We had our last swimming lesson today and Butterfly has been doing great! She had four lessons last week and two this week. When she started, she refused to put her face in the water, would cling to me and was even scared to jump in from the side. (although recently, the inflatable arm rings helped with her independence) But she had a fantastic teacher and I can't believe how much more brave she is. Her teacher was great at keeping each activity short and turning it into a game. Now she eagerly jumps in from the side, loves to put her face in the water to blow bubbles, have splash wars and most impressive, is starting to swim short distances on her own. She pushes off from a side wall ("a magic carpet jump") and does "ice cream scoops" (paddling with her arms) and kicks her feet to push herself through the water. She ducks her face under the water and pushes herself back up without panicking but knowing its a faster way to get to where she's going. I'm so proud of her!
Last week, I would take Ladybug and we would just watch as sister had her lesson. But she was so eager to imitate that we decided to turn her over to the teacher too this week. Much to our surprise, it didn't go well. Normally she loves men and loves the water. But for her two lesson this week she was whiny and panicky and refused to follow directions. She cried for me until we gave up and I just held her instead. As Butterfly's lesson continued, Ladybug would watch and get more comfortable and become eager to play again but would only do it at her own pace. She wanted to play on the steps and splash or blow bubbles but ran away if the teacher tried to work with her at all. It was kind of a disappointing surprise because she seemed so eager at first but she is really young still and I imagine will do much better next year.
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