Swimming Biride

Our Birdie had a pretty big week at her weekly swim lesson on Saturday, as you can see in two short video clips. In the first, you can watch her scoop and kick her way to Princess Island, which is what Teacher Courtney calls the plastic sheet and PVC pipe contraption segmenting the lane.  (This week, Clara and her fellow--female--swimmer were scooping Tinkerbell ice cream.  Presumably it has fairy dust sprinkles on top.) The reason Birdie's scooping and kicking here is kind of a big deal is that she is doing it all without a noodle. Also, she puffs up her cheeks (monkey cheeks in swim school speak), and pushes her head way down when she takes off. At Biride's level, everything is about increasing the time the swimmers put their heads under water, so Birdie has swum her way right into Teacher Courtney's heart.

The second clip is from the end of class, when the girls plunge into the water on their own and then try to turn around, get back to the wall, and hoist themselves out. Biride's gotten pretty good at the first and the last bits, which is why Julie was filming it, but it just so happened that she caught a real triumph: Birdie turned to the wall on her own for the first time. (Teacher Courtney was rather excited.)