Swimming with Frances

Since I've been injured, I haven't been able to exercise. The one positive thing about that (other than the extra sleep) is that I was able to participate in Frances'' swim class.

The class is for babies and toddlers. It turns out that there isn't much you can actually do with young child in a pool.

You can:

1. Lay them on their back.
2. Lay them on their stomach.
3. Have them kick.
4. Have them splash.
5. Have them stoke their arms.
6. Have them blow bubbles (aka piss off your child by sticking her face in the water).
7. Have them "jump" in the water from the side (while you hold their arms so they don't drown).
   

Basically, everything we did was some combination of the above.

It was kinda fun though. Frances was really good at kicking and using her arms when I supported her stomach. Occasionally, I could even feel that she was providing propulsion forces.

When we started the class, they gave out toys. Frances of course wanted the big red ball. That made it difficult to have her splash with her hands but she kind of used it as a flotation device. She also seemed to like holding a kickboard. Even with the kickboard, I was still supporting some of her weight, but she looked just like she was supposed to look like while holding a kickboard.

She also seemed to enjoy "jumping" into the pool. That pretty much meant stepping into the pool while I held her arms. It was very controlled but she thought it was great fun.

All in all, I'm glad that I could to that with her.

mwz