One-on-One Swim Lessons

My baby girl always enjoyed taking baths, so I knew that she'd be able to jump right in to taking swimming lessons.  She started the mommy (daddy) and me classes at ten months old and immediately loved it!

Now she's graduated to one-on-one lessons with an instructor.  However, she didn't transition as well as I thought she would.  It's hard to tell in this video, but she cried the entire time.  Despite Princess's unhappiness, the instructor said she did very well.



  Apparently she suffers from separation anxiety.  It hurts for my hubby and I to see her lose it.  But, we know she'll get over it.  Soon she'll be swimming like a pro!

First Day of Swim Class!

Long before we had our little Princess, I knew that I wanted to send our kids to swimming lessons.  Maybe it's because I can't swim.  Now that we have our little one, I figure I might as well live vicariously through her.  Besides, she can teach me, or save me from drowning someday.

After months of searching for a swim class that teaches infants, we were in business.  But, I didn't realize that so much went into it.  When I called to set up our first appointment, the intructor informed me that we had to purchase disposable swim diapers (which we already had), as well as a cloth diaper and swimuit.  It turns out that the swimsuits I had bought on sale were no good.  Who knew about baby swim wear and cloth diapers in one?  I sure didn't.  Then I thought maybe if I buy the cloth diaper, I can still have her wear one of her own suits.  But that seemed like too much of a hassle and too much stuff to put on.  So I called my friend, Mike.  He and his wife Sue have been taking their little girls, Catherine and Gabriella, since they were infants too.  Now they're like fish in water!  Check 'em out, rockin'caps and goggles!

Everyone knows that I ask a lot of questions and this situation was no different.  I had to clear up this possible diaper and swimsuit fiasco.  Mike told me the best thing would be to get a swimsuit with the cloth diaper already attached, in addition to the disposable diapers.  That way if she poops, it would all be kept from oozing out.  So after firing off some more random questions regarding keeping her safe in the water, he finally mentioned something that put everything into perspective.  He said, "In your belly, she was swimming."  On that note, off we went to her first lesson!

We were able to purchase the swimsuit and cloth diaper in one at the swim place.  The instructor was so sweet in helping us pick out the right one.  After a quick change, we were ready to get in the water.  We decided that her daddy would be the one to go in the pool with her.

Our little Princess loved the water!  It may not look like it in the photo above.  But once she actually got in, it was on and poppin'.  The first thing we were all told to do was feel our babies stomach.  This is a test that's done before and after each lesson to track how much water is digested.  Our babies bellys should feel the same at the end of the session.  If the stomach becomes harder that means a lot of water was swallowed.  Our little Princess had already been trying to break the rules by drinking the pool the minute she got in.

The instructors also went over things like getting the face and hair wet, moving the arms and legs, floating, and getting in and out of the pool.  She wasn't a big fan of floating on her back, but she enjoyed everything else and made a big splash.

I hope you enjoyed reading about our little Princess's first swim lesson.  It was certainly a great learning experience for us.  Next week will be my turn to get in the water with her which should be fun.  But,  I'm not looking forward to wearing a bathing suit!

Her First Cell Phone at Almost 11 Months!

According to a CBS news article written last year, the number of cell phone subscriptions across the globe has reached the billions.  So I figured since most people have cell phones, why not get one for my little Princess. It only makes sense right?  She always yapping away, and whenever anyone's on the phone, she has to get her two cents in.  Just check her out in these pics!

My hubby and I have tried getting her a fake baby cell phone.  You know, the one that makes funny noises and plays music.  Well, that worked for about a half a second.  Trust me, she knows the difference.  She loves the bright lights and all, but she knows what's fake from what's real.  She is a smart cookie.  We've decided to get her a simple plan with texting included (she's not quite ready for internet access just yet).  She really wanted the iphone, but we explained to her about the importance of taking baby steps first.  If she does well at daycare, we may surprise her with one for Christmas.  For now, she has this phone featured above.  Hey as long as it works, it's all good.  Otherwise, she'll end up like this.

For those of you, who think that we bought her a real cell phone with a real plan, you can exhale now.  It's totally fake!  We just charged one of our old phones for her to use.  But guess what, she's already figured out that it doesn't really work.  Hey, you can't blame us for trying!  Now it's back to square one.

Weather Anchor Mama