I have been looking forward to Hannah's first swim class since the day she was born. No clue why; I guess just because I've always liked swimming so much. My mom had me in swim classes at the YMCA when I was 6 months old, and I always knew I'd do the same when I had kids. Hannah was 7 months yesterday so we were a teeny bit behind that schedule, but not much. We are taking classes through our gym. They have a Get Wet program that's for ages 6 months to 3 years. I registered us for Thursday evenings at 5:00 because Eric is home then and I really wanted him to be able to do this with her too, but we were the only ones who signed up for that unpopular time frame so it was canceled. The only other time they have that Eric could go to is Saturday mornings at 10:00. This is not cool since it means Hannah has to skip her morning nap, but I really, really wanted Eric to be there for at least the first class so the administrator for this program, when he called to tell me that Thursdays were getting canceled, allowed us to go to on Saturday for the first class and then switch over to Mondays at 11:30 which aligns perfectly with Hannah's napping.
The other benefit to having her first class be on a Saturday is that Hannah had quite a fan club who was happy to cheer from the sidelines. Grammy met us at the house this morning and rode there with us, and my dad and his girlfriend got the address and met us there. I was a little embarrassed at first about the crowd--I mean, it's a parent-accompanied swim class, not her Broadway debut--but then it occurred to me how nice it is that Hannah has such a loving and supportive community eager to share in all her firsts, no matter how trivial, and then I was happy to have everyone there because that's what I always wanted for her, even before there was a "her."
So Eric donned his swim trunks this morning, and mom and I grabbed our cameras and documented the occasion from the pool deck. From that station, I also provided hand clapping and encouragement to Hannah who frequently looked my way with a "are-you-sure-about-this-pool-thing-mom?" look on her face. In spite of her uncertainty, she seemed like she was having fun and was quite amicable for about the first 20 minutes or so (it's a 30 minute class), then part of the class is to start passing your kid in a circle to the next parent until your kid gets the whole way back to you (this class had the maximum people at 6 parent-child couples). Hannah was surprisingly calm the first time around, but by the time she finished that first circle, she had caught on to what was happening so when the teacher had them do it again, she started crying. Eric let her get about halfway around the circle before rescuing her. She was pretty upset by this time so he brought her over to the side and I picked her up and 'nuggled her till she calmed down.
Grammy took this first pic. It's a bit blurry, but it's also the one where she has the cutest smile so I opted to upload it anyway.
Grammy also took this pic (obviously I didn't).
I also uploaded two videos, both of which will make even the sea-leggiest person nauseas so watch at your own risk. Both have pretty cute endings though so they might be worth it.
The first one is from Grammy's camera.
When we got home, I nursed Hannah and she stayed there suckling for a long time, just like she does before bed. I suppose she needed comfort and a chance to rest and decompress from all the excitement. Then after about a half hour of quiet time in playing in her crib, she passed out and slept for 2-1/2 hours.
She only gets a 1-day break because our next class is Monday. I'll have to go that one alone which will be no easy task given that I didn't see any baby changing tables in either the women's locker room or the family changing rooms (what kind of family changing room doesn't have a changing table??). I guess they don't expect a lot of babies....Anyway, since I'll be flying solo, there won't be pics.
Oh, and how freakin cute is her suit!!! I love it.
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