Swimming Lessons

Annabelle's swimming lessons are going swimmingly great! Since it's a Parent & Tot class, the teacher basically just gives the parents activities to do and we do them with the "tots". They provide props, which I think helps a lot. I think it helps too that the kids see other kids doing the same thing so they are more likely to try what's being suggested. We missed class on Tuesday due to a monsoon of a rainstorm, but today Annabelle impressed the heck out of me. She does not hesitate at all to jump in, she loves to swim to the side or to me, she is doing great with kicking and actually propelling herself, she's working on using her arms, she's started going under neck-high water on her own to retrieve a ring, and now likes to swim with her eyes open! I think she discovered that she could see under the water today during ring time because at first she was just reaching for the ring and missing it half the time, but then, all of the sudden, she was going right to it and picking it up. Then she started just sinking herself under the water while staying upright so that she could look up at me from under the water! It was so cute!

Next week is swimming boot camp... whatever that means. The teacher announced that they'd be doing swimming boot camp on Tuesday and said something about that they'd be rotating through stations and learning to swim longer distances or something like that. I'm looking forward to it, and, since I had to practically pull Annabelle out of the water today, I'm sure Belle is too!