Ackerman Update: She's a Perch Now!

Modeling her new bathing suit before class 1/22/10

Olivia is now in the Inya/Perch swim class at the YMCA thanks to a Christmas present from her Grandpa & Grandma Ackerman. This is her second swimming class she's taken there. Her instructor's name is Derek, and she is in class with a little boy named Elliot. She started on Friday, January 15 and has been going every Friday for the past 5 weeks. This class is geared more toward teaching her how to swim with increased exposure to the water. The class she took when she was 6 months old was more playful.

We try and get there about 15-20 minutes before the lesson starts, so she has time to play in the Splash Pool area, which is a shallow wading pool with rain fountains. During class, we are in our own special 3-4 foot deep pool. She practices blowing bubbles in the water, jumping into the pool while holding my hands, scooping water with her hands and moving her arms (referred to as "scoopers"), kicking while on her belly and back, and swimming back and forth between me and the instructor. We also sing songs and play with water toys. The instructor said she is well-adjusted to the water based on the fact that she doesn't mind letting her face go under the water. She loves the pool! She is even getting better since her first class. She now stands on the edge of the pool and jumps in while holding onto my hands and letting her face go under. The first few classes she didn't want to stand on the edge, and she would always sit and then slide into the pool on her bottom. She is also her same stubborn, playful-self during the class...saying "no" to the instructor with a little smile on her face, holding a water toy and saying "mine" (one of her new favorite words), and clutching her arms to her chest with her hands in fists when the instructor is taking her around the pool to practice her "scoopers". The last two events just happened at last Friday's class (February 12).

Here are some pictures taken from her second class (January 22).