Swim Lessons - Part I

I think I probably should have titled my blog, "Have a Little Stella," since clearly that's all I write about :) !

Stella started swim lessons last week. We're doing private lessons at a lady's house. I got her teacher's information from a friend whose daughter took from her last year. Monday's class went great and I was really pleased with how Stella was taking to the water. She cried a little when Ms. Alisha first put her under the water, but she got over that quickly and seemed willing to try all that her teacher was asking of her.

Tuesday it stormed pretty bad here, so our lesson was cancelled and we picked up again on Wednesday. As soon as Stella hit the water she started crying and clinging to Ms. Alisha's neck. I was so bummed, but not totally surprised. She complied with what her teacher asked of her, but she did it through her tears. Every time she went under water she was getting water in her mouth because she was crying {and it is really hard to sit by and watch your baby cry like that}!

Thursday was the same story and this time I was super bummed. I had had a lengthy discussion {as lengthy as a discussion can be with an almost 2 year old} about how we need to listen to Ms. Alisha and follow her directions without crying. The main things that Stella is learning is to "do her underwater mouth" and hold her breath while under water for very short periods and kick, kick, kicking; jump, turn, and grab which is just when Stella is sitting on the side of the pool she will jump down, turn around to the edge of the pool and grab the edge; then, she's learning to monkey walk with her hands around the side of the pool to the stairs; and lastly, to start learning to float on her back.

Friday it was thundering and lightning so again our lesson was cancelled, but we had one of our make-up lessons on Saturday and I was SO happy with how well Stella did. She seemed like she had really gotten the hang of holding her breath and we also tried putting goggles on her, which she seemed to just love. We're now half way through the lessons and should finish up by this coming Friday if all this stormy weather will leave us alone! I'm just hoping and praying for more productive classes like the one we had on Saturday!