Little Swimmer

Our local aquatic center holds a Parent-Preschool Program in the mornings Monday thru Friday. They open the two kiddie areas at their facility for kids 6 and under. It allows parents to feel comfortable knowing the older children that attend the weekend open swim aren't going to mow down their little ones. Looking for something fun and different to do, Claire and I decided to check it out. We met up this morning with my nieces and my cousin's daughter at the pool. Not sure what to expect, I figured it would either be packed or we'd have the place to ourselves. I got there 10 minutes late and was the 4th car in the parking lot. Score! Since Claire is under 3, she got in for free and it cost $2.50 for me for being a Clackamas County resident. $2.50 for an hour and a half of warm-water swimming at a heated indoor facility? That's a steal!

Trying to keep Claire comfortable being around water, I just sort of plopped her in the kiddie pool and let her take the lead on what she was comfortable doing. In the beginning, my little analyzer just observed and took it all in. The older girlies enjoyed flying down the seal slide (shown in the photo below) while Claire preferred for mama to hold her or to float on a big duckie while mama moved it back and forth in the water. She'd walk the edge of the pool and ponder life. She'd flirt with the lifeguard (no joke!). We took turns with other babies playing with the steering wheels and even went down the slide a couple times. She'd walk from pool to pool and watch the other kiddos show off their best moves in the water. I tested out what Claire remembered from swimming lessons - she could still do the monkey hang on the side of the pool and she'd stand on the edge and "jump" to me in the water. She was not too fond of floating on her back, but she never liked that in swimming lessons either. Even though she was a little off due to two giant molars coming in, she still had a lot of fun. But when she was done, she was done. So, I wrapped her up in a towel and we snuggled on the edge of the pool while the girlies continued to play. Cannot wait to go again when she's feeling 100%.  I would say our little adventure was definitely a success.