Harmonica man

Nicholas' friend, Diana, just got her own bounce house for her back yard. Her mommy invited us and some other friends over to play in it this morning. Nicholas loves bounce houses but for some reason he was drawn more to Diana'a harmonica than anything else. He played it all morning long. He played it in the bounce house. He played it on the swings. He played it on the slide. He played it inside while eating a snack. He was kind enough to share it with Diana when she wanted to play it too but I overheard him tell her, "Ok, but this is the last time!" He has always loved musical instruments but, then again, he loves anything that makes noise!



Nicholas has already completed levels 1 and 2 of the three year old swim class. Each level is a 10 day course that meets M-F for 2 weeks. By the end of level 2 he was able to swim 3/4 of the way across the width of the pool while lifting his head to take a breath. He could also float on his back with the instructor's hand supporting his head and climb out of the pool independently. He is currently half way through level 3. He can now swim the complete width of the pool, float on his back independently and dive from a sitting position at the edge of the pool. Today he learned a good safety technique - rolling over onto his back by himself. The instructor had him swim half way across the pool, roll over and float on his back, then continue swimming to the other end of the pool. I love that they teach safety techniques as well as basic swimming strokes. This technique is good in case he gets tired while swimming, he will know that he can always roll over unto his back to take a break and breathe safely until he has the energy to finish swimming to the side of the pool.

I'm so amazed that Nicholas has learned so much in such a short amount of time. He loves going to swim class and it's such an important skill to know. Since the class is in an indoor heated pool, I'm thinking about continuing his swim lessons through the fall but switching him over to a 16 week class that meets just once a week. This would help him keep learning even after our pool at home is too cold to swim in. Otherwise, he will likely forget a lot of these skills by next summer.