Swimming success!

I could not be more proud of Ryan.....she has come a long way this summer - it has been frustrating at times to say the least - but thanks to a couple of weeks with Mr. Chuck the lady did her first jump off the diving board this past weekend when we went to the pool with some friends.   I can now say ISR lessons are the way to go (at least for our family) - if you are in St. Louis and considering it for your babe(s), call Mr. Chuck!  You can start 'em out as early as 6 months - we'll actually enroll Emerson next spring so that in a perfect world, next summer we'll join a pool and I will feel confident taking three kids by myself during the day.   A few tips from Mr. Chuck:  pour, pour, pour water on your babies' heads during bath time.  I made the cardinal error of trying to keep the water out of Ryan's eyes and it was a beast of a time getting her to not freak out about water in her eyes.  So when Emerson takes a bath, it's like she's showering under Niagara Falls.   And water wings are bad news bears.  We were super guilty on that one all last summer.  They instill false confidence and teach kids to try and swim upright when they really need to be horizontal.   It's definitely a time commitment but so worth it, especially if you don't have the ability to teach your kids yourself.  Reese will be finished with her lessons this week and then Ryan will finish at the end of next week for a grand total of about 6 weeks of lessons, everyday (Mon-Fri), 10 minutes per day, per child.  ISR is a national program so if you are out-of-state you can find a local instructor here.
Pardon my obnoxious voice at the end of the video....do I really sound like that? *cringe*
My other pool-ready gals....Reese caught on much faster than Ryan did, so starting them early is key before they learn a zillion bad habits.