Last Day of Swim Lessons

Last week, Arin had her last day of swim lessons. It was still scary to her and she still cried most of her time there. However, she can now do the following:

- Release wall, swim/paddle, turn, grab wall with assistance

- Front/back float with assistance

- Paddle/kick on front 5 feet

- Paddle/kick on back 5 feet with assistance

Despite her fear of swim lessons, I know they have helped her. She now lays down and pretends to float in the bath (which makes washing her hair much easier, because she used to cry whenever we put water on her head) and also she went down the waterslide at the Y, went under the water, and was able to get herself up!

Anxiety of Waiting for Class

Swimming

Showing the distance that Arin swam underwater

Floating

Arin with her teacher and the only other kid that was in every class with her.

Receiving her certificate of session completion

Picking Flowers

Arin loves to pick flowers. Every day when we go outside, she finds some sort of flower to pick. Then she brings them to me and says, "I picked this for you, mama!" This weekend, we were at Andy's family's house. Andy's mom had planted sunflowers a few months ago and she let Arin pick them while we were there.

Like My Sis

A few weeks ago, I pulled a box of size 12 month clothes down from the attic. Arin thinks it's as much fun to wear her sister's clothes as it is the wear dress-up clothes. Today, she wore a pair of Ella's shorts all day until she discovered that Ella has two dresses that look very similiar. Then, she wanted to dress like her sister.

See how much Arin's grown! Here is a picture of her at 10 months and another picture of her at almost 3!

Day Three of Torture, I mean Swim Lessons

Arin was very excited to go to swim lessons today, but once again hated it once it started. Today, there were only two kids in her class, including her. They threw colored rings into the pool and with the help of the instructor, they had to kick and paddle over to where the rings were. Then, the instructor picked them up with her foot, because Arin was too upset with the idea of going under water. They also practiced swimming to the wall (while the instructor held her the whole time) and pulling themselves out of the water. They also did more floating practice, which Arin really hated. I should mention that Arin fell into the pool a little over a year ago. We didn't see it happen, just looked up for a second and back down to find her floating face down in the pool. Ever since that has happened, she is very upset about going under the water. Even bath time has been very upsetting to her to have water dumped over her head. However, last night's bath was the easiest we've had in many, many, many months. I know that is because of the swim lessons. Because she fell into the water, I know how important it is for her to learn to swim. I am just looking forward to the day when she does less screaming at class.

Our YMCA has a children's waterpark area, so after swim lessons, I let the girls play around in there for a little while. That was a hit for both of them.

Pictures of the Girls

We went out of state yesterday. The car ride seemed to take forever, but the girls did fantastic. I took some pictures of the girls while we were in the car riding and also some while we were sitting in the car waiting for Andy and Papa to finish up some work.

Teacher's Pet

We went back to swim lessons today (had to miss yesterday's class because we were out of state). Arin was excited to be there. She sat on the steps and she had a big smile. She did great, until it was her turn to be in the water. Then she cried and screamed a lot. They let her go under the water today and also had her turn over on her back in the water. She did not like either of those exercises. However, she loved counting for the teacher so that the teacher could dunk other kids under the water. She "kept an eye on" the teacher's kickboard. Arin also loved being in the pool on the teacher's back. So as long as she thought she was helping the teacher, she was all into the lesson, but not so much when it was her turn to learn.

First Day of Swim Lessons

I signed Arin up for swim lessons at the Y last week. They want them to be three, but made an exception because Arin's birthday is at the end of next month. When I first told Arin that she was going to go to swim lessons, she was not very excited about it. Then she warmed up to the idea and she was even (excitedly) telling strangers in the grocery store that she was going to swim lessons. This morning, I woke her up and she asked where we were going. I told her swim lessons. She said, "No, I too little! I not three yet." So I took her to the Y and she was not happy about being there. They have the parents sit off to the side, away from the kids. The whole time that Arin was taking her class, she kept crying, "I need my mommy. I want my mommy". After swim lessons, she came running over to me. I asked her how she liked it. She said, "It was fun and I'm coming back again tomorrow". What a strange little girl!