Generally speaking, this is just part of who she is, and I absolutely love it. She's not the child who is comfortable in big crowds or classes, she doesn't join in on a whim. Love.
Well, we've found an exception to this rule that I love equally as much. Enter Leah, master of the pool.
My kid has always, always been a water baby. She looooooves to play in the water. She always has. So I signed her up for independent swim lessons this summer, and the child absolutely blossomed.
Gone was my shy, reserved little girl who waited for everyone else to go first before jumping in.
Suddenly, she was outgoing. She was determined. Without bias (okay, well, maybe a little bias), she was the star student. She did everything the teachers asked of her, and she did it crazy well. She was completely without fear, hesitation or concern.
Sometimes, she was bold to the point of being pushy. She wanted to go first, and more often than not, she did. (The whole concept of waiting in line isn't one we're familiar with.)
She loved jumping in the pool. Loved it.
And every single day, when everyone else had already gotten out of the pool, she asked if she could do it again. And she totally rocked it.
That sweet child of mine. We're talking absolute head-to-toe transformation.
On the last day of classes, they opened up the big water slide. The other 4 kids in the class all sat on the teachers' laps to ride down the slide. Not this girl. She put on her life jacket and jumped down that slide all on her own, even though it scared her a little.
I could not be more proud of that big girl. Her momma was kind of a water baby, too, so it's fun to see her love something that always meant so much to me. More than that, though, watching her gain confidence and come out of her shell and find something she excels at and enjoys - wow. It makes me appreciate just how much she's growing up, and what a cool little lady she's growing into.
Not to mention, she's pretty proud of herself (in case you can't tell).
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