Swimming Lesson #1

Well, much to my delight-- our first swimming lesson at the YMCA was very successful. Iyla LOVED the water from the minute we got inside the pool. I was kind of nervous about that as she had not swam in a pool larger than our bathtub since Vietnam back in September.



(Somerset Grand Pool in Hanoi)

We ate dinner, got Iyla into her spiffy little swimsuit (pictures to follow in another post), and drove off to class. As soon as we arrived-- we went to the dressing rooms and next headed for the POOL!!!

The pool room was incredibly warm-- kept at something like 90 degrees (no kidding-- I think they said it was actually 91 degrees!). We met the instructor and were told to get into the pool. Here goes nothing.....

The water was nice and toasty and there were other kids and parents, much to Iyla's delight. As soon as we got in, she started splashing around and a big smile crept accross her face and stayed there the WHOLE time!!



She LOVED the songs (All around the Mulberry Bush, The Grand Ol' Duke of York, etc) and tried all of the suggested skills. Iyla can blow bubbles-- if I allow her to drink half the pool-- we will have to work on that! She feels comfortable doing a front float (head out of water) and a back float if she is held closely. She even liked to sit on the edge of the pool and 'jump' (be picked up) into the water.

Her favorite part of class was playing with the plastic balls in the water. The child would do ANYTHING to get one of those little floating orbs. She swam like crazy to get to them and asked for one even after it was time to put them away!!
Too cute.

Well, as far as pictures-- (sorry to disappoint dear readers and fans)but I do not have any pics of Iyla in the pool as I was in the pool with her and we were unsure of the guest policy (AKA Daddy taking pics of his girls swimming). So, next time-- I promise to have M come and take the coveted pictures and will post them here. I will also post lots of pics of Iyla in her suit from our Florida trip in TWO DAYS!

In the meantime, here are a couple pictures from AFTER swimming. Miss Iyla sure was a hungry little fish after she got out of the pool!! Enjoy!