Swim trophy

Austin got his swim trophy today! The triplets will get theirs next year. Thanks to Tanya for being such a great teacher.

Swimming Lessons - Nearing the end

Everyone has really turned the corner. All three babies did everything they need to test out today. Tomorrow they will be receiving their trophies! Wahoo!

Austin will be going next week to finish up. He will be able to do more than the triplets. Hopefully they will catch up next year with the whole swim, float, swim routine. I'm really comfortable that they would be able to get to a survivial position however and that's what we went for.

Swimming Lessons - Days 24 and 25

My friend Fabthemayor (Frances) went with us today to see the kids swim. Everyone is doing great. Austin rolled onto his back from a swim several times today. John floated for over 1 minute in clothes. Lauren rolled onto her back from swimming a couple of times. Tyler is still fighting it, but can swim and float.

They really love the routine of getting out in the morning and take super long afternoon naps. It's making me feel good about pre-school next year.

Swimming Lessons - Day 23

Swimming lessons are getting very productive. They will be closed a few days next week due to the 4th of July holiday, so we will probably finish sometime the following week.

John swam with clothes and shoes on today! He still cries a little, but he is doing great. Austin is still working on his swim, float, swim sequence. Tyler is floating a lot better. Lauren is floating well and working on getting into a float from her tummy. The video order is Austin, Tyler, Lauren, then John.

Swimming Lessons - Day 22

It was another good day. Less crying and more swimming (and floating). John showed the most improvement. Tanya even flipped him head over heels and he went into the water and was able to get to a float very quickly. Tomorrow we're bringing clothing for him to wear. I think we're on track to be done next week. What an experience this has been.

Swimming Lessons - Day 21

Everyone is still improving. John and Lauren are getting to be really good floaters. They are still swimming at the same time. Both of them can float on their own for a few minutes. They don't really like it, but they have learned that they can stay on top of the water and breath. They are also able to get into a float when they go in head first or feet first.

Tyler is swimming and floating. They are working hard on his transitions from swim to float and vice versa. He clapped for himself several times today and about halfway through his lesson started asking for a "pop". Tanya has lollipops for the kids after they are done. Tyler and Austin both look forward to their pops.

Austin had a much better day today. He is swimming and getting himself on his back to float, then swimming to the stairs. He doesn't keep his float for very long, but once he figures out that he needs to stop kicking and rest his feet, he'll progress faster.

According to our instructor, we should be done in 1-2 weeks. The kids won't know what to do when we don't get ready to go to "wah wah".

Swimming Lessons - Days 19 and 20

Austin had a rough day swimming. Tonya and Robin are trying to get him to sequence the float and swim. He was a bit cranky and didn't want to do what they wanted him to do. He just wanted to get his light. Imagine that. A three year old with a mind of his own.

I got the camera out and got some movies of the triplets at swim lessons today. They are showing real improvement when you compare it to the last videos. And there is no crying when we take them to our neighborhood pool. Ah, progress.

Swimming Lessons - Day 18

The kids showed improvement again today. Austin was a little tired and grumpy because he swam twice yesterday and he's sacked out in the recliner this evening already. Bed time should be fun.

I should have been the one crying at swimming lessons today. Austin went first, as usual. I was holding Tyler and he had a little gas. He said, "poo poo". What I didn't realize was he really meant poo poo. I was watching Austin while I was holding Tyler around the tummy against my tummy while taking off his diaper. I need to get my smeller checked because I didn't smell the poo that was smearing up his back and onto my t-shirt. Note to self: put another set of clothing for mommy in the van.

Luckily, one of the kid's beach towels fit around my waist. I intended to take pictures/video today, but keeping the big spot covered distracted me. Hopefully tomorrow.

Today was not my day clothing wise, nor Clif's. On our way to swimming lessons, he called me to tell me that he had to have a root canal and he had some kind of spot on his shirt. He was on his way to meet with a sales manager and said that he was going to have to stop and get a new shirt. As we talked, he yelled out something (I don't remember exactly what) and proclaimed that he had spilled coffee all over his pants. So now he has new pants as well.

Somehow "he who doesn't shop" ended up at the mall and then the PGA store and is bringing home 2 or 3 shirts a pair of pants and a box of golf balls. All on sale.

Swimming Lessons - Day 17

Everyone is really improving. Today we had a lot less crying. We took all four to the pool in our neighborhood this afternoon after naps and nobody cried at all. We have a couple of baby floats that we use for two of the triplets while the third practices swimming. I think by the end of the week we'll see even less crying and more comfortable babies.

Swimming Lessons - Day 16

Austin cried again...because his lesson was over. He quietly started crying when Robin asked him to sit on the steps indicating that his lesson was done. He kept saying, "Mommy, I hold you please." I finally got him to tell me what was wrong. "Mommy, I want to swim to Tanya and Robin again." [sniff...sniff] They obliged and let him take another short turn after the babies were done. He quit crying and patiently waited his turn.

Tyler was amazing. No crying at all!!! He was leaning over the pool as Austin finished and splashed a little. When it was his turn, he went in a did a great job. He's kicking like a little frog. It was so much fun to watch. This past Monday I would have said that he would be the very last of the 4 to get comfortable in the water. He was clinging to me like Velcro. I'll get some new video next week to post.

Lauren and John. Oh, Lauren and John. The swam together again today. We still have crying, but it's less. And Lauren can float for almost a minute without any assistance. She actually got to where she wasn't crying at all. John cried the entire time, but I'm not giving up hope that he'll be just like Austin and Tyler some day soon.

Swimming Lessons - Days 14 and 15

Yesterday was the same old report; three year old having lots of fun and toddlers screaming.

Today was Tyler's day. He still cried on the way into the pool, but calmed down significantly and made good progress. He's kicking and making it a lot longer distance between the teacher and the steps.

Lauren and John swam together and that helped some. Tanya had John and Robin had Lauren. They still cried, but weren't as stressed out. I'm sitting here watching Lauren spin in circles and dancing, so she sure didn't wear herself out in the pool as usual.

I'm hopeful that the end of next week everyone will be much happier in the water.

Swimming Lessons - Day 13

Austin has pulled way ahead of his siblings. The video shows how he can go from floating on his back to getting the stairs after flipping over on his tummy.

There's a funny story about today, however. He is getting a wee bit brave. When Tanya's daughter arrived she was instructed by her mom to get into the empty pool. She said that Austin could get in with her. He immediately got out of the pool was in and went to the second pool. They are placed less than 5 feet apart.

I was standing on the decking between both pools holding Lauren and watching John in one pool and Austin in the other. Tanya's daughter was swimming around and Austin was watching her with his little pre-school crush face on. She got to the opposite end of the pool from the stairs (and Austin) and says, "Austin...come get me. One, two, three, GO!"

There was no way that my little one that cried because he didn't want to swim a mere 5 days ago would try to leave the stairs. Wrong! Off he went. Holy cow! I waited a few seconds to see how he would maneuver this. He got a couple of feet out and realized he wasn't going to make it. He got himself turned around and headed back to the stairs.

During the whole maneuvering I stayed calm and said, "Um, Tanya. He's trying to swim by himself over here." She paused only a second and sent her trainee (Robin) over after him. I had put Lauren down and leaned over the pull to give him a hand target. He was swimming with all of his little might. Just as he reached my hand Robin got in and we both had hold of him.

He smiled and sat down on the stairs. I think he was proud of himself, but didn't quite know how I would react. We had the talk about how he wasn't quite ready to go solo without an adult in the pool. He stuck like glue to the stairs until it was time to leave. Confidence still intact, but a little more careful (I hope).

The Triplets

They are another story. We made some progress today, but Tanya thinks that John and Lauren are such lightweights (long and lean) that they are going to have a hard time with the swim. They keep trying to roll over and float. She's concentrating on their floating and we're going to have to keep working on their kicks for the swim part. The crying is a little less, but I don't expect that to be completely gone by the time we're done. I hope they prove me wrong.

Swimming Lessons - Day 12

Over the weekend Austin lost almost all fear of the water. Our Sunday school class had a pool party and he even got to the point where he would jump off the side to our friend Kevin. He kept asking to swim to mommy, swim to daddy, swim to the stairs. And he followed up at lessons today showing huge improvements. Yeah!

The babies...well, the babies still don't like lesson. They finally got comfortable in the water this weekend, but lessons are still not their favorite thing on the earth to do. It ranks up there with doctor appointments with shots, and taking medicine. Now that I just wrote that. They'd rather take medicine.

We're still hoping to see them get a little more comfortable in the next week or so.

Swimming Lessons - Day 11

Austin cried harder than ever today. He didn't cry on the way in...he cried on the way out. He didn't want to get out of the water! What a turn around - 180 degrees. He did awesome today.

We have been letting him pick with sibling should go next. Today as Austin was getting out of the pool I asked Tanya if it would be ok for him to stay in with John (whom he picked). She said yes and he stayed by the stairs and cheered him on. I thought it would help John. It helped Austin more. He stayed in through Lauren and Tyler as well and when it was time to get out he threw a little fit.

What an improvement! (I never thought I'd say a fit was an improvement.) I'm hoping the babies will get there soon.

Swimming Lessons - Day 9

At the risk of turning this into a swimming blog....Here's an update on swimming lessons. I know several moms have commented and emailed about following the kids' progress as well as friends and family.

Austin has mastered the bee line to the bathroom to avoid being first into the pool. Tyler is now saying "wah wah" before we ever leave the house as well as upon our arrival in the parking lot. Lauren stays calm and watches until I hand her into the pool. John still claps and negotiates being done with the instructors.

All of their backfloats (with the exception of Tyler) are really coming along well. Tyler's kick and swim is about the best of the bunch, though.

I did remember the camera today and have some short clips here (low res). Click on the image to view the video clips.

2007_06_06_swimming_videos

Swimming Lessons - Day 8

Today was one of those days that I didn't see the progress the Tanya did, because I didn't know what I was looking for. She was really happy.

My untrained eyes observed the most progress with Lauren. She floated by herself for probably 30-45 seconds. She was mad as a hornet the entire time, but she was floating unassisted. She always calls for "Da Da" first. When she remembers that he's not there, she looks at me and says "Ma Ma". She's quite upset that I don't jump in and rescue her.

Austin was just Austin. He's turning into quite the communicator. We arrived a little later than usual (on purpose) and Austin when through a usual routine of having to go potty twice and asking to go an additional 6 times. Two is my limit with him. He's just stalling.

Today he added another tactic. He said, "I need to talk to Tanya." She was getting out of the pool at the time to go potty herself. He followed her to the bathroom saying, "I need to talk to Tanya!" When she came out of the restroom he said, "I don't want to talk to Tanya." That went to "I don't want to talk to Tanya in the pool!"

He finally got in and did really well. He floated several times for several seconds. Hopefully soon, he'll relax.

Swimming Lessons - Day 7

Today was Tyler's day. Tanya said she got the best swimming from him yet.

All four kids did well. We still had screaming from Lauren, crying and clapping from John, and a little fear from Austin today. However, Austin did a rousing rendition of his swimming for his daddy before bed and talked about tomorrow.

Tanya's daughter was there again and just motors around the pool (she's 4). She said that her daughter cried through most of her lessons too. That's helpful to know seeing her swim around like a little fish now. She's also on a swim team.

We also now have a bonus. Tanya is training a new instructor, so we have two instructors in the pool. She is just as nice and is a high school teacher.

If I can un-clutter my tired brain and remember to take the camera, I'm going to take some update videos.

Swimming Lessons - Day 6

Austin described today to his daddy.

"I swim fast daddy. Like this!"

You should have seen his arms and legs as he tried to imitate himself in the water. His progress today was big. The entry into the pool was slow, but once he got in there he didn't cry and he was motoring around.

He still says "to infinity and beyond" (or something that sounds like that) when she tells him to do Buzz arms while floating on his back. He says it so fast you can't really understand it. I think that he thinks she'll pick him up when he's done saying it, so he says it as fast as he can.

Toddlers are great at stalling. This is becoming his specialty at bed time and now swimming lessons. The bathroom is usually involved. Today he had to go when we got there, a second time when he thought it was his turn, and a third time when he was told that it was his turn.

He was taking so much time the third trip, Tanya took Lauren first. I told him that Lauren got to get in with Alana (Tanya's daughter) first. He promptly finished, hopped down, flushed, washed his hands and headed for the pool.

It will be very interesting to see how he does after taking the weekend off. If we have time (oh, that's so funny) one of us might take Austin to the pool during nap time for the little ones.

The progress of the three amigos (John, Lauren, and Tyler) is hard for me to gauge. Tanya started teaching some new skills today, so I think they made more progress than my untrained eye could tell. They are still crying, but they are able to spend a little more time in the water before getting too tired.

When we pull in the parking lot Lauren and John are quiet, Austin is looking for a train, and Tyler says "wah wah" (water).

Swimming Lessons - Day 5

Everyone improved again today. It's amazing to see them day to day.

Buzz Lightyear (aka Austin)

Austin is still following the same pattern of "It's not my turn yet." If he had his way, we'd still be there waiting for his turn.

Tanya had a breakthrough with him today. He screamed getting into the water and wouldn't relax. This conversation turned the corner for him:

Tanya: "Hey Austin. Do you know Buzz Lightyear?"

Austin: {crying and tense} "Yes."

Tanya: "Can you put your arms out like Buzz when you float on your back?"

Austin: {less crying, still tense} "Yes....to infinity and beyond."

He actually stopped fussing and crying and relaxed a bit. Every time she put him on his back he said, "To infinity and beyond." I imagine that when he's 12 he'll still think of Buzz Lightyear when he floats on his back.

Her next brilliant move was asking her 4-year old to get into the pool and show Austin how to float. He was mesmerized by her. She floated on her back and then Tanya asked Austin if he could do that. He said, "SURE!" It was pretty amazing. Today is the first day that he got out of the pool without crying.

The Clapper (aka John)

John is still up to his crying/clapping and saying "yeah" routine. Today he said a lot of "Allllll done". Every time Tanya picked him up after she had him swim to the stairs, he clapped, said "yeah", followed by "all done".

The Screamer (aka Lauren)

She put Lauren on her back today. She reached her arms backwards toward me and squeezed her fingers to have me pick her up. There were a lot of calls to "mama" from her today. Her kick is stronger, though. Progress!

Mr. Clingy (aka Tyler)

Tyler has mastered the art of being a suction cup. First it was hard to peel him off me and get him into the pool. As soon as he realized he was going in, he attached himself to Tanya. Her daughter was still in the pool and the first time Tanya got him to let go to swim to the side, he went right for her daughter. He wasn't about to be alone in the water.

Everyone showed improvements. I'm hoping they'll start relaxing a bit soon. More tomorrow.

Swimming Lessons - Day 4

Today was busy. We've had one of those weeks. It's been a little stressful trying to keep a somewhat normal schedule while trying to deal with our friends' passing. I'm certain that the kids sense that something is up.

We went back to swimming lessons this morning. Tanya, our instructor, was gone for a very long break over the holiday weekend so it has been a full week since our last lesson. To our utter amazement, all 4 kids didn't lose any ground. In fact, they boys did a little better after their week break.

Lauren took a little while to get back into the groove, but once she did and was able to focus, she did a great job as well. I really think that when you take 4 siblings that are all uncertain of the water, the last one in for the day suffers a bit. She watched her 3 brothers not like having to work in the water and developed a little attitude (not that she doesn't have a little 'tude anyway).

Daddy got to go with us today and saw just how time consuming and crazy it can get. Many times this center books lessons really tight.

I'm really hoping that after this week, they'll start to get a little more comfortable getting into the pool. They don't get too upset until they know it's about to be their turn. And then they come out exhausted. They have just enough energy to get home and eat. Today John, Lauren, and Tyler slept from 1:15 until 4:45! And Austin had a quiet afternoon. That made it easy on Carol who was here with all four while we attended Brian's memorial service.