Official Little Swimmer

Today was my little swimmer's LAST DAY of swim class!

Here she is with her teacher (family childhood friend) Rachelle.

Swim sessions for her age group started at the end of July, which are twice a week and 15 minutes long (attention span of a toddler). She loved her first class and kicked the entire time in my arms. On her second day she didn't want Rachelle to touch her and whined if she got too close. Third day, I didn't know that they encourage parents to not enter the pool. But for the young toddlers it was ok if they wanted to. I didn't want to get wet, which left Mahie crying off and on throughout her class with just Rachelle. Fourth day, we stayed home to recover from our colds. Fifth day, I climbed in, had Mahie swim to Rachelle and slowly edged my way out, she saw me and waved. Since then, Mahie went straight to Rachelle but started to demand to play with the water toys rather than do her swim exercises, lol. 

 Not even waiting for me to take off my slippers!

And today, as soon as Mahie saw Rachelle, she screamed and ran to her at the poolside, jumping up and down on her toes. Even I was surprised at how excited she was to swim. She sat on the pool steps and jumped out to Rachelle with wide open arms. It was so cute. But sad too, as soon as she got comfortable, we were pau!

It's been a fun learning experience at Gunstock Aquatics. A lot of people thought I was wasting my money, thinking Mahie was too young to get anything out of the swim classes. But my daughter proved those haters wrong! Although of course, she can't float on her own and still needs parental help/supervision....she CAN do some impressive water skills for her age. Plus it was a fun "Mommy & Me" activity. I think parents should never hold the age of their children against their potential of learning & experiencing the world around them. There was another little girl in Mahie's class time that kept struggling even though it was her second or third session, but her Mom keeps signing her up and cheers her on the entire 15 minutes.
*My learning experience: if I'm going to continue signing my kids up for things, I need to learn to COMMIT also, lol. (As in getting them ready & showing up on time, I did, but some days we cut it close for being lazy)

After her last class was done, and I had to PULL her out because she wanted to stay...Rachelle congratulated her with a treat and Level 1 Completion Certificate (so cute, lol). Below is everything that her age group learns and is expected to complete before advancing. She's done it all, and just figured out how to blow bubbles instead of drinking/choking, haha.

Like all Mommies, I'm so proud of my baby girl. Not only of her physical abilities, but of her social skills with listening to her teacher and interacting with the other toddlers/children in the pool. Sometimes I get so impatient with her at home, but when we're out in public, I'm surprised that she behaves better than the kids around her. Whew!

A little clip of her last class! We'll be at the free swim at BYUH pool =]