Swim lessons!

Isabella started swim lessons this week. I think Miss Kaitlin was surprised when I said after the first lesson "that went better than I thought it would!" In typical Isabella fashion, she just takes a little while (or a long while) to warm up to a new situation (or a familiar situation, like when she goes to school and won't talk to her teacher until we leave). But hey, there were never any tears or fits at any time this week, which is more than I can say for some of the other kids. We signed up for group lessons but they turned out to be individual lessons. Which on one hand was great, on the other hand, it was a little harder for Isabella, I think, because she had no one to divert the attention away from her.

Day 1: She went with Kaitlin but refused to speak or do anything she was asked to do. She would occasionally nod and barely kick her feet. So the lesson basically consisted of 30 minutes of Kaitlin walking back and forth holding Isabella. But as our friend Kirstin puts it, you're asking them to go into a life or death situation (in their perception, because they can't swim) with a total and complete stranger, who they are supposed to immediately trust. Hmm, good point Kirstin!

Day 2: Same as above but a little bit more kicking. Luckily for us, Maddox had his lesson right after Isabella, so we stayed to watch Maddox, who talked to Kaitlin, jumped in the water, kicked his legs, moved his arms, put his face in, blew bubbles, dove in, used his kickboard, went down the slide, and had a lot of fun! Kaitlin finally got to hear Isabella's voice when she spoke to Maddox.

Day 3: Still no talking, but she moved her arms! She wouldn't blow bubbles or let Kaitlin hold her out to the side, but it was progress! Once again, we watched Maddox' lesson, which pumped her up so much that by the end, she put her goggles on and wanted to get back in and put her face in the water! Unfortunately, Kaitlin had another lesson and we had to get back home so Daddy could go to work.

Day 3, part 2: The bathtub! In the bath Wednesday night, Isabella was going crazy! She was putting her face in, moving her arms and legs, blowing bubbles, and at one point when I had gone downstairs to get something, I heard a big splash and upon questioning she told me that she was "jumping in and putting my face in the water". Uhhh...not in 5 inches of bathtub water you're not! I got her on video promising me she'd do all those things at swim lessons the next day. (I'd post the videos because they're awesome, but, well, they're not quite "appropriate" for web viewing. ;)

Day 4: She comes in our room in the morning (rare - she usually stays in bed until we go in there) with her bathing suit. "Mommy, I'm ready for swim lessons! I want to do swim lessons first, before breakfast!" I show her the videos of the bathtub - you're going to do this today, right? "Yes. Yes, I am." So we get there, and no, she won't put her face in the water, but she does good "swimming" with Kaitlin, and she used her dolphin kickboard and I'm not sure, but I think she talked to Kaitlin some. I think we finally got her to blow a bubble or two. Then Maddox arrives. And Kaitlin lets Isabella stay in the water with Maddox, and that was the game changer right there! It gave Isabella so much confidence that she started doing (almost) everything that Maddox did! She put her face in, she swam with less support from Kaitlin, she swam a couple feet from the wall to Kaitlin, and she jumped in. Nick was there too and I swear, you could have seen our hearts just swelling with pride. It was so incredible to watch her go from statue swimmer to this completely animated little fish! Thanks again to the Harwoods for letting Isabella combine her lesson with Maddox.

Day 4, part 2: After work/school Thursday, we went back to the pool. Oh, wow, Isabella just took what she had started that morning and kept rolling with it! She probably spent more time underwater than above it. She was all over the place in the baby pool, just swimming everywhere with her face in the water. She even went down under water a few times, touching the bottom. She was having so much fun! Guylene, it was like watching Paul the other day! Then we went to the big pool and she continued developing her confidence. She would hold on to the side of the pool and go underwater. Then she would let go of the side and try to swim a little bit (not sure where she thought she was going!). She was just so proud of herself!

Swim lessons continue next week but Maddox won't be there. I hope she does just as well! She and Nick went to the beach this weekend, which she is extremely excited about! I just talked to them and she is all hyped about sleeping on the sofa bed. And the hotel has a pool and she's going to put her face in the water!