Tiny Dancer

Nana and Papa got Emery six weeks of dance lessons this summer for her birthday gift. She already thinks she is a dancer and we want to get her involved in lots of activities to see what she is interested in. Since she makes us turn on ballet music (classical station) so she can put on her ballet clothes and twirl around the house, we knew dance classes would be a perfect place to start.

Tuesday was the first day of classes. Some probably read on Facebook, but four hours before dance class, Emery found, opened and ingested an entire Dramamine pill. I was convinced she would be out the rest of the afternoon and miss the class that we had just purchased the tutu-leotard, ballet shoes and pink tights for -- but she managed to miraculously wake up just in time to get to class and still be functional! A normal dose for her of half a pill, which we give during our car trip so she doesn't get sick going through the West Virginia mountains, knocked her out for three hours straight on Monday. I don't know how she didn't sleep all day with a whole pill.

Emery was SUPER excited to go to dance class after we went to the studio earlier in the day to purchase her dance attire and check out the studios. She wanted to stay and participate in the high school students ballet class and it took a bit of convincing to get her to leave so we could come back when her special teacher would be there.

Little Miss Ballerina in her ballet attire

Emery is a good kid, but since I've seen how other children in her class or peer group often behave with or without parents around, I wanted to make sure she knew what I expected of her in class.

"Emery, I want you to make sure that you listen to everything your teacher says today in class, OK?"

"OK. Mommy I will. What bad things can I not do in class then?"

"Well....what bad things are you thinking about doing in class?"

"I don't know. What bad things can I not do?"

"Well, you shouldn't talk when you teacher is talking, and don't be running around when the teacher is showing you how to dance, OK?"

"OK. What good things should I do?"

"You know what good things to do. You're a good girl in classes. Make sure you are kind to the other girls in your class. Raise your hand if you have a question. Say Yes, Mam and use your manners like please and thank you."

"Oh, yes! I know my manners. I will be great at this."

And she will.

Emery in class. This is taken of her in the mirror so she couldn't see me.

 When we arrived at the dance studio -- nearly late like usual -- hyper-active moms and their younger children were all in line waiting to go with their little ballerinas in tow. I'm not much for socializing with other moms. Frankly, they are usually hoity-toity and only want to talk about where they are vacationing and what little Sally and Billy are doing that is so amazing that week. Cohen and I skipped the mom section and hung out by the bathrooms. Never a bad choice with a baby. :)

Emery, on the other hand and luckily at this age, has no concept of rich-stuck-up children, so she immediately walked up to two little girls with her hand swinging behind her back to ask them if they were in her class and to tell them her name. Only one was friendly enough to talk back. It was enough to make Emery's day and she scooted off to class when the door opened and her teacher called them in.

Miss Lucy is Emery's teacher and for those that watch the television series Parenthood, she is a dead ringer for Jasmine. I seriously had to do a double-take to make sure it wasn't really her. (She does play a ballerina on the series).

Happy Buddy stuffed his face with baby cookies the entire time

The studios all have large windows you can watch them dancing through. There were about 5-6 other girls her age in the class. She is at least 4-5 inches shorter than the next smallest girl, as I could see as they lined up by height. Poor girl.

She did wonderful in class. She sauntered in and immediately started listening to Miss Lucy without so much as waving bye or giving me a hug. My baby is growing up! I was relieved that she wasn't one of the ones getting pulled aside to listen, or one of the crazy ones running in circles the whole time. The 45 minutes went by super quick for both of us.

My little dancer after class

Drew was able to come for the last 20 minutes and watch her with me. She saw his reflection in the mirror and frantically started waving at him.

When we got her to the car and were on our way to dinner, we asked her how the class went and what she liked about it.

"What was your favorite part about dance class?"

"Umm...I liked dancing."

Well said, child. Good thing it's a dance class.

As the night went on and even into yesterday, she began telling us more details about what she did and showing us some of her "moves."

I will try to get a video during one of the classes of her dancing. So, so precious.

Who knows. Maybe Emery will get the dancing gene in the family after all.

Over and out --

Happy Birthday America!

Here are some pictures of our Fourth of July celebrations here in North Carolina and Ohio over the past week that I haven't had time to post on:

Proud to be an American! At the Mayberry Parade in Mt. Airy, she loved the baby goat and porta-potty that went in the parade...as well as the candy!

Bubba was so hot, he could care less about anything but eating the flags!

My big girl working on pumping her legs to swing

Cohen (clothesless) 8 months and cousin Liam - 11 months

My little fish decided literally overnight that she liked swimming by herself and was no longer afraid!

This picture is taken from the boat. You can see Emery circled in red. She swam by herself to the big kids and didn't want any assistance.

She really did love playing with Ethan, although one can't tell from this goodbye picture. Both were SUPER grouchy after five days of no schedule and little sleep!

I love how far apart they tried to get and the sobbing face she gave me

Five minutes after pulling out, both her and Cohen passed out. She slept for 3 hours straight and peed herself. It was a much easier trip this time. :)

Hope everyone else had a wonderful time celebrating the Fourth!

Over and out ---

The Experimental Nudist

You know there's going to be an interesting parenting road ahead when you walk into a conversation like this with your three-year-old and your 8-month old:

"Cohen, look at this. This is my bottom. Want to see the cool tricks I can do with it?" - As she's sitting naked on the floor with her legs spread pointing to her delicates.

I walk in to intervene and see what "cool tricks" she has in mind.

"Emery, where are your panties? What are you doing to your bottom?"

"I took them off. I'm just showing Cohen some cool tricks I can do."

"Ok. While super fascinating, why don't you go find your panties and put them back on. We don't need to be playing with our bottoms."

"But I like to all day." (A common phrase she uses when she wants to do something)

"Watch this." As she shows me everything she's discovered on herself.

I sent an SOS text to Drew that we have fun times ahead and an early bloomer.

Meanwhile, my naked child is running around my house holding her bottom and laughing about the word panties. (Isn't she too young to think that word is funny?)

I catch up to her sitting on her little people chairs lined up on our fireplace that her Daddy and her created to be a train.

My naked girly girl

"Hey naked girly girl, come sit on the train with me," she yells to me.

"Naked girly girl? Who are you talking to? Mommy is wearing all her clothes."

"I know. But Momma, you should totally take off all your clothes like me and sit on my train, naked girly girl."

Oh dear. I totally have a teenager on my hands a decade too soon. I'm not ready for this yet. Next she'll be asking for the car keys and sneaking lipstick. Oh wait. She already steals lipstick and uses it dually as blush and beautiful lips.

At least she is an extreme child and goes from running around naked to this:

Gotta love my crazy girl.

On to Bubba, isn't he growing up so fast??

Trying out new foods like mashed raspberries!

Over and out ---