Swimming Lessons!

Ellie began swimming lessons at Mt Hood Community College this week and we all are having so much fun! The lessons are on Tuesday and Thursdays for 30 minutes each and will last for a month. You may think that swimming lessons for a 9 month old is a little silly, which I must confess - I was kind of thinking myself, BUT they are great! The main purpose is to get Ellie acclimated to the water. The lessons take place in a learners pool that is designed for little kid lessons, therefore the water is 91 degrees. Not bad! I think Ellie thinks she is just taking a bath in a giant pool with her mom and dad. :)

During the lessons we sing songs, play games, practice floating on the front and back (in our arms), blow bubbles - which really means Justin and I are blowing bubbles and Ellie is looking at us like we're crazy :), and playing with toys. Today Ellie got to chase a ball around the pool which she thought was hilarious and fun! She was actually kicking her legs on her own while we held her. It was pretty awesome and both Justin and I hope she develops a love for swimming like us!

In other news, Ellie began crawling yesterday! Well, she took a couple of "crawls".. "steps"...whatever you call them. She is an expert roller, so really - she can get anywhere or to anything that she wants without having to crawl. However, she has been really close to actually crawling. So close that I have literally woken up jumping out of bed several times recently thinking she is falling down the stairs... a serious reminder that we have to baby proof the house SOON. Anyway... yesterday I got my horn out to practice and Ellie took a "crawl" towards it! YES! You can imagine how proud I was, not only did she crawl, but to a musical instrument. And not only a musical instrument, but the french horn. Awe, she's my girl. :) She then took two "crawls" towards a book and decided she was done for the afternoon. I know my life is about to get a whole lot more interesting, so I am not pushing her to do it all the time. It'll come...