Swim lesson

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Originally uploaded by countmockula

I would go ahead and call our first swim lesson an unqualified success.

I wasn't sure we were going to go tonight, although I'd been kicking around the idea for quite a while. I kept thinking I would wait until it was closer to summer, and now, heck, summer is almost here! So at the last minute, I got us ready for our first class.

We did the administrative paperwork thing, and then I spoke with Amber, who told us how it would go; we would play around in the water, and once in a while, an instructor would come by and work with us for 30-60 seconds, but mostly it was play time to get her used to the water.

Sure enough, after we had only been in the water a couple minutes, an instructor named Anna came by and introduced herself. She knew it was our first time, so she suggested starting Zadie off slowly by first just swinging her from side to side, and then maybe dipping her ears. If that went well, she said, we could dip her chin or even her mouth.

So we swung her and dipped her ears, and she was doing just fine. Another instructor came by and said she was doing very well. She asked if Zadie could blow bubbles. I put her mouth under, and she didn't blow bubbles, but she didn't freak out, either. The instructor asked if she could hold her. I handed Zadie over, and she said "Okay, I think we'll try the elevator." She then dipped Zadie all the way underwater! Zadie came up blinking and smiling! We did the elevator many more times, and all Zadie ever did was blink, smile, and laugh. We also practiced entering the pool from the side and we played with a duck.

She especially enjoyed looking at all the other babies. I really liked the vibe of the class, and I'm looking forward to using the other three sessions I've paid for! I also will practice some of our new skills in the pool at the gym and, as it gets warmer, at Grandpa's house.

Yay for my water-baby! I knew she'd take to it...