Earlier this week we finished up the first session of winter swimming. At the end of the lesson I was speechless. Not only had Kaitlynn swam close to 300 meters, she learned how to dive. I watched the instructor ask her if she wanted to get out and walk back after swimming the 50 meters down. The answer was always no.
In the last 10-15 minutes of the lesson the kids swim down to the "deep end" to practice diving. In the phases to teach this skill the kids first sit on the edge of the pool and push down under water. Next they stand them up and have them dive in. Katie could not get the standing part. She was constantly belly flopping because she would lift her chin up.
After each child had two tries they were allowed to do any jump. Kaitlynn did not want to do any jump she wanted to keep practicing the dive. That is until finally she figured out how to marry herself into the water. It was perfection and felt almost like slow motion as her body melted into the water. My first thought was OMG SHE DID IT!!! But that wasn't enough she wanted to do it again and she did.
Today we went to the Levine Cardiac Kids Walk A Thon to raise money for Camp Luck (Heart Camp). For each lap the kids walked they earned a silly band in the shape of LCK with a maximum of 25 laps. As we counted her silly bands, she walked a way with 20. She, another heart sibling and a chd survivor all about 7 walked it together. It was very cute to see the girls round the corner and giggle all the way. Just like the swimming, I would ask her if she wanted to rest. She would always say no.
On Kaitlynn's most recent report card her teacher was very impressed with her outstanding math skills. However, she wanted Kaitlynn to practice her reading out loud to help her fluency. I talked to Kaitlynn about it explaining it wasn't like she received a bad grade but that extra practice was required. As I was cleaning up from lunch today, I found her sitting on the couch with Madelynn reading her poetry notebook without being asked.
She has this drive like I have never seen. In about a week, Kaitlynn will participate in the Jump Rope for Heart in honor of Madelynn. When all is said and done I believe she will be $50.00 over her goal. She is very excited about jumping and has been practicing.
Phil asked me one day where does all of this come from. I reminded him of all the compliments she received last year about her impressive leadership skills. As far as the Math expert she is becoming she can thank her Daddy for that. I could tell he had to stop and think about that and he walked away smiling.
It is no secret we are a family living with the Congenital Heart Defect but it does not control us and we are learning thrive at any challenge. Kaitlynn is my true example of that. No matter what crosses her path she comes out successful.
TTFN~
No comments:
Post a Comment