Since the swimming lessons finished and after Linus’s abysmal taking to the water I’ve decided to teach Linus how to get around in the water myself.  I recently attended a water safety and teaching seminar run by Sport Otago where a lot of my observations were validated.  I’m not qualified to give advice on this topic but the gist of it is that babies are naturals in water from birth, and if you don’t expose them regularly (daily if possible) to things like water over their faces then they can unlearn their natural comfort with water and become scared of it.

So for the last six months or so I’ve been leaving work at 4pm each Monday and taking Linus and Ada to the pool for an hour and a half.  Nana meets us there and we focus on the kids, swapping around every now and then and helping them to get used to the water.

In chronological order, these are the achievements that Linus and I have made:

• Getting water running over his head – he hated water over his head and when a swim instructor suggested that I encourage him to walk through the fountains Linus overheard and walked straight through them with a grin on his face.  I was surprised.  Lesson learned is that he can do it if he wants to.
• Swimming and kicking – supported by me Linus will now blow bubbles in the water and kick at the same time.
• Holding his breath – I suspect Linus thinks that holding your breath is just puffing your cheeks out.  His reaction when he plunges into the water appears to be to gasp, which as you can imagine results in coughing and spluttering.  I’m always there to help him though, and he knows what went wrong.  Today in a cheery voice after he coughed and sneezed his airway clear he said “I know what happened – I forgot to hold my breath!”
• Jumping into deep water – sometimes Linus is reluctant to do this but I’ve seen him jump from heights that have surprised me.  He mood dictates whether he’s game enough for the bigger jumps.
• Floating on his back – Linus used to be very awkward in the water when floating supported by me wanting to sit up, but now he knows what’s going on.  Most important thing to do when teaching a kid to float is to make sure their ears are submerged.  This is simply so they don’t get an alternating roaring/underwater-silence noise as their heads bob up and down.  Linus will happily float around now for at least a minute looking up at the things on the ceiling (mostly the lights)
• Submersion – hmm, have tried this a couple of times and the response was less than awesome.  Will work on this one

I feel that the key things for a parent teaching their kid water skills are:

1. Be positive, always.  “Well done”, “Good one”, “Wooo!” etc.  Even if it looks like they almost knocked themselves out when they slipped on the side of the pool and fell in head first.
2. Reassure your kid that you are there to hold them always and make sure you are.  They will let you go when they’re ready.
3. Name the achivement before you start and give it a cool name – for example I’ve taught Linus to be a Dolphin, Seal, Turtle, Octopus, Penguin, Shark, Crocodile etc.  It doesn’t matter what I get him to do to be those things, it’s more that it’s something fun that he can try.
4. Don’t take the first “no” as the answer.  Kids don’t want to do things they’re not comfortable with.

As for Ada, she seems to have taken to the water much easier than Linus has.  Seeing her big brother doing stuff in the water appears to be a good way for her to follow.

Another unpublished gem from the archives, 2nd November 2008:

Linus: “Can we get in the car and go to your work?”
Daddy: “No, not today”
Linus: “Please?”
Daddy: “Please no …”
Linus: “Please!”
Daddy: “No, I said no”
Linus: “Please please please can we get in the car and go to your work?”
Mummy (to Daddy): “Try not to get into a situation where you’re arguing back and forth with ‘please’ and ‘no’.”
Linus: “Try not to say no please, Daddy”

From earlier this year:

Linus asked me to sing “The fox went out on a chilly night” …

Me: (half heartedly singing because I don’t know the tune) “Fox went out on a chilly night, he prayed to the moon-”

Linus: “No, you sing it!  It’s not a story!”

Me: ROFL!

March 8, 2009:

Nana has lent Linus a stuffed toy Orca which he thinks is great.

Tonight after Linus was put to bed, he got up with his Orca and came through to the dining room.  I told him that he had to stay in bed, and that I would look after the Orca for 5 minutes while he settled down into bed.  When I went back 5 minutes later, not surprisingly, the first thing he said was “have you got the Orca?”.  I tucked the Orca into bed with him and told him that if he got up again I’d have to keep the Orca tonight.

He told me, and I quote: “Sorry, I didn’t know that I wasn’t supposed to get up”.  What a cute thing to say – shame though it was a blatant lie – he knows the bedtime routine. When I said to him night-night and that I’d check on him in ten minutes time, he said OK, but then said “oh, and come and check on the Orca too!”

Bug = 3 years 5 months
Bub = 1 year 7 months What was Linus up to at this age?
Bud = 32 weeks 6 days gestation

Re-arranging Furniture Again

A week ago, I tentatively suggested – in full nesting mode – that we move the cot out of Linus and Ada’s room and into our room in preparation for Bud’s arrival. But two weeks into Ada’s transition to being a bed-sleeper, Bob didn’t think we were quite ready for getting rid of our back-up sleep option for Ada, and I agreed.

How things change in just a week! THIS weekend when I suggested the shift again, we were both completely comfortable with the idea. Over the past week there’s been no need to use the cot at all (except as an occasional threat) to get Ada to sleep for naps or for bedtime. Eureka!

Another New Position

Last night at Mummy-bedtime, we did the usual shift of Linus from our bed into his. While Daddy toiletted Linus, I went to tuck Ada in and get Linus’s bed ready. Imagine my surprise at finding Ada’s bed empty!

I wasn’t too worried – I could hear her breathing, and a little investigation (in the dark room) revealed that since being left sound asleep at bedtime, she must have woken, got out of her bed, and climbed up to the head of her big brother’s bed!