Summer Olympics 2024...Here We Come!

I know I am really behind on the posting so here is my attempt to catch up! Although, I will hopefully have some updates for Swim Class (including some pictures) from tomorrow's class, I'll tell you about our first class as well. We had an absolute blast!! Emma did great and completely loved being in the water. The instructor was fabulous as well! He was really nice and explained everything that we were doing and why, which helped us understand what Emma was learning through each exercise. Thankfully, the pool is heated so we got right in and Emma didn't even blink an eyelash. We started out with some singing and simply dripping some water on Emma's head to get her used to the sensation of water running down her face. Although it was a little shock at first, she didn't seem to really mind and didn't make a peep when it ran into her eyes. The majority of the class was really based around three different parts of swimming:

• Propulsion (kicking)
• Buoyancy (floating)
• Breath Control (holding their breath)

Our next activity was to hold Emma in the water, kind of on her tummy and wait for her to kick. When she kicked, we were supposed to pull her through the water to hopefully get her to realize (eventually) that kicking means moving in the water. She didn't really get it at first, so we were told to move their legs and say "kick". Next, it was time to practicing kicking on her back and then trying to float on her back. The first part of trying to teach them to float, is to try to get the body to be in a straight line. The instructor said that more often then not, it takes them a little while to get used to the sensation (and sound) of having their ears in the water. So we all went off in our little corner of the pools, to sign to the babies and try to get them to relax while on their backs. Emma did okay here, but this wasn't her favorite. She never cried, and was able to get really straight, but didn't really like holding her head back in the water. So she would try to strain to lift her head up, until she saw the handsome instructor swim by. As soon as she saw him come over, she immediately put one hand behind her head like she was relaxing on a couch, stretched out and started cooing at the instructor. I think we are in big trouble for the future...what a little flirt! So needless to say, the instructor was very impressed (especially since she was the youngest in the class and most kids were fussing or fighting it). Of course he may not have been so impressed if he came by 30 seconds earlier haha.

During each activity we would sing songs and Emma just had a blast. We sang 'If you're happy and you know it.." and would splash and kick and twirl around and that's pretty much when Emma started demanding the attention of the entire class haha. In between songs when the instructor was speaking she started yelling and splashing as if to say "Um...stop stealing my thunder Instructor!!! I'm over here everybody!!!!" The last part of the class was the breath control portion and I think Mommy was more nervous then Emma! On the count of three, we dunked the babies (you always count before doing it to not surprise them). The first dunk Emma wasn't such a big fan of and definitely swallowed some water. But she learned after only that one dunk what was going to happen on the count of 3 and could already hold her breath! By the third dunk...she came up like "Do it again Mommy!!" I think she was also showing off for the Instructor again because he swam by to watch her and she was just eating up all the attention. At the end of the class, we had about 5 minutes to just play and I was bummed to see it end so soon! I have been looking forward to tomorrow's class all week and can't wait to see how Emma does again!

I expect that Micheal Phelps will be calling any day now begging to be Emma's swim coach in preparation for the 2024 and 2028 Summer Olympics based on her performance at Mommy and Me Swim Class. Haha!

For a little prize for doing so well (and because the fact that her current bathing suit is skin tight), we stopped by Target with a friend and got her two new swim suits for this summer. So we are all set!!