The girls finished their second week, and are doing GREAT! The instructor has commented multiple times how great the girls are doing. She said their attitudes are great - they rarely complain. They are great about going full underwater, too. She said they are really advanced for their age.
In fact, this week the instructor had us let go of our babies underwater as we pushed them
towards her. So she would stand a few feet away from the parents and we'd give the babies the signal to go underwater (for me, I say, "Okay Ella, ready? Blow!" or sometimes, "1... 2... 3...") and then we push the baby towards the instructor and let go with about a foot of space left for the baby to travel. It was pretty nerve-wracking for Sarah the first time, but both girls were wonderful!Now at bath time (we bathe them in our full-size bath), we practice things like running water
over their heads so they get used to holding their breath. One of the funniest things happened just a couple days ago. We were bathing them when all of the sudden, Emily stuck her face in the water. Sarah and I both looked at each other, pretty stunned, and then looked at Emily (who was looking at us for approval) and we clapped and told her what a good girl she was. Well, that started a frenzy of "dunking." Emily did it again, and again, then Ella joined in. Then Ella started drinking the bath water (we're discouraging that), and now each day since the girls like to dunk their faces in the water. They will just be sitting in the water, and then lean forward until their whole face is 
under, and usually stop right before their ears touch. Usually, they pop right back up within a second or less. But last night, Emily did it for more than a second on a couple occasions. Now I know a second doesn't sound like a lot, but when you're the parent and you're used to seeing your baby pop right up, you notice a one second difference. It was a bit disconcerting when she didn't pop back up, but when she did, we clapped and smiled. I think Emily did the longer dunk once or twice more, and Ella did it I think once.It is so fascinating watching them learn and do things. Just a day or two ago, I showed one of them, I think Emily, a new sign that I'd never showed her before (I don't remember it now), and she did it back to me immediately. That is when I realized two things:
1) I can actually see their mind working, and it's a wonderful thing.
2) I better enjoy this while I can 'cause pretty soon, I'll have two mirrors walking around, imitating what I do and what I say. Yikes!!
