timid 3-year-old who cried most of his first lesson to a confident 6-year-old that can swim the length of the pool with ease.

This summer, we decided to enroll both boys in lessons. We wanted to continue to build Ian's confidence as a swimmer and to have Amber teach him some of the other strokes besides freestyle. We wanted Ryan to begin the journey of lessons as well -- to learn to feel comfortable in the water and begin to learn some basics.

It was a bonus that the boys were able to take lessons with some of their best friends from church -- brothers Caleb and Samuel. The boys had lessons back-to-back with the older boys (along with a girl from church) going first and the younger boys going second.

Ryan and Sammy were the only two students in their class -- which was probably a good thing. The first day, both boys were crying and asking to get out of the pool the majority of the lesson. Amber remained patient yet firm with them, and they did what she asked them to do. Ryan seemed to really be nervous before each swimming lesson (especially as he could tell Ian's lesson was wrapping up), but he certainly did gain confidence and learn some basics during his five lessons. We're proud of him!

Amber gave lots of encouragement, high fives, fist  pumps, and hugs to the nervous first-time swimmers.

Ryan doesn't look happy here, but "monkey walking" was his favorite thing to do during lessons, probably because he didn't have to get his face in the water!

Ian and Caleb enjoyed playing Uno and other games while waiting for their little brothers to finish lessons

 
Ian learned more about taking breaths while doing the freestyle and began to learn backstroke, breaststroke, and the butterfly. Ian was able to apply what he learned when we went to the neighborhood pool or other friends' pools this summer, too -- even willingly going off the diving board and swimming to the side! We're proud of him!

Amber even convinced us to let Nathan get in the pool with her. She put him underwater a few times, reminding us that babies naturally know what to do in the water. Sure enough! He did it, even though he wasn't too happy about it! :) We're proud of him!

Thanks, Ms. Amber, for teaching our boys about swimming! You're awesome!

Here are some videos of Ryan:

And a few of Ian ...