Our Tiny Dancer

Chloe has always LOVED to dance and thankfully inherited her dad's sense of rhythm (anyone who has seen me try to dance knows why this is such a blessing!). I have been waiting and waiting until she was old enough to start a formal dance class. When she turned 2, I started to research dance studios in the area and settled on a cute studio not far from our home. I signed her up for the 1 hour per week class because the studio time was split up between tap, ballet and tumbling. I thought it would be a good introduction to different dance types and would give her the chance to see if any or all of them would interest her.

I took her out to buy leotards and tights. I took her to a cute dance supply store to get fitted for ballet and tap shoes. I even practiced ballet positions with her using our stair railing as a ballet bar. She was excited. I was excited (I was REALLY excited!). She loves dressing up like princesses on a daily basis, so you can imagine how thrilled she was to put on a leotard and tutu.

We drove to the studio on the first day of class and everything unravelled. Her teacher is SO NICE. Oh my goodness. Crazy nice. She has a sweet little voice and everything. The classroom is fully enclosed with windows for parent observation so I thought that as long as she could see me, she would be okay.

I kissed Chloe and gave her a little push into the room and began watching from the window. She lasted for about 4 minutes and then ran out of the door and came to me. She gave me a hug and then I sent her back in. Another few minutes passed and then she was out the door again. This continued for the entire hour.

Okay. First week of class. Things have got to get better, right? Well, today was lesson #4. Jon came to watch this time. As soon as she saw her daddy, she was ready to rip off the ballet slippers and hang out with him. She cried. He rolled his eyes and looked at me as to say, "Why are we paying for this???" Luckily, he had an appointment and had to leave halfway through the hour. She did finish up her lesson pretty strong, but I am definitely the mom who spends the entire hour apologizing to the teacher and other parents. Hopefully it gets better.

In other news, Beckham began feeding himself today! He is 14 months old and has had NO interest in feeding himself. He definitely has in interest in food, but wants someone else to do the feeding. This probably doesn't seem like a big chore, but because his love for food is beyond that of a normal child, his feedings last FOREVER! He not only eats a lot food, he also likes to take his time tasting the food. Savoring the food. Being "one" with the food. Between bites he even looks as if he is clearing his pallet. It is pretty funny. Anyway, you can imagine my excitement today when he grabbed the spoon during breakfast. Yay! This may free up an hour at breakfast, lunch and dinner!!!