Just keep swimming...

Some shots from week 2 of swimming lessons:

 Preston at the end of class:

P: Mommy! Mommy!! I put my head under the water!!

Me: I know, I saw! I'm so proud of you!!

P: I don't want to put my head under water anymore.

I thought giving Preston some time off from swimming lessons might have given him some time to better develop the ability to hold his breath. It did not. He still can't seem to put together that sequence of events that involves inhaling, holding the breath, and then exhaling. Nope. He just keeps jumping in with his mouth wide open, and for some reason, feels compelled to try and breathe and/or swallow while his is submerged. Needless to say, doing this does not make it a very pleasant experience every time you go under.

I also thought the time off  would lessen his aversion to getting his face wet; but alas, it too, did not. The final picture in this series captures it best. In what is supposed to be an exercise to practice kicking, the girl to the left is vigorously participating with the appropriate splash-production, while Preston is just like, "Not in my face, not in my face!"

Also this week: The approximate temperature outside was 5 degrees. The Valley pool is not known for its abundance of warmth, but I thought it would be sufficient to prevent any major physiologic harm. Then I watched as Preston sat shivering through the entire class. His classmates were totally unaffected, so I let it go. (Toughen up, kid!) Until he walked over at the end of class, and I could see how blue he was. Whoops! I stripped him down right there and initiated hypothermia-treatment protocol. Luckily, he quickly recovered. Definitely not a Mom-of-the-Year moment.