Swimming lesson

Riley started swimming lessons a few weekends ago. Saturday morning at 9:30 you’ll find the UCLA family pool filled with parents and kids aged 2-5 that span the range from totally comfortable dunking under the water to petrified to leave the steps. Riley falls closer to the latter. I got to take her this week and she did really well! They have floating noodles to wrap around the kids and let them float. Riley usually has one arm firmly wrapped around sage or my neck in a vice grip. This week she finally let go and held on to the noodle and floated on her own. When she realized I wasn’t holding on to her she had a mix of extreme excitement and sheer panic and made me hold her again. She also did some kicking around the pool for the first time. At the end of the lesson I told her I was really proud of her. She said, “thank you. Wha aye mama.” (which means “I love you” in Chinese, spelling is a total guess on my part but that’s what it sounds like when she says it) Could she be any cuter??

One of the parents in the daycare has started doing “Chinese time” a couple days a week with the kids. They sing songs in Chinese and read books… Riley really likes it and he says she’s a very good student. She seems to enjoy learning in general. I figure as long as there is no pressure, learning will continue to be fun…

Right now I am sitting outside (blogging from my iPhone for the first time!) watching Riley plant seeds with grandma. They planted sunflower seeds last weekend and every day they go up to the roof and check on them. We are in the midst of a major garden overhaul which means there is dirt and stones and sand everywhere… Riley’s dream come true. She can play outside with her shovel and cups for hours.

She’s just a lot of fun. I wish I could remember all the funny things she says and record them here, but they don’t seem as funny out of context. I guess we need to break out the video camera more often…

(haven’t figured out how to add pictures from my iPhone yet… next time!)