Little mama learns to swim

**long post warning!** As I mentioned in my previous post, Caroline had her first set of swimming lessons this summer.  We decided that while she was a year younger than Catherine Ellis when she started (C is 3), she needed to get started since she wants to do EVERYTHING her big sissy does and swimming was one of them.  We knew it would probably be a rough start - she likes water, but she does NOT like getting her face wet.  And you kind of have to get your face wet if you're going to learn to swim.

We talked about lessons for days before they started - I had her feeling good and pumped up and she was very excited, even as we arrived and she sat on the edge.  She liked the kick-boarding to the end of the pool and back, but as soon as submersion into the water happened, she.was.over.it.  She screamed for the full thirty minutes (I WANT MY MAMAAAAAAA) for four straight days, but then finally by day five she was feeling much better and I got to stay and watch!

This was right before I was asked to leave - a small glimpse of the screaming:

After her first lesson - if looks could kill

Kick boarding - her favorite part since it doesn't require face in the water

My view the first several days - from the gym window

She's an expert floater - which has digressed a bit of late because we're focusing on swimming - but it's hard to do and we're just happy she understands that she can always flip to her back and kick over to the side. That's so important.  By the end of the two weeks, she was swimming with her face in, jumping in and swimming to Miss Anna, floating on her back counting to twenty, being thrown in the water and swimming back to the side.  Amazing!

This is her jumping in from the platform, flipping over to her back and floating on her own:

Little protecting big - always a little mama

This is day four - she's doing so much better by this point:

Swimming on her back

YAY for Caroline!

Swimming on her own back to the platform:

SO happy in the water now!

Jumping in and swimming:

Swimming:

Caroline and Miss Anna (she really does love her!)

In the two weeks she had lessons she transformed from a screaming baby to a swimming toddler!  We are SO proud.  She swims with her face in the water - all the time.  Every once in a while she'll flip herself over and swim on her back (CE did this predominantly for first year she "swam" - it's just more comfortable for breathing of course), but she really prefers to swim with her face in - which is a miracle.  Miss Anna is a miracle worker, I tell ya.  

Here she is jumping off the low-dive for the very first time (took some coaxing!), but I couldn't believe my eyes!:

And here she is two weeks later - look at this girl go - she's swimming almost the entire way from the board to the side!  Go Caroline go!: