The End!

August 12, 2013:  3:15pm, drive 25 minutes to swim, get Elijah changed, hand him over to a complete stranger and watch him cry like crazy for 10 minutes, get out of pool, get dressed, drive 25 minutes back home. Gave him a full glass of milk after swim and he puked all over himself.  I believe I called Dustin on the way home and told him I didn't want to go back the next day.  Was this worth it?  It all seemed SO overwhelming for a 10 minute lesson.  And now, I had signed up to do it EVERY weekday for the next 6 weeks.  Somehow, Dustin had convinced me to go back the next day and I'm so glad I did....

October 1, 2013:  I'm no longer nervous watching Elijah in the pool.  Today, he swam in jeans, a coat, a t-shirt, socks and a regular diaper.  His teacher had him "fall" into the pool from different angles, and like a fishing bobber, he'd sink down and immediately float right back up to the top.  After today's lesson, he was smiling at his teacher, waving goodbye and blowing her kisses.  Would I do it all over again?  Yes!

A Small Glimpse into ISR

When I first signed Elijah up for the program, I felt VERY overwhelmed by the amount of paperwork and things to keep track of.  There were certain foods that he wasn't supposed to eat at all during his weeks of swim, he wasn't supposed to have any dairy for 2 hours before the lesson and no food of any type for one hour before his lesson.  We were to track all of his eating, sleeping, bowel movements & urine output from Sunday-Friday on a special sheet.  You are to bring 3 towels to lessons...one to put down on the surface, another to put on top of that one (in case of spitup) and another to cover your child at the end of lessons.  They are to remain on their left side for a few minutes after each lesson to expel any air/water they may have in their tummies.  PHEW!  After reading all of these things, I started to question if we had signed up for something we weren't ready for.  Of course, there is a reason behind each of these rules and as time went on, it just became a part of our everyday routine.

Now that Elijah is done with lessons, I can say what an AMAZING program it is.  I was there for every single 10 minute lesson and am still amazed and can't quite explain how the instructor taught a 13 month old (when he started) to swim, float and essentially rescue himself in water. 

Here are a few pictures from his final day at ISR:

Of course we had to celebrate the end of lessons by having ice cream for dinner, so over to Culver's we went:

We are SO proud of you, Elijah Ray!