Water Tots

Sophie has started a swim class at one of the city pools.  It's for toddlers/2 year olds, and she loves it!  We've gone 3 times so far (out of 8 classes).  So far it's getting used to being in the water, splashing around, and getting in and out of the pool.  They sing versions of "Wheels on the Bus" and "Itsy Bitsy Spider" that are adapted to being in the water, which is slightly confusing for Sophie, but she still enjoys them.  They have floaty pool toys like balls, fish, seals, etc that float all over and you support her under her tummy so she has to reach and stretch out to get to them, which is supposed to get them used to the swimming position.  The seals and the balls have high value--the fish: not so much.  She does this better than leaning back in the water, though.  That's the only thing that seems to scare her a little.

Her favorite by far is climbing out of the pool and jumping back in.  She especially loves the jumping in part.  The climbing out I figured as much, since her national pastime is climbing, but I was surprised she wasn't afraid of the jumping back in.  At first I would lift her off the edge and plop her in, but pretty quick she was leaping off and I had to be ready to keep her from going under.  And it just occurred to me sitting here tonight that this is probably the first time she's actually jumped.  She can't really hop or jump off the ground yet, and doesn't leap off the furniture, so I think this is a new experience for her.

Also, the last class we even did some going under water.  She handled that well.  You basically count to 3 and go under with her and blow in her face at the very last second, which makes her blink and hold her breath. We did it 2 or 3 times and she sputtered a little, but didn't hack or cough.  It didn't seem to scare her at all, either.

So this is good experience for her.  Plus, we know at least 3 people with pools, so we'll get plenty of opportunity to practice.