In April, Ella's school went swimming. Ella LOVES the water in general (bath time, etc), so I thought this would be a big hit...
Since she loves to splish and splash and I knew she'd be in the arms of one of her teachers, I opted to tag along but not get in the water; assuming she would be just fine without me. As most of you know, Ella has been known to be a sympathy crier from time to time. In the locker room while getting the kids changed into swim diapers and suits, about half the kids started to fuss and cry. Maybe it was the new surroundings, the echo of the locker room, etc; who knows, but all I know is Ella did her best to keep her composure...and then lost it. The bottom lip started to quiver, and then the flood gates opened. And they never closed until 5 minutes before we were due to leave! We walked out of the locker room and into the pool area, at this point Ella is cutting off circulation in my neck with her arms wrapped so tightly. We tried to play beside the pool with some water toys, sing some songs, but it seemed there was no calming her down. Since she was in her suit, I decided to hand her off to one of her teachers in the water, thinking maybe the water would distract her from the others crying and she'd start to enjoy herself...no, not so much! I felt helpless on the sidelines in my jeans and t-shirt, wishing I had at least tried to squeeze into my swimsuit!
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Ella finally starting to calm down. She had cried so much she was exhausted and nearly fell asleep in Kelly's arms.
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Ella started to enjoy herself five minutes before we had to leave!
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So, the following week, I went out and bought myself a maternity bathing suit and went swimming with the class. We had a blast. Ella was having so much fun splashing and kicking, I was literally drenched! And fortunately, there weren't as many crying kids this time around, which I'm sure helped!
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| Ella and mom |
Each week at ECLC, they have art class. Ella has absolutely no sensory issues and typically comes home covered in paint, clay, flour; whatever happens to be the medium of choice that week. Throughout the year, some of the "best" art work for each child is collected and given to the parents. A few select pieces are chosen to hang at the annual ECLC art show for parents and general public to enjoy. The art show also hosts a silent auction to raise money for the school. We bid on and got two small canvas paintings that were created by Ella and her two fellow classmates, Natalie and Erin. The families go on a "hunt" around the school to locate the two pieces from their child, as all the art work is hanging proudly in the halls of the school, and both pieces are not hanging together. Ella is quite the artist, but she is still perfecting her touch, so fortunately they had a small picture of each child and their name beside the piece of art for easier identification :)
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| Ella, mom and dad at ECLC art show |
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| Ella, mom and squinty dad at ECLC art show (sorry, best pic we got!) |
