Swim Lessons Week 1

This brave boy just finished his first week of swim lessons. I could not have hoped for a better reaction from him, and am so proud of the way he's tried his best and battled through his fear this week. Here's a run down of the first four lessons:

Day 1: Huston let me put his swim suit on him and spray him with sunscreen without a fuss. He didntt cry at all, but in the car ride on the way to his lessons I hear him taking big, deep, loud breaths in the backseat, as he tries to calm his nerves. It just made my heart melt hearing him try to be brave. In a completely answered prayer, he got a sweet, young teacher named Miss Madeline who is perfect for him. I dropped him off (you're only allowed to watch the last five minutes of the lesson) and when I came back to observe I could see that she was pouring water over his head while he made a fishy face to practice holding his breath. You could tell he didn't like it, but he wasn't freaking out. It was absolutely amazing to me considering that he cries and screams if a drop of water so much as approaches his face during bath time. Miss Madeline said he was really fearful of the water, but that he was obedient and did everything she asked him to do. Hooray!

Day 2: Huston was calm on the way to his lesson and let me drop him off just fine. When I came back for the last five minutes and watched from around the corner, I could hear him crying "I want my mommy! I want my mommy!" and I thought for sure he was just done for the day and wasn't going to cooperate anymore. But then Miss Madeline held him and talked to him quietly, and the next thing I knew, he was putting his face in the water again, just like she asked. I was so incredibly proud of him for obeying her even though he was scared! I got to see him float on his back while she supported his head and practice his kicking a little, too. When I picked him up, he told me, "I told Miss Madeline I love her and she said she loves me too." I think the process of having to trust her with one of his biggest fears has made him really bond with her. That, and the fact that he just really likes sweet, pretty, young teachers! He wore his goggles during his lessons for the first time, and I was talking to him about how great it was that goggles keep water out of our eyes, and he said, "Yeah...but it still gets in my mouth!" Guess he's still working on holding his breath!

Day 3: Huston threw quite the fit about swimming lessons in the morning (I think he was confused and thought he was going to see Mimi and Grandpa in the morning and not have swim lessons, and when I explained that swim lessons were in the morning and he was going to see Mimi and Grandpa at night, he went to pieces). After he quit screaming, we prayed together and talked about how God wants us to tell him when we're scared and that it's okay to be scared and how God will always take care of us. His lip was quivering when I dropped him off, but he took Miss Madeline's hand and away they went. The last five minutes I saw him make "rocket hands" (hands clasped together over head) and then Miss Madeline would grab his hands while he kept his head in the water and kicked for five seconds. She said she had to hold his head down the first few times to get him to keep it in the water, but then he started doing it by himself. It seemed like such amazing progress for a boy who was so scared of getting even a drop of water on his face!

Day 4: He did great again! This time he made his rocket hands, kept his face in the water and kicked, but Miss Madeline didn't hold on to him at all - he just kicked all by himself. You could tell he was pretty freaked out to not be holding on to anything, because he could hardly remember to kick, but I was still so proud. He also practice floating on his back without Miss Madeline holding his head, and even though he didn't like it, he did it! She said he did really good, and I just couldn't be any prouder of him. It has truly been amazing to see him overcoming his fears and battling through in obedience and determination.

Here's a random picture of little sister, clutching flowers she collected while we waited for Huston to finish his swim lessons the first day.

And here's Huston, sporting the ouchie he got from wearing his swim goggles around the house on Monday, and then falling and having them cut into his skin. Poor guy!