Hudson Swims!

Alden started swim lessons last week. She is doing great, learning to swim without the noodle or the float. Hudson and I have been tagging along, and Tuesday, we bee-bopped around in the baby pool while Alden did her lesson. Now, Hudson will put his face in while he is in the tub, doesn't mind water in his face, blows bubbles, and splashes like a crazy man, but he mostly just walks around the pool...usually clutching as many toys as he can. Especially, the yellow dump truck that lives at the Y. He is easily a head and a half above the water, which is a big change...last summer, he was about right at mouth level. So, Tuesday, he was walking around, and every now and then, he would topple over, and I would pull him up again. The lifeguard was about to have an anxiety attack, and was hopping out of his chair every few minutes, ready to jump in and save Hudson at a moment's notice. I think he thought I was being a little negligent letting him go under.

But, here's what I think about that...if you let your kids go under and cheer and are excited when you pull them back up, they will think it is cool to go under. If you are uptight and freak out, like the lifeguard, you will make them scared. That's just my opinion...and I was a lifeguard for a few years, for what its worth.

So back to Hudson...

Anyways, Wednesday, there was a huge thunderstorm that occurred in the exact window of time as Alden's lesson. Huge disappointment. We went back Thursday, and the kids and I stayed a while since Matt was working. Towards the end of our time, Hudson just decides to put his whole head in. Then, he goes under, holds his breath, and just stays there a second or two before I pull him up. Friday, he started doing it some more, and since Matt was with us, he spent a ton of time going back and forth between us. He figured out how to kick a little bit, but it is more like a frog kick than a flutter kick. Literally, for 15 minutes straight, he would throw himself down, face first and try to make as much forward progress as he could before we would assume he had held his breath long enough and pull him up.

Sunday, we went back and even before I got down the steps behind him, he is face first, crazy man in the pool. He also started jumping in, which he has not wanted to do. He watched Alden a couple times, and tentatively, put his toes on the edge. He had to hold someone's hands at first, but before long, he was tossing his rubber ducks in - the "Mommy" and the "Daddy" - and jumping in after them. He also figured out how to get his feet back underneath him and stand up after his little "swims".

And to think that last week at this time, we weren't sure if he was going to like the water. Whoa.

And because I feel like I just talked about Hudson too much, last week was Alden's last gymnastics for the month. We are taking June off since we will be at the beach, she had swimming, etc. Last Monday, we showed up, and apparently, even though it was May 31st, it actually counted as the first Monday in June. The wonderful gymnastics people, said, no prob, let her stay! It ended up being a really fun time; there were only 3 kids in her class since it was Memorial Day, and they got to do a lot of fun stuff. Hudson even entertained himself better than he ever had before.

We had dinner that night with Bebe and Pop pop, and cooked out burgers for Memorial Day. Matt had to leave early for work, so the kids and I ran some errands afterwards.