swim before you surf

Posted by kyden on Sunday Apr 18, 2010 Under Uncategorized

i’m planning on surfing in hawaii later this year, so there are a few things i need to do to prepare:

1)  learn to swim  (you know the saying “crawl before you walk”?  well, i say “swim before you surf”!)

2)  improve my balance so i can stand up without holding on to anything

3)  look cute in a rash guard

i heard that babies are born with a “dive reflex” — the natural instinct to open our eyes and hold our breath underwater.  aaand, until about 6 months of age, we move our arms and legs in a swimming motion when placed face down.  that means that babies less than 6 months old are natural swimmers!  well, i missed the window by a couple of weeks, but i figure… better late than never, right?

so, i went swimming with my buddy isaac today.  it was just like bathtime — i got to kick and splash and get mommy all wet.  the only differences were that there were lots of people in the bath with me and that i was wearing a rash guard instead of my birthday suit.

mommy dunked me in the water over and over again to test my dive reflex.  isaac’s mommy is nice, so she didn’t subject him to the chinese water torture.  so, my study ended up having a sample size of only 1, but it appears to prove that the dive reflex really does exist.  yup, i’m a natural swimmer.  it helps that i’ve mastered spitting because i was able to spit out the pool water that got into my mouth, rather than swallowing it.  check me out!

(i already look good in my rash guard, so now i just gotta work on standing up by myself.  i’ll be surfing in no time!)

8 Responses to “swim before you surf”

  1. Musubi Says:

    You’re totally going to have to take me out when I’m older! I had my first bath last week and LOVED it! Man…I’m jealous. You get to do all the fun stuff!

  2. Auntie J Says:

    You’re going to be an Olympic swimmer before you know it, Ky!

  3. kyden Says:

    @logan: i’ll take you swimming when you have better head control. keep up the tummy time! we gotta learn to swim so we can surf together in hawaii :)
    @auntie j: i don’t think i want to swim in the olympics cuz those guys hafta shave/wax their chest and legs. owie!

  4. Auntie B Says:

    Cool video Ky! you pass your swim test, we can go boogie boarding! Cant wait to play in the ocean here in San Diego with you!!!!

  5. kyden Says:

    auntie b, that sounds like a great idea! we can do that now, cuz i don’t even have to stand up on a boogie board. let’s go!

  6. Caroline Says:

    Oh my goodness, I laughed so much at the video. Hang in there, Kyden. Someday you will get to decide for yourself when you’re dunking your head or pushing off the wall.

  7. kyden Says:

    auntie caroline, what’s so funny? isn’t getting dunked all part of learning how to swim? that’s how mommy taught koda!

  8. Auntie Viki Says:

    We had so much fun! Looking forward to video from Hawaii

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