We brought with us a friend of Noah's, an equally good swimmer, hoping the two would entertain themselves for most of the day. We also brought our underwater camera, hoping to get a couple of decent shots of the boys in the water. We hadn't used in a couple of years because we couldn't find the charger for it, but we were hoping to get a few pictures of Elliot swimming and diving underwater.
We've been attending the Fairway pool this year rather than the Prairie Village pool, partly due to Noah having more friends that attend here, but also because the rules are a little more lax. Noah still has one more inch to grow before he can jump off the high-dive at PV, and you also can't use dive toys, balls or squirt guns at PV. Elliot has nine more inches to grow according to that pools rules.
We spent a lot of time at the diving board, the slide and in the main pool area, diving for things underwater. Elliot has come so far in just a few weeks. He's never been afraid of the water, and coupled with an older brother who also knows no bounds, he feels entitled to do what he pleases even if that is far beyond his abilities. Or maybe we just think it's beyond his abilities.
Elliot has been begging Mandy to go off the high-dive since he learned to go off the low-dive only five days ago. She told him he could go when he turned four, which wouldn't have been until next summer. After a long day, E kept pestering me to go. Finally, I asked him if he really wanted to go, if he knew that it could be really scary and that it might hurt to jump from the high dive. He said, "I don't care".
So, while Mandy was briefly off to the shallow end to gather toys, I let him go. He climbed the ladder while I stood below; my main fear was that he'd fall off the ladder. My second main fear was that he'd fall off the board itself before he got to the water, and my final fear was that he'd back up the line and I'd have to climb up there to retrieve him in front of the whole pool.
He climbed up, walked out to the end, and without hesitation, jumped. I was ready to jump in if he came up crying, but instead he popped up and did a mad-dash doggy paddle to the ladder, climbed out with a huge grin on his face and said, "I want to go again!"
A few weeks ago, Mandy and I had a discussion about Elliot's swimming progress versus Noah's, who also learned to swim at three. We were completely forgetting that three-year olds who swim are pretty rare to start with. I was a pretty good swimmer at a young age, but it wasn't natural talent. I grew up, literally, next door to a pool so naturally I spent most of my waking hours there. More than lessons, more than "natural" ability, the best way to get comfortable and strong in the water, is to spend lots of time in it.
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| Elliot loves diving for the bottom. |
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| He first went down the slide two days ago. |
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| Our biggest fish. |
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| Cute couple |
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| Thank goodness we're not at PV pool - E would still need to grow 9 more inches before doing this. |
We are blessed to have the opportunity of good pools and lots of time to spend there, but even so, I really am impressed to see how far someone so young can come so quickly. Here was Elliot two years ago. In the past couple of weeks, especially due to the requirement that he swim to the ladder by himself, he's had much more practice and it's made a huge change in his strength.
Noah, as always, is strong, and even better, encouraging of his little brother. it won't be long before they're on equal footing. We had a blast watching them, and like all parents, watching them break barriers.
So to recap:
Tuesday - his first jump off the diving board
Friday - his first water slide
Sunday - his first leap off the high-dive.
So to recap:
Tuesday - his first jump off the diving board
Friday - his first water slide
Sunday - his first leap off the high-dive.
