Our Little Fish

Last week's swim lesson was one of my favorites. Peyton is getting more and more confident in the water and just has a ball in the water. Here are a few pictures taken throughout the lesson.

 

 

 

 

 

At this lesson, he was in a very silly mood and wanted to make lots of "bubbles". His teacher, Carrie, was able to work it into a lesson in kicking.

More bubbles!

And then, this happened....

Yes, that's right! Peyton was SWIMMING! All legs, but still, swimming! And, he did it again.

And again!

I immediately sent one of the videos to James and he was sooooo happy! Way to go Peyton!!

Swim Lessons

Peyton has been in swim lessons since he was 8 months old in baby-parent group lessons, but he started private lessons earlier this year. We've been at the Peninsula Swim School in Redwood City for about two years, and are so thankful for the service we've received there. He's had the same teacher, Carrie, since he started and he absolutely loves her! He always gets a big smile on his face when we're at the pool, and is happy to jump in to her arms.

He feels very comfortable with Carrie and being in the water in general. Carrie knows that Peyton is autistic and is so careful with him and has been very happily surprised with how much he's now speaking. She nurtures conversations with him; she's amazing!

He loves going down the slide (yes, he's a daredevil in the water too).

This week, Carrie got him to try diving again. Success!

Peyton always finds a toy that he will play with throughout the lesson. This week, he was overjoyed to find a Dory (Finding Nemo) toy. Carrie used that to her advantage and got him to dive under the water to pick it up. She's a genius!

While he was fishing for Dory, one of the other classes in the pool started swimming the length of the pool which caused lots of splashes and delighted Peyton! Carrie's been having trouble getting him to kick on the kickboard, but after seeing that amazing spectacle, Peyton decided to try again!

And, by the end of the lesson, he was diving under to pick up or touch whatever he could.

I can't say enough how thankful we are to the Peninsula Swim School and especially to Carrie for how wonderful she is with Peyton in the pool.

Swim Class with Dad (New School)

James' parents flew out from Pittsburgh at the beginning of the month to spend 8 days with us. James was able to take the day off on their first full day in town which finally gave him the opportunity to go to Peyton's new swim school and participate in the class!



They certainly had some fun before the class started.





When it was time for the class to start, they got in the pool and met the substitute teacher for the week.



Peyton enjoyed showing Daddy how he "swims".

The substitute added a new element to the class - sliding into the pool! Peyton loves sliding.

Peyton's favorite activity in swim class is the toy swim (he grabs a toy from the ledge, then "swims" it to the teacher and throws it in her bucket).

For the past month, Peyton has started to play when he's supposed to crawl across the mat... Though he's not supposed to do this, it sure is funny to watch!

More Swimming

James took the day off so that he could take Peyton to swim class.

They had a ton of fun in the pool!



Peyton even started kicking for James!



So much fun with Dad!



Hi Mom!

Swim Classes

Yesterday was Peyton's first Waterbabies class. At long last, our little bath splasher got to go into a big pool with Mommy and other kids. The Waterbabies class isn't so much of a structured swim class, as it is a 30-minute class with toys and songs and activities. Depending on the child's level and comfort in the water (and age), some kids start swimming during this class. But, as Peyton is only 8-1/2 months old, he couldn't grasp the concept of kicking.

The teacher gave each child a toy at the beginning of class.



Of course, Peyton started eyeing another child's toy...



He took an interest in the water.



Splashing!



More splashing!

We played the hokey pokey (Peyton was more interested in his frog).

His interest grew when we got to his feet.

He liked watching the other kids.

He really likes his feet. :-)

More hokey pokey.

The pool requires that all babies wear a disposable waterproof diaper with a reusable swimming diaper cover.

We got to play "London Bridge".

The teacher was really sweet. Peyton is starting to have separation anxiety so he didn't really like her holding him.

After we quickly dunked him under (which he didn't like very much), we went over to the edge where he got to play with the toys again. Look at his long eyelashes!

We spent most of the time singing songs.

He likes it when I sing to him.

While the other kids moved on to kicking (the next three youngest kids are 13-months old), I kept Peyton at the edge with the toys. He wasn't really enjoying being in the center of the pool with the other kids.

He's really good at picking things up now.

My parents came with me to yesterday's class, as the other boy they care for went up to Tahoe for the weekend. Unfortunately, there won't be any more pictures during future classes. The camera proved to be a distraction for all the kids.