Summer's Last Heat Wave

Temps rose again recently. We were in the 90s yesterday. After a very overcast morning, the last day of summer finds us at 84 degrees, just before dinner.

I would love to take James swimming at the pool. Alas, James and swimming are no longer the friends they used to be. He used to like splashing in a public pool, jumping off the side into my sarms and letting me tow him around to kick his feet.

Now he is tall enough to walk the pool and never get his head wet. A few times a year I can coax him in, when there's minimal pool activity. Getting him out can take 20 minutes.

I am glad that I signed James up for swim lessons when he was younger. He loves splashing in the local river and I think a balance between wanting to play in the water and having some history that makes him confident (but not too much so) around water is a very good thing.

I just wish he'd enjoy spending some recreational time in the swim pool again.

Summer Evening Swim Class

I signed James up for swim classes again this summer with our town's Park & Rec. I have missed coming here.

Group swim lessons are one of the rare activities my kids have been able to share with others. The program is homegrown, with local teens teaching the kids. The setting, tucked away in the trees, is idyllic.

Summer is here and we are out in it!

First Group Swim Lesson

What's new and exciting this week? Well, for starters:

For the first time, James is in a group swim lesson, just like his big sister has been doing for years!

While James still has trouble focusing, keeping both hands on walls, and putting his head close to the water, he's also more game to try things than a lot of first timers. Here he is, kicking on a board on his tummy ...

... and his first attempt on his back:

Looks like he's off to a good start!

Scenes By the Pool

Another hot summer afternoon, some more ours enjoyed at the pool. This time I am doing a little work, poolside, before diving in. I just took a break and a few pics with Photo Booth:

I miss the Sunday comics. Just saying ...

Now in ThermalVision!!

And now, back to work ... although technically, this is a break for me, because the kids are occupied on their own and unplugged.

I'd have taken pictures of the skywriters and their "Geico" messages formed in circles too, but they dissipated pretty quickly.

This is how I enjoy the Vineman, BTW. I think it's my new tradition. Pass me that iced tea, Dahling ...

Pool Master

We've been at our gym's pool a lot lately. Finally, my dream summer come true! It's been hot and the kiddos are finally competent and happy in the water. They can splash and cavort, working those growing bodies and yelling while I relax poolside, sipping iced tea (well, for about half an hour I can).

Then I can take my time working my way into the pool, stretching, hanging in the outdoor jacuzzi, and finally joining them for some water play and aerobic activity. I try to keep an eye on them both, because they can suddenly be in tears, and then it's MomAlert.

My daughter usually overextends herself into a meltdown. James may inadvertently swallow a huge mouthful of water or be buzzed by a bee. As the pool gets crowded, Other Kids can result in tears. I get that rowdy play can suddenly get out of hand without it becoming personal. There are, however, a couple of peaches who have taunted others into unsafe behaviour and laugh at the results (oh, not for long on my watch). I soothe and intervene when necessary.
  

So when I noticed a littler kid following James in the shallow end of the pool, laughing and repeating everything James said, I headed over to make sure this was okay. Even though it hasn't happened in front of me, I worry about James being teased for being different -- his echolalia would be easy to mock.

Know what James was saying to him? "I am your master." And the little boy thought it was hysterically funny and could not get enough. James wasn't quite sure what to do next, but he didn't want to quit, either. Wow. James was scripting Plankton from SpongeBob.

Intervene or not? Well, they were both having a good time and it was fairly appropriate social interaction, so I let it go on until faded on its own. This is James' biggest strength: his overall good humour and belief that the world wants to play with him. I hope he never loses it.

Swim Debate

This might be the year we enroll James in group swim lessons. Even though he refuses to get his head wet and is not thrilled with being splashed he needs to have some water skills, loving the pool, river wading, and ocean surf as he does. In the past, I knew that James would not pay attention in class, and be more of a disturbance than a learner/participant.

Looking at him this summer, I can tell his abilities and needs have changed. He's tall enough and bulky enough to not get knocked off his feet, cutting down on his anxiety. He has 2 years of full inclusion under his belt, and we know he's positively motivated by his peers to do the same activities. He's had over 3 years of poolside cheerleader for big sister's swim classes.

I spoke with one of the program leads, and after watching him and sharing she worked with full inclusion students in a neighbouring school district, she agreed this might be a good year to try this. Now to get the funds for the class ...

Getting Bolder

Just over a week ago, we took a ride up into the mid 80s. We broke out the t-shirts and discovered James, at age 6, is now wearing sizes 7-8. He's also taking a size 13.5 in sandals. Thank goodness for hand-me-downs!

After school, we went swimming for the first time this year. The swim trunks that fell off him in November fit perfectly now. And even though this was not our usual swim pool, James went in the water all by himself. Only wearing the floatie ring, he'd bop up and down the pool lane by himself. He tried starting a water little fight with two of his cousins. Oh man, that twinkle in his eye! This guy wants some action.

He's come such a long way from freaking out when getting into the water and not wanting splashes anywhere near his face. I am so proud of him.

Water Buddy

Even though we hit the road in October, Southern California had one more heat wave up its sleeve for us. As the temps climbed and baked us in the mid-90s, the kids became increasingly excited about using our hotel's pool. The high outdoor temps were key, because the outdoor pool was not heated.

Even though James is a wader and refuses to get his head wet (let alone blow bubbles or do "bobs"), he has become more confident when playing in the water. I am sure being bigger has a lot to do with it, but I like to think all those trips to our gym's pool and watching his sister's classes helped too. In fact, it was at the gym's pool this summer that James started to engage in water splashing fights, and did not get too upset when splashed in the face.

I enjoyed the fact that I did not have to be in the water right there with the kids too. I love swimming and water play, but being able to thumb through a magazine (waiting to be read since July) while soaking up the sun and watching the kids made me feel even more like I was on vacation. Here was another first for us all.

It was really fun to watch him play in the water. Because he can now walk down the pool steps to the bottom of most pools, James tends to stay in the water longer. I no longer have to slap a floatie on him if I am poolside. His sister has been successful with swimming dogpaddle style by herself so my focus can be on him. James' focus was on his sister (and, one afternoon his cousin) as she kicks, cavorts, and leaps off the side of the pool into the deeper water. It made me feel so good that he laughed and was a part of it. Next year, I hope he's doing some more cavorting of his own.

On the Inside, Looking Out

We had an interesting experience last month. Both my kids were splashing about in family the pool at our gym. I was watching from a chair in the sun, trying to avoid coming down with a cold. My daughter has been taking lessons, and while not yet truly swimming, she is confident and can dog paddle. James is very tall for his age, and so can safely walk across the shallow ends of the pool.

He loves to be in the pool, jumping about on the stairs and "monkeying" along the wall. If I get in the pool with the kids, they both love to climb the ladder at the deepest part of the pool and fling themselves off the edge. My daughter can now go solo. James still does not want his head wet, and leaps into my arms.

So there I was, watching them play in the pool at the gym. I noticed a young girl in full street clothes approach the pool and stare intently at my daughter and some other people in the pool. Then she started to jump up and down. And flap her hands. And do some verbal stimulation that did not include words. She circled the pool, doing this for a good 15 minutes. She was with her family and they all seemed to be enjoying a summer afternoon around and in the pool.

James did look up at her several times, but then went back to what he'd been doing, which was engaging in water fights with his sister (something new this summer; usually he hates being even splashed with water).

This is what really struck me: here I was, sitting outside on the deck, watching my kids in the water, doing their thing. I'd turned from a water-loving participant into a dry-dock watching mom. James was checking out airplanes up in the sky, my location, and what his sister was doing while trying his best to share the water with his neighbours. He was inside, looking out. I found that different, yet satisfying.

Friday Free Day

More fun at the pool!

Today was one of those rare days of unscheduled simple pleasures. We all woke up late and refreshed. James and I enjoyed the back yard under leafy branches and cool (from overnight fog) clear skies. We had conversations about little things.

I had conversations with James. Woah! This seemed like a lightyears-away dream last summer, and here we are doing it!

James seemed a little anxious because today was not fitting into any of his patterns: Daddy was here and not at work. No SHAPE visitors were coming by. There was no school bus. And we weren't hurrying to get anywhere. What was going on?

I tried to explain the ideas of "holiday," "summer vacation," and "free day" to James. We made up a picture chart of what we were doing that day. He and my daughter kept going over to look at it and seemed reassured. It helped my husband and I as well!

I had a nice workout in the late morning while my husband took the kids to lunch and then took them swimming. It was the high point of their day. My daughter kept going underwater (a new skill, and we are so proud of her!) and James seemed to want to only put his feet and lower legs into the water today. I was glad I slathered sunscreen all over his exposed areas. I took him around the pool in my arms, but we mostly spotted airplanes and splashed by the steps.

Afterward, we enjoyed snowcones! It was 2 for the price of 1 this afternoon, and we had the lime and cherry flavours to prove it. James and I took turns feeding each other. He was so tickled to be feeding Mommy. He also ate 3 bananas from the Take One Free platter by the check-in counter and an oatmeal raisin cookie.

Summer is here! It's really here!

Summer is Here!

We have had a cool last month. Normally we are in the 80s and 90s and instead we've been having mostly grey skies and were stuck in the 60s with some 70s. The end of this week, however, things finally heated up.

Yesterday afternoon I took the kids swimming. Man, they had a blast! Big Sis got James to wear a "floatie," which is her word for a small inflatable pool tube, and they were both out there paddling by themselves (with me hovering close by) in the middle of a crowded, splashing pool. A first!

Big Sis was a very good coach. She loved it too. I wish I could have taken a zillion pictures, but safety first!

Then when we got home, we found that Dad made it back early from work. He wanted to take us all out to dinner at our local family diner, so we did. We ate outside on the patio, and it was a lovely summer evening. James pretty much sat with us at the table (it's hard to get him to sit still) and our daughter was able to use the bathroom by herself. More firsts!

I feel like summer is finally here!

Night Swimming

Not only do I like the song, I like to do it too. Which makes it a great posting title, but I digress ...

It's been unusually hot around here all week. Roast, roast, crisp, and schizzle! James does not do well in heat. He melts and gets cranky. The school buses and summer school do not have a/c. Thank goodness he's back home before 12:30pm!

So on Friday, I took he and his sister to the gym's pool after dinner, right about sundown. It was still like 90° and nice without the sun beating down on us. Big sister has been having swimming lessons, so she put on her inflatable ring/tube and hopped right in.

James was not so sure. He wanted his legs in the water and he wanted to keep his shirt on. After a bit, I coaxed him into going shirtless (this is tough for James). We went slowly down the steps, with James grabbing me as much as I was holding him. He got to watch the kids playing and his sister having fun. The gym is right by the airport, so he got to see a low-flying plane coming in for a landing -- he lit up as he waved to it and yelled "Hi, plane"

After a while, I started getting him a little more wet. James got nervous, and started to talk in babble-speak -- but he liked it too. Then I started singing and moving him. His sister's teacher from last year taught us to slowly tip them side to side, singing "Tick-tock, tick-tock, I'm a little cuckoo clock," so I did that too. He loved that. He even tried leaning over further to drink the water.

We went all around the pool. After about 45 minutes, I got James to float on his tummy, with me just holding him under his arms, and kick with his feet -- yay!!! He even let me float him on his back for a little bit. We all had to leave when they closed the pool.

We all really enjoyed doing this, especially at the end of a long, hot day! It was so hot getting back into the car (in the 80° range) that we stopped off for ice cream on the way home. We were going to get snow cones, but the gym's snack bar had closed.

I am so proud of how much more comfortable James is in the water. I never thought he'd let me float him and start kicking his legs on his own. This is partly because he's been uneasy even in the tub -- he has trouble balancing in the water and doesn't like it splashing on his face. The other part is that I know James has trouble "knowing" where his body is in space, and floating in water would seem to make that worse. Activities that involve the vestibular areas of his brain have been a real challenge for him.

I guess you can never underestimate the power of doing something for fun, and being surrounded by other kids doing the same thing and enjoying themselves.