Mermaids

Drew, Lily and I went to the pool today and we had so much fun!! Drew took a bit to warm up, but about 30 minutes in, he was cool with hanging out in the water. He even blew a few bubbles! Lily, on the other hand, took no warming up!! She hopped right in and just had a wonderful time. She was swimming all over the place!! She was working on her kicks, and going really far under water and even practiced touching the bottom of the pool with her hands! She was also doing cannon balls off the side of the pool and zooming down the water slide.

At one point she asked me if mermaids have lungs or gills. I told her that I thought that they had both. That their gills were in their tail. She thought about it, and told me that she'd like to have gills, too. She started feeling around on the sides of her chest and said, "Oh, I feel my lungs....oh!! and my gills are right here under my lungs!!" I thought it was so funny. Then later I was showing her how she could go faster if she made small fast kicks with her feet and she told me, "You're a good swimmer, Mom!" I was just in heaven watching her being so excited to learn and share with me. What fun!

I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't beside myself with joy that Lily was having so much fun in the water. She definitely has a love of the water and learning to swim. On one hand it makes me happy that she is enjoying something that I love so much, and on the other hand, I'm just so thrilled that she found SOMETHING that she loves so much!! I know some parents that push their kids to learn their strokes early and have them diving in the pool at 3 or 4 years old. But, to be honest, that's not my dream for Lily. My dream is that she finds something that she's passionate about and my job as a parent is to support her goals. She may not be the next Dara Torres or Janet Evans, but, she's the only Lily Stivers...and that's enough for me!

Lily at her first swimming lessons without Mommy one year ago.

She has come so far since then.