Climbing aboard.

When you life in Holland, you have to learn how to swim. There’s water all around us. So every Dutch child, when she or he is a toddler goes to a swimming school. Last week we skipped lessons in order to skate (whitch he does very well since I bought him icehockeyskates) , but now sadly the ice is gone and there we were again, in the small pool with 7 other kids, doing their laps.


Toes over the brim.


Through the hole.

I told some time ago that Pelle’s rapid development mirrors the way he picks up his swim skills. Step-by-step he dared to go under water with his head, is able to follow instructions and is learning how to move his body in the right way. He still makes a lot of noise and his own awkward body movements (rapidly clasping his fists together and stamping his feet while grunting) when he is out of the pool and waiting to jump in again, but he’s definitely enjoying his time. The last weeks it seemed he had forgotten a lot of what he’d learned, and didn’t know how to move his legs anymore. I guess he was on the threshold of some new development: integrating his arms and legs into a total body movement. Yesterday things went smooth again.
When lessons are over the children can play in the water for a couple of minutes, before the other group starts. There are rubber floats and all kind of other gear. Recently, Pelle liked to make great jumps and climbed in and out of the water time and time again. He also loves to put on flippers to see how fast he can go. He is totally happy in and around the water, but until now, never interacted with other children while playing.
Until yesterday something exciting happened. Pelle climbed on board of a big yellow float, next to a couple of kids. I was so amazed. It looked so natural. But I knew it was another sign of him opening up to the social world around him and wanting to participate. There sure was a very happy mum watching her kid yesterday.