Something magical happened this week. Marshall discovered how to swim. I say this is magical, because this kid has the buoyancy of a bag of rocks.

Previous years of swimming involved a puddle jumper and lots of hands on parents in the water. This year he had technically outgrown the puddle jumper – our kids are giants! So, we started the summer with the puddle jumper, but then quickly realized he could stand in the shallow end of our pool. We started practicing in the shallow end with no puddle jumper and he gained more and more confidence in the water. This past Tuesday, he asked me to swim with him to the “deep end.” We swam together to the 5-foot end, and by swam together, I mean I dragged him with me while I swam.

He also wanted to jump off the side to me. Cool. He jumped and didn’t sink directly to the bottom. I had him push off my legs and “swim” back to the side. It was only a foot or two, but he did it! I gradually started moving back farther and farther for each jump and he consistently made it to me! Marsh-man was swimming and the look of pride and excitement in his face was something that dreams are made of. Now this is not to say that he doesn’t still occasionally sink. Just yesterday both Travis and I had to make a quick rescue when he didn’t quite make it to the side before going down. But we are making steady and noticeable progress.