You Can Teach An Old Waterdog New Tricks

Today was swimming lesson part deux. Things got off to a rough start when I dropped Harry off at Grandma's and Ollie saw the tractor (AKA tac-to) in the driveway. He just couldn't understand why he couldn't get out to play and take a tractor ride, and really had no interest in staying with me. This meant that he whimpered for 5 minutes as we drove away from Grandma's and was not consoled by my reminding him that we were going back to the pool.

Eventually, he calmed down and unfortunately dozed off before we made it to the Y. Once again, I had to wake him when we arrived, which is not the best way to make a toddler enthusiastic about anything. So, he cried as we walked from the car to the building, and he cried from the door to the locker room, and from the locker room to the pool. What a great way to draw attention to the lady that just wants to blend in to the bathing suit crowd. By the time we met up with Mandy and Macie he calmed down some, but did not appreciate my taking away Pooh so we could prep to get in the water.

Once we were in the pool, the waterdog returned and Ollie was as happy as he could be. I was finally starting to overcome the swimsuit anxiety and was actually able to take in some information at today's lesson. Believe it or not, by utilizing the methods designed for toddlers, I managed to put my nose and mouth underwater multiple times without swallowing 2 gallons or filling up my nose. This is major progress. MAJOR!

Ollie got more and more confident and once again enjoyed jumping from the side into my arms. This biggest advance was managing to go completely underwater without freaking out. He's so much braver than I am! All was going well until the lesson was over and it was time to exit the pool. Once again, we had a crying scene that lasted the entire walk from one end of the pool to the other, into the ladies locker room, all the while we dressed, and even as we walked out the door. I kept trying to tell him that not only was he embarrassing himself, but he was also pulling Mandy and Macie into his drama. I'm not sure why, but my reasoning didn't work and he just got more and more wound up.

Even with Ollie's bad behavior, Mandy and Macie agreed to go to the Tower Park with us for a picnic lunch. I'm pretty sure it was the food that they were interested in, and not the crabby company, but we were thrilled they would be joining us. Macie and Ollie dined in style on the picnic bench, sharing strawberries, cheese, lima beans, pasta salad, and chicken.

After lunch it was time to head towards the playground. By now Ollie was in a good mood, but as usual I managed to knock him over onto the concrete, which caused a few tears. Luckily, he recovered quickly and we were off to play.

First we squeezed them both into the Ladybug of Love. As you can see in the picture, Ollie is secure enough to let Macie drive.

All was well until Ollie got a little frisky...

so Macie jumped ship.

This left Ollie devastated.

Until they reunited on the swings and all was forgiven.

But soon enough Ollie was rubbing his eyes and we had to head home for nap time. I can't wait for next week's lessons. Really, I mean it.