Abby and Zoë

The girls had a large cheering section today for their last swim lesson.  They did some of the usual games, but they also went under the rope, with the help of Brooke.  The first time around, Abby went under but didn't get the timing quite right with the holding of the breath and I think also got water up her nose.  Zoë saw some coughing and sputtering from her sister and then wasn't so eager to swim under the rope.  After many tries to get started, Brooke eventually just hopped Zoë over the line.  Zoë was bummed afterwards, so Brooke promised that she'd help Zoë do it after class.  When it was noodle time, Abby did a great job keeping her feet off of the bottom and swimming the whole time, she also did really well with her form when on the kick board, even though she doesn't get much of anywhere.  Zoë could work on form, but does motor around pretty well.  After the kids were dismissed, Brooke took Zoë back over to the line and finally, after a few attempts, Zoë went underneath.  Once they had their towels, they got to go get their certificates and choose a lollipop.

Let me start by saying that I am so bummed that I forgot the camera today.  Abby and Zoë did very well and were the only two kids who'd get in the pool.  There were three other boys there, but they all sat on the side and wouldn't get in.  It was chilly again for the girls, as the sun stayed behind the clouds... until right after we got in the car to go home.

Once, when they were doing bobs or blowing bubbles or something, Abby ended up inhaling some water and sputtering a bit, but just kept on going towards the wall and grabbed on to do kicks with Zoë.  Brooke let her know that it was alright to take a break, but Abby didn't want to miss out on anything.  I really began to regret not having the camera when Brooke said, "Come on out to the middle girls (of their section, it's all the same depth in that area), we're going to do something new today!"  I tried to help Abby and Zoë get their goggles on, but it wasn't working with them already being wet and in the pool and me trying to lean over to help, so they just went without them (again) today.  Indeed, they went out in the middle to go underwater for a moment.  I think that both of the girls were feeling hesitant about it, but neither one of them protested.  Brooke counted to three and helped them swoosh under briefly.  Zoë came up with a shocked look on her face, but did manage to get the timing right for holding her breath.  Both girls still seem to struggle with this for some reason.  Another time, while using the kickboards, Abby let her hands go and slipped off her board under the water.  I expected her to just stand back up, but instead saw her sink further.  Brooke was right there watching and helped her up out of the water.  Abby took the opportunity to cling to Brooke for a minute or two for some snuggles.  She did however hold her breath while under.  Later, when we were talking about the incident and not having goggles on and being able to stand in the water, she said to me, "I saw my board up there", I guess she was just confused under the water and didn't know how to get it.

Abby and Zoë both did some kickboarding on their own too.  When they did the 'magic sticks' (the ones that sink to the bottom) Zoë reached down to get one and her face got wet in the process and she exclaimed, "Brooke, I went under water!"  I think she was both proud and wanting attention, since Abby was praised and called an 'underwater swimmer' after her sinking incident.  Zoë and Abby were shivering and bluish when they got out and looking forward to rinsing off in a warm shower, but excited about their class nonetheless.

We had a lot of discussions about proper behavior before yoga class this afternoon.  When we got there, Ms. Amy had decided to try class with no mats, since last week so many of the kids were messing with them.   Both Abby and Zoë did really well at the beginning, even when a couple of the other kids weren't doing what they were supposed to.  As the class wore on, there were a couple of times when Ms. Amy had her attention elsewhere, such as with a student who wanted to sit out in the waiting area (her mom hadn't stayed) or with helping other students with their poses, and both girls took turns goofing a little bit.  There were also some times that I heard Ms. Amy use each of them as examples, on two separate occasions, for the good jobs they were doing.  At the end of class, when it was calm down time, both girls got back on their listening ears and did very well calming down, and they got their stickers at the end.  I let them know that I was proud of them for having better behavior this week, even though there were a couple of times they could've made better choices.

It was a busy day today, but we managed to still get to yoga class.  Abby and Zoë did some good poses, but they also did a lot of unsolicited activity.  They had a hard time not letting peer pressure get to them, and also being the ring leaders for poor behavior.  It wasn't throughout the entire class, but enough of it that I told them they had to decline the St. Patrick's Day pencils Ms. Amy was giving out at the end, as well as the cookies that Izzy had made and brought to share.