Spelling It Out

This morning as I was getting ready for work, Bea seemed to be working on a project with paper and a marker. She typically gets very involved in drawing or coloring, so I continued to get ready and not disturb her. As I was getting Olivia ready, she came over to me and told me she had a present and that she wanted me to take it to work with me. I opened up the paper slowly, and this is what I saw:


A few things here to note:
- SHE SPELLED HER NAME FOR THE FIRST TIME WITHOUT GUIDANCE.
- Notice the little “i" at the beginning.
- The second item is a heart that she got a little carried away on.
- The “A” is a little out of control and she added two extra lines, but it is clearly an “A”.

I was so proud of her, and I still can’t believe she did that without anyone’s help.

Also, she wanted everyone at work to know that I love her….Aw.

A Swimmer Indeed

Last night the girls finished up the first round of many swimming lessons to come. While Olivia refused to participate in many of the sessions, and some where she was only in the water for a few minutes, she now puts her head completely under the water. I'm very proud of this accomplishment for little miss stubborn. I didn't expect her to walk away from the class doing anything but kick her legs, so we are headed in the right direction.

As for Bea, I cannot even describe how proud I am of her. She went into the class not really doing anything. She wouldn't even put her head under the water. All of her fear turned into determination as she saw other kids her age doing these things at the first class. Since she is competitive in nature, I realized it could go one of two ways for her - either she would give up easily if she felt she couldn't do it, or she would excel and learn all there was to know so she could be just as good as the others. And she excelled tremendously. She is actually swimming, and tonight she even did some freestyle strokes. I am so very proud of her. We were only allowed to bring cameras at the last session, so I was able to get a few good shots and video with her and her instructor, Natalie.

My little Bea is now a swimmer...Go Bea!!