with recommendations from michelle, tara and several of tara’s friends, we signed ellie up for a 13-week session of swim lessons at american swim academy. i was intrigued by the program because they let parents in the water with the kiddos until they’re 3, and i know my kid well enough to know she wouldn’t DARE go in the water with some stranger without one of us right there with her. so we did a trial lesson, she loved it, and we decided to sign her up.

i was so excited to watch! i didn’t go to the trial lesson because we didn’t want her to see me from afar and cry for me to hold her in the event that she got upset. we knew with ryan she would try extra hard to be brave. but since she did so well the first time, i asked if i could come along next time and of course she said yes! so along i went and TONS of pictures i took.

i almost burst with pride about a million times just watching her do simple things like kick and extend her arms in the water to reach for toys. seeing her push her way out of the pool and jump back in, watching her go from daddy to the swim instructor without tears, seeing her smile and wave to me from behind the glass …

she’s just growing up so beautifully <3