He's swimming!

[LynnS6]

OK, it's a small thing. But I thought I'd share with people who'd understand.

For years, my sensory kid has been terrified to put his face in the water, even with goggles on. I've been asking him, gently, to try putting his face in the water each time we go swimming (not all that often, usually I take his sister alone because she loves to swim). Sometimes he would, most times he wouldn't. 

5 days ago, while visiting my parents and swimming in their condo's pool (kept at a balmy temperature), something clicked. The first night, he reluctantly put his face in the water for about 1 second each time. The next night, he did it again, and then wondered if his hair got wet. I told him that the front of his hair got wet, but the top didn't. He plucked up his courage, and put his whole head under water! And then he declared that it was fun!

The next several swims (thank heavens for visiting grandparents who live in places with pools), he's spent a ton of time under water. He's still wearing goggles, but who cares. 

Then yesterday at his other grandma's pool he (1) jumped in (after 5 minutes of dithering by the side of the pool) and (2) dog paddled with width of the pool!  I had begun to despair that the child would ever swim. The dog paddle feat is particularly impressive because the child has very little body fat (4'11" and 70 lbs) and tends to sink rather than float. (Dh's grandfather was a stone mason and had so little fat in relation to muscle that he could expel his breath and walk across the bottom of the pool. The body type runs in the family.) 

Another small milestone! I was teasing ds gently last night because he is in the middle of 3 books (he used to HATE reading more than one book at a time) and is suddenly loving going under water and trying to swim. I said "what happened to my old child? I wonder if we'll find him when we go home?" Ds looked at me and said "I think I like the new one." 

[Katie T]

Awesome!!! Makes a mama proud!!! 

[FarmerBeth]

That's wonderful!