Proud day

Today was a great day.  My kid is so amazing.  At the pool this morning, he swam, all on his own, for the first time.  For the last little while, I knew he was close.  He could float on his back with only the most minor amount of help, and it was more fear than anything else that was getting in the way.  As soon as the swim instructor Daniel would let go, he'd put his feet down.  Today though, they took the kids into the bigger pool, he put J on his back told him to kick, and off he went.  I think he did about half a lap before he even realized that Daniel had let go.  Then he put his feet down, but at that point, I think he was over it.  He wanted to do it again, and again, he was so happy.  And there I was, standing at the side of the pool, teary-eyed.  A marshmallow, I tell you!  A melted one.  Throw some rice crispies on me or something to control the goop factor!  Something as little as learning to swim completely unravels me.  How is that even possible?  It makes me the happiest parent on the planet.  It never ceases to amaze me how these small successes for him can just send me over the moon.  Also, another example, in the last two/three weeks, he has started to read.  He is reading level 1 books from school, twice a week he comes home with a new reader and he wants to read to me!  I'm no longer the only one to tell the stories.  He can read them too.  It's so scary how quickly it happens.  It's also exciting, I want him to enjoy school, so many kids don't but I just think that if I encourage him and support him, he'll want to keep trying and keep working to achieve the next goal.  Today was a proud day, his dad and I made sure he knew it.