Swimming Lessons

Last night Maida and I had her first swimming lesson of the season. WE HAD SO MUCH FUN! I can't believe how much better this year is than last year. Not only do we have a more experienced teacher, with more ideas, but Maida is older, braver, and more interested in swimming!

Last night we worked on having them float on their bellies and when they kicked their feet, we were supposed to move them forward so that they would get the idea that if they kick, they will go forward. After they mastered the kicking (which Maida did fairly quickly) we were supposed to have them kick, move them forward, and then have them work on blowing bubbles in the water at the same time. Maida could not get the hang of the bubble blowing while moving! She kept sucking in water! We also worked on floating on their backs. The teacher had them try to balance a rubber ducky on their bellies, which really works! Maida didn't really like to float on her back until we told her that she was going to be a boat in the water and that we had to give the little ducky a ride on her belly! Then she was awesome! After working on the floating, Maida jumped into the water from the side of the pool! She did a pretty good job, but doesn't have a whole lot of height when she jumps yet, so her toes (and sometimes knees) would drag on the edge of the pool when she jumped, but she didn't care! At the end, the teacher had them work on climbing out of the pool by themselves. It will take Maida a while to do that because she's too short to reach the steps of the ladder without help.

I couldn't tell what Skogen thought of the water. It seemed like during the whole lesson, he just kept frantically moving and moving around and around. Then after getting out of the pool, I had the worst belly ache ever! I think that maybe he didn't know what was going on and so he was moving around, reaching and grabbing at anything and everything inside, which resulted in sore insides for me! I always hear how good swimming is for pregnant women, though, and how much the baby likes it (and I wonder how in the world they know that the baby in uterine likes it!). So I think that after we do it a few times, it may result in relaxing him instead of making him hyper. Speaking of the pool being relaxing, Maida always sleeps so good after swimming lessons. Despite getting another bottom molar, Maida slept for 12 hours last night! She was pooped!

Oh, and I also want to mention that last night when we got home from swimming lessons, there was a package waiting for us on the front step! Maida got some new winter clothes from her Great-Aunt Lola!!!! THANK YOU AUNT LOLA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Maida was excited to open the package and mommy was excited for some new clothes! Thanks again!