Some pictures from a May trip to Florida:
I remember watching a wonderful documentary series on The Human Body sometime back in the 90s. My most vivid memory of the series was this segment:
Ever since I saw that, I have wanted to do it with my own babies. But I have been so worried about the risks of drowning that I never tried with Elsie. In Florida this year, I went on a frenetic research binge. I read about many of the reflexes that enable infants to exist, very briefly, underwater without ill effect.
Finally convinced of the legitimacy, I took Lucia to the pool. I counted slowly to three, blew hard in her face to stop her breathing, and plunged her into the water. Her eyes opened big and bright, and her little limbs kicked. She looked surprised. Amazed, even.
I only let her stay a moment, then whisked her back to the surface, where she blinked, wide-eyed in the bright Florida sun. No tears. No coughing. Just a soaking wet baby exploring her world.
We got a picture of it, but both Hub and I were too nervous to take the extra seconds to line up the shot properly. Even so, it is one of my favorites.
Our neighbors have a pool. It is one of those inflatable pop-up deals, about two and a half feet deep. It's deep enough for Elsie to play without a flotation device (she still needs a noodle to really swim) and for me to draw Lucia through the water. She seems to love it. She kicks and splashes and continues to hold her breath for very short plunges.
Not much cuter than water babies!
I teach kids how to swim for a living in Connecticut (the youngest they take is 3 1/2 years). They used to do baby water classes back in the day, but have since stopped because the pool isn't open all year (just seasonal) and babies really need constant practice in order to get the hang of it.
ReplyDeleteReally glad you are exposing the girls to water! I've had parents come back and tell my boss that because of the swimming lessons we taught that their child was able to help themselves when they fell in, and another child even saved her own grandmother using the safety skills we teach all kids at any level!