Bevan's First Swim Lessons

Bevan at her first swim lessons at the age of 17 months.

My dear friend Angie Wood gives swimming lessons to a few select neighbors and I've been so blessed to have had my children learn from her the last few years. My older ones have really struggled adjusting to water and overcoming their fears so when Angie asked if I wanted Bevan to do a "Mom and Tot" class, I was up for it in hopes that we could overcome any possible water fears before they became too embedded into her system and we ended up dealing with them for years to come. Little did she or I know what would come of it though.

One of the first things she learned was how to get into the pool by herself. Bevan didn't like the idea so I just had to move her legs for her and show her what she would do if she wanted to get in.

Once she was in and her feet were on the steps, she was good. The girl doesn't like being forced or told what to do. She is all about her independence.

The next thing we taught them was to put their face under the water and to breath before they did. We showed them what to do and then we did the same thing with them. It was amazing how we just did it, and they just had to get used to it. I would say, "Ready, 1, 2, 3, Breath!" and then I would put her entire head under water.

If she didn't breath the second time, she did the second, third, and fourth. They didn't stay under too long so it wasn't a big deal if they didn't breath the first time, but they really did listen and learn to breath each time thereafter because they knew when we said, "Ready, 1, 2, 3, Breath" we were serious and they were going under.

One of my favorite things about teaching Bevan the skill of going underwater and breathing beforehand was how Bevan tried, as most babies do, to get out of her water transformation by claiming incompetent.

For the first 2 days she would loudly cry as I said, "Bevan we're going to go underwater now. Ready 1, 2, 3," but then as soon as I would say "Breath" she would realize I wasn't going to give into her crying and quickly stop crying long enough to breath right before I put her down in the water. You could see the learning take place and her awareness shine through. It was very impressive for a non speaker to understand and respond so well. Babies amaze me and I think more often than not they aren't given enough credit for their intellectual ability to learn and grow mentally and behaviorally at such a young earthly age.

After we worked for a while on one of our tasks, we would take a break and play with some water toys. Bevan's favorite was this little shark that I would pretend to swim slowly towards her like Jaws and then quickly swim into her belly.

She loved the anticipation and after a few times of me swimming the shark into her belly slowly with "na na na na" vocals, she grabbed the shark out of my hands and began swimming it slowly toward her own belly with the same vocals and glimmer in her eye. She loved it.

It was really fun to listen to her do her own suspenseful vocals and then tease me as to when she would poke her belly, or if she really would. She loved being in control of the tease.

We also taught them how to do a back float. Bevan was, as expected, resistant, but compliant when she found there was no way out of it. I'd say, "Ok, Bevan now we're going to breath, go under the water, and then do a back float" all the while she'd try to talk me out of it by crying until I finished the following, "Ready, Breath" and then she'd breath, I'd put her under water, bring her back up, lift her chin and hold her neck, "Look up, look up." and then lifting her chin and holding her neck in the water as she did a back float say, "A, B, C, D, E is enough."We were taught not to count because it confuses them with the original counting in the previous lessons of going under water and breathing before hand. It was always fun to watch her comply in the back float and seem to hate it, but then come up with a huge smile. Such a huge smile that we all couldn't believe how happy she was compared to how unhappy she seemed as she "complied" in her back float.

One of my all-time favorite moments with Bevan was during swimming lessons this year. I love to recall this moment because it completely defines her personality without having to say much.

Each time we would teach them a new skill we would show them the skill beforehand. The skill I was trying to demonstrate to Bevan was blowing bubbles under water using your nose.I demonstrated the skill and she giggled immediately upon seeing the bubbles under water. She loved it so much that she decided she needed to see it again, much to my surprise. When I told her it was her turn, I said, "Ready 1, 2, 3, Breath" and then I went to put her face under water. She was stronger then I, given my ignorance, and she pushed my face into the water with her hand instead of putting her own face in.

She giggled and loved every minute of it. You can't see very well in the picture, but she is actually pushing my head into the water with her hand. She's a smart strong-willed one! Oh, she reminds me of Dave! I really can't say anymore. Get to know Bevan and you know Dave. It's really that simple.

One of the last things Bevan learned was to jump into the pool with Mommy nearby. I held her hand the first many times, but then near the end she would do it by herself. It was so fun! I can't say that enough. Such a change from the other water fears we've encountered as a family over the last 5 years. The skill we worked on was jumping into the water....

after breathing of course, ....

lifting her head up as she came to the surface of the water,

floating on her back...A, B, C, D, E is enough, and then....

kicking as she swam to the edge of the pool.

"Wow!" is all I can say. On the 3rd day she literally flipped a switch and loved the water. She fought me the first 2 days with a great determination, but somehow changed her mind on the third day and never went back. She even got to the point where she would finish her back float and jump out of my arms to swim to the edge, to which I'd quickly respond by only holding her belly up as she kicked and moved her arms to swim, and then she'd hang on the side of the pool, unable to touch the bottom, but confidently doing so all on her own. She's 17 months old! This blew me away. I had no idea she could accomplish so much!

What a huge blessing and joy to experience her water transformation at such an early age. I can only imagine what she'll learn next year. AMAZING! Thank you Angie. I wish I had learned so much of this years ago. It would have made all the difference in our summers and vacations.