Swimmin' Like A Fish

Another huge improvement this summer is Katie's confidence in swimming.  My mother has a pool at her apartment and the girls have gone swimming with her a few times without me, and suddenly almost all of Kate's clinging anxiety in the water is gone!  She like to wear arm floaties, but says she doesn't need the swim vests anymore.  In Grandma's pool she will swim the entire length down to the 6' mark and back (of course I always stay close when she goes that deep).  She has been attempting to float on her back, though that is still pretty scary when her head actually hits the water, but she tries!  For the past several years she has always insisted that I actually hold her whenever we were in the water, or that she at least hold onto one of my arms the whole time. 

Last time we were at Grandma's pool with all the cousins I was bouncing Kate up in the air a little, in and out of the water, when I accidentally threw her a little too high and she went under when she came back down (though only for a second, as I pulled her right back up).  It startled her, of course, but she didn't freak out or cry as she surely would have before.  She was actually pretty proud of it and wanted to know if everyone had seen it!  She nervously allowed me to do it two more times to show Grandma and an Aunt.

Our apartment complex has a pool as well and this summer is the first I've been able to take the girls and let them play in it without having to be in it with them.  They both stay safely in the 3' end and just sort of bob around. Katie is even willing to forgo the floaties in our pool now and is very proud of being able to walk around all on her own,  especially since big sister Melanie refuses to.  It is so nice to be able to just supervise their water play without having to be Katie's anchor the whole time anymore!