Rachel aces swim lessons!

Haven't spent much time with The Little Girl today; Drew took her to dance class and swim lessons and out to lunch while I worked on what hopefully will be a paying freelance story from home. I'm heading to my friend Deni's house tonight for a Moonstruck-themed women's-only party and am bringing a homemade almond poppyseed bundt cake with a light almond-flavored glaze. For any of you drooling with envy, organize a party and I will gladly bring dessert!

This was Rachel's first day back at swim class after a three-month absence and apparently she aced it! We have had limited success in the past with getting in the water with her during lessons. I signed us up while Drew was gone and sometimes she loved them and other times she was whiny when she didn't get to play with a toy she wanted or I hurried her out of the pool too soon. Drew and I were kind of dreading this round, but we are absolutely determined that she know how to swim.

Well, apparently we needn't have worried, she was great! She got right in the water with other four kids (Drew thinks the small size of the class worked in her favor) and blew bubbles (this is the kid who didn't want to put any part of her face in the water last year)! She was a little reluctant to get on a group kickboard with everyone because it sagged in the middle, but she was perfectly okay when the instructor held her back while Rachel spread her body out in the water like a starfish. Yay!

I was also very pleased to hear that after Drew bought her a little bag of chocolate goldfish crackers, Rachel made a point of sharing them with Drew; a woman who sat on the bench next to them; and her dance teacher, Allison. She got very upset when she came home and thought that the goldfish cracker she'd saved for me was gone. I told her I wasn't hungry anyway, but Drew ended up finding it and she was so pleased to be able to give a little present to Mommy!

I told Drew that as soon as I pitch this story -- probably two weekends from now -- I will accompany them to dance and swim class just to watch Rachel in action. I'll be glad to take a short break from extracurricular writing on weekends because it's a lot of work.