Little Mermaid

Today was Lilli's first swim class at the East Y! We signed her up for the Infant Parent/Child class to get her more comfortable with the water, and to be sure she's a swimmer and aware of water safety from a young age. We've taken her to the pool several times this summer, and probably would have more if it had not been such a wet, somewhat mild summer. (BOOO!)

She slept in a little this morning, so I got her up around 8 so we would be on time for her first day of class at 9 am! After breakfast we got her dolled up in one of her swimsuits and were ready to go! She wanted to wear her pool hat until I told her classes were inside!
I was a little concerned about the indoor pool, our swim adventures have been outside where the water is generally a little bit warmer. The Downtown Y's indoor pool is FRIGID, but it's primarily designed for lap swimming. When Brent and I took "Swim Technique for Triathletes" private lessons 1.5 yrs ago we would just SHAKE in-between instructions. Luckily the East Y's pool is a bit warmer and she didn't get upset at all when we got in!

There's only one other kid in her class, so really it's like semi-private lessons which is great! The little boy (Henry) is 2 days older than Lilli, so they're a great pair. His mom and I have zero in common. This was the first "exercise" she's had since he was born (and really, this was NOT exercise) & she was in the best shape of her life running a 13 min mile before he was born (oh dear). One thing I've learned over the past 8 months is that while having children may give you some things in common with other people with children, it really DOES NOT mean you have anything else in common.
Both kiddos did great and neither one ever cried or fussed. Their teacher (Sam) was THRILLED and kept talking about how great they were doing. Lilli laughed and smiled and splashed, and she and Henry would have little conversations. I'm sure she's had some classes where the babies just cry the whole time, but she's making easy money off of us! The only thing Lilli didn't like was "floating" on her back, but she's also in a phase where she hates having her diaper changed. I think she just doesn't want to miss anything by relaxing and laying down.


Her teacher was really happy that she had a very natural instinct to kick and paddle, she mentioned one lifeguard's two year old who can actually paddle and swim, and dive down for things. Hopefully by starting Lilli out early she can also be an early swimmer.


After class! I did it!


I'm a swimming rock star!

I can't remember if class is 4 weeks or 5 weeks, it lasts until Mid-October at any rate! We prob won't have pictures the next few classes because there really wasn't anything for Brent to do, and I geniously forgot to bring us any towels (except a robe for Lilli) so he didn't want to swim laps and not be able to dry off. (Since 99.9% of my workouts are at Downtown, where towels are overflowing, I forget they are the ONLY Y in town that provides towels!) He may come to the last class and take some pics, but I'm pretty sure every week will look like the above! And here's one video (there's a Water Aerobics class also going on in there!)