First swim lesson!!

Such a cute tiny BabyFinn1. 

Which is her official status at FINN, the place she's taking swim lessons. I was really happy with the entire process. It was a little crazy because there are all sorts of kids swimming everywhere and their very patient and loving parents watching from the side-lines. 

First we got ready to get in the pool. Now that I know the protocol we will definitely arrive dressed and ready to go next time! She's sporting a disposable swim diaper, a cloth swim diaper & an extra adorable swimsuit. I am, sadly, also in a swim suit (but minus the diapers :).

Me & my girl

Bryan was extra, extra sweet and came with us. I wish we could have both been allowed to get in the pool, but they wanted the parent that was going to bring the child to swim lessons every week to be there the first week so they learn the routine and what to do with a baby. Since I'm the one available, that would be me. Bryan VERY sweetly took some pictures for us!!

Darn blurry pictures.

Taking things in while we wait for our turn. Please don't mind the cop in the background. He was discussing divorce proceedings with the woman next to him. Who he had apparently not met until that morning. So strange.

Into the water! Clara was hesitant for about 0.0007 seconds, and then was all over it :) 

Does that surprise anyone?

Unfortunately that was not the case for one of her class mates. He was 2 years old and SCARED out of his mind. I think he may have stopped screaming twice the entire time we there. Poor wee man.

The first thing we did was practice "humpty dumptys" -- note: every single thing we did had a song or nursery rhyme to go with it :) -- which is where you put the baby on the side of the pool, and they "fall in," and you show them how to turn themselves around and grab on the ledge. I thought there was no way my 7 month old could do this. Well, she surprised me! Can she do it all on her own? No. But was she willing to try it after a couple of times? Yes. I was really glad too, because this is a life saving skill, and the #1 reason I'm enrolling her in swim lessons so early.

Humpty Dumpty. Notice the baby doll in the middle providing moral support :)

One of the skills we worked on to get the babies to learn how to kick involved giving them a toy that they hold on to (and in Clara's case, chew) while we support them under the bellies. It keeps their head up and their feet moving. (Pretty ingenious, really.)

Well, that went really well until the instructor needed to take the octopus toy away from Clara.

World War 3 briefly ensued. Until Mommy started throwing her up the air.

Phew. Crisis averted.

Then we did this London Bridge thing where the kiddos are supposed to walk across the mat (supported on both sides of course) and then count to 3 and jump to their parent. 

Well, Clara doesn't walk even supported yet. She likes to pull up and hold onto things, but doesn't even pretend to walk, so she was having none of that. So I asked if she could crawl instead, and the instructor agreed.

She wasn't too sure about this, but gave it a try.

Safe in mommy's arms.

I'm looking forward to future lessons! I didn't talk about everything we did in the post, but if you're interested, I'd be glad to share more with you!

The instructors said the earlier babies start, the more successful they are and the less they are afraid of the water. I don't really think CB would be scared anyway, but it's good to get her used to it, especially as much as we are around the water!