My Little Fish

Alivia, like many kids with FASD, has an unexpected talent. Unexpected because it took her so long to master gross motor skills, not to mention the fine ones. Alivia, however, did master most of the gross ones and is now quite the little fish! She still has some issues with balance, hopping, and jumping, but put her in the water and she can swim like a mermaid!

I recently got her a pair of swim fins (Disney princess themed at Walgreens for $15) and she can really get around the pool quickly with them. It's all I can do to keep out of her reach and I'm a fairly good swimmer myself. Today we took turns swimming laps and she just about wore me out! (grin)

Alivia has no body fat at all (I can't begin to express how jealous I am!) and can't float alone, so she still has to swim with a "bubble." (She used to have to wear two of them, but recently graduated to just one.) I still make sure I keep her in sight and can get to her quickly if needed, but she really impressed me today doing the laps. Our pool is nearly olympic sized and she didn't struggle at all. (Which has the added benefit of allowing me to get in much more actual swimming than I usually can, as well!)

Her fins came with a mask and snorkel and she got to try them out for the first time today. At first she was kind of panicked because the mask blocked her nose and she didn't trust the snorkel. I had to make her sit on the side of the pool for a minute with the mask and snorkel and practice breathing--after that she was fine. The only problem we encountered was that she loves to dive and that, of course, made the snorkel fill with water. A little more practice, though, and she's going to have it down!

I'm so excited to see her doing this--especially when it's something I struggle with. I have a really hard time trusting a snorkel myself. With me it's all psychological. I just don't feel like I'm able to get enough air. I'm going to try my best to get over that, though, as I have a funny feeling I have a few snorkeling expeditions coming up with my daughter in the not too distant future...

Let's hear it for our wonderful kids and their amazing talents and triumphs!

~ Jeana