Water Babies

I wanted to take these pictures of the little boys in their swimsuits, but they were shivering so bad I had to have pity and get them dressed. We got a family swimming pass to the community pool so that we can go everyday if we want to beat the heat. I took Tanner twice this last week while my parents were here to watch Parker. It's a little hard to handle both at once, especially since they both want to walk wherever they want and play, and it's usually not in the same direction. The first time I took Tanner alone, he discovered a big, fast water slide that he is big enough to go on. I just have to catch him at the bottom because he can't touch. Well, he spent 30 minutes going up and down and loving it. I finally persuaded him to stop when it was time for a safety break (actually, he went kicking and screaming, but he had to get out anyway.) Next time we went, he spent some time on the slide, but he kept getting stuck because we used a different swimming suit. So I tried to get him to come and swim with me. He figured out that he could blow bubbles out of his nose and breathe underwater (all on his own) and we spent the next 20 minutes with him saying, "Drop me!" I would let him go and he would breathe with his eyes open underwater. I would grab him when he was out of breath, he would catch his breath, and then we'd start all over.

Today, he tried it again, and this time he tried swimming while holding his breath, and he did it. It doesn't take him very far, but he's got the general idea and he can swim a little. I wouldn't be surprised if he is swimming all by himself by the end of summer, and probably better than his two older brothers.

I had to take Parker with us today because my parents were gone and I promised the kids we'd go today. At first I tried to keep them together, but Parker would get mad because I wouldn't let him walk where he wanted to go. So I enlisted Kaitlin to take Tanner for 10 minutes, and Parker and I played. He walked all over, falling about every 10-15 seconds, when his head would go under the water and he'd come up gasping. Then he'd go again, laughing and so proud of him self The wind was also blowing pretty strongly from the south, and every time we'd walk into it, it would blow him
over. He really had to try hard to stay upright, but he loved it. They both played so hard today that bedtime may come early tonight. Woohoo!!!