Swimming boot camp has begun! (2 years, 4 months, 28 days old)

With the outdoor thermometer reading 88 degrees at 5:30pm, summer has hit Santa Barbara (and it is a hot one). 
We have eagerly been waiting for the weather to heat up enough for Graham’s summer swim school to open and Monday, 5/21/12 was the day. 
I enrolled Graham in twice a week private lessons for the summer and I’m hoping by the end of boot camp, I will see significant improvements in his swimming and water safety capabilities. 
Graham has taken Mommy and Me swim classes for over a year, but those are geared more towards water comfort and enjoyment and less towards independent swimming proficiency. 
When I called to sign Graham up for his lessons, the instructor warned me that 2 year olds have about a 50% success rate with being ready to start lessons, but she said we would be able to tell within the first few lessons if he was ready or not. 
Graham passed the test with flying colors!  He is ready for lessons :)  After Graham’s first lesson, the swim school coordinator told me she had observed many, many two year old lessons and Graham’s lesson was “an extremely successful first lesson.”
During Graham’s first lesson, the instructor went over skills that Graham and I had practiced in Mommy and Me swimming; crab walking around the pool, jumping from the edge, kicking, floating, blowing bubbles, etc.  The idea is that once the child trusts the instructor and is having fun with the lessons, then the child will be willing to learn more difficult and challenging skills.  Graham’s second lesson was today and I already saw improvements!  He was able to crab walk by himself instead of with assistance, was able to dunk his head while “swimming” to the steps, and started to use his arms simultaneously while kicking.  I’m really excited and optimistic for what he will be able to accomplish after more lessons. 
Now, on to the pictures and video!
Graham dressed and ready for his lesson.  I stood Graham up on his changing table to take these pictures and I think they are so funny because we were both a little nervous to take pictures with Graham in such a precarious position.  First, Graham is very serious as I tell him not to move at all while I’m taking the picture.  Next, I ask him to give me a smile.  Finally, he looks down and I decide it is time to end the photo shoot:

When we get to the pool, Graham is not quite sure what is going on, but feels comfortable heading off with his super friendly instructor, Sarah:

On the way into the water, Sarah lets Graham pick one of the many, many, many toys:

Every lesson starts off with a crab walk (we called it monkey walking at the YMCA pool) around the entire pool, because every pool in CA is required to have stairs, so if a child can get themselves to the edge, they can crab walk to stairs, and hopefully to safety.  The first picture is from Graham’s first lesson doing the assisted crab walk and the second picture is from Graham’s second lesson where he crab walks on his own:

Kicking (front and back):

Jumping:

Video of jumping, kicking, and reaching for the edge:

Practicing blowing bubbles:

And he’s done!:

Don’t forget to give Sarah a goodbye hug:

I wanted to get some after shots.  At first Graham wouldn’t look at the camera so I said, “show me your nose” so he would look at me.  He pointed to his nose first and then to Mommy’s nose.  Oh well, you get the idea:

We are already looking forward to the next lesson!