swimming lessons

The other day, Ali said "I'm eating because I wanna get fatter so I can float. Not fat like the whole pool."
He's been swimming a lot this summer. Both kids had two weeks of swim lessons and just started the second two. He was supposed to repeat level 1 the second session, but there wasn't room, so he's in level 2 and doing fine, I hear.
A week ago we went swimming at a friend's (see previous post). I didn't want to go in, so I sat next to the pool and kept a close eye on the kids. Leila does fine, and jumps off the diving board and goes down the slide with no problem, except when the German Shepherd tried to "rescue" her, leaving a long scratch bruise down her thigh.
Ali wanted to slide down, too, and was halfway up the ladder when he realized he was going to be in big trouble if he didn't obey, and reluctantly came down. He wasn't afraid, and kept going to where the water is just over his head. The problem is not that he can't swim, but that he has to stand to breathe. I had to reach for him a couple of times, the second I got my skirt wet because he was just out of reach of the second step and I had to go down to the third.
When my friend's husband got in the water, Ali was happier, and even went down the slide with Donny to catch him. Then he started bugging me about the diving board...
Last Friday we went to a lake with some friends, and Ali frolicked in the shallow water with his friend, and got thrown by Tio Scott, and had a wonderful time. Leila got some good grownup attention, too.
Then last Saturday we went to a swim party at another friend's house. Again, Tio Scott was lots of fun in the pool. This time I remembered to take their float noodles and with that, Ali felt invincible. I reminded him to stay in the shallow end, but he kept migrating toward the deep. "I have my noodle," he kept saying, not thinking about falling off.
At one point, we were talking beside the pool, and the hostess suddenly realized that Ali was headed for the deep end. He was still in touching area, I think, but my friend wasn't taking any chances. Throwing off her scarf, but still in her long lounge dress, she headed for Ali. "He's fine," we yelled, but the rescue was on. She lept off the edge of the Sauna and caught Ali, and dragged him back to the shallow end. He was completely oblivious to any danger. The party was a lot of fun, and the rescue, especially because it wasn't needed, just made it even funner. After that the older kids dragged Ali back whenever he started getting too deep. Leila had fun with the older boys, too. When we left, Ali asked, "Can we come back tomorrow?"