Addi's First Ballet Class

It was a day we had both been waiting for and when I awoke yesterday morning to Addi laying right beside me, I took a second to hold her close before whispering, "Addi, do you know what today is?"  She whispered back, "Mommy, I become a ballerina today!"  It took exactly 2.2 seconds after that declaration for her to roll out of the bed and start jumping up and down.  About every 5-10 minutes throughout the morning she would ask me, "Is it 1:00 yet?  When are we leaving?"  

Preparing for her class was chaotic, but fun (chaotic because I lost my cell phone and spent too much time looking for it and was rushed trying to prepare an early lunch and get Brogan down for an early nap so that we could leave at 12:30ish).  Addi wanted "princess" hair.  This is when I blow dry it and "make it longer."  It does actually make it a little longer because if we don't blow dry it it curls up even more than it does when we do.  I had tears in my eyes as I started putting on her ballerina outfit.  My little girl looks sweet in any color, but she is so precious in pink and she was absolutely glowing.  As soon as the entire outfit was on, she beamed and started doing ballet moves.  She was so proud!

I was a little nervous about how she would do in this first class. Addi is a social butterfly, but is also a bit reserved until she is comfortable.  When we walked into the class, she walked right up to the teacher and gave her a sweet hello.  No hesitation whatsoever.  She knew she was there to do and she was so confident.  I slipped her into her little ballerina slippers and she was eager to show them off.  :)  She was told to find a number to sit on and she did.  The music started and the teacher began to give directions....and the tears started to flow.  Not from my beautiful, ballerina princess...but from  me, whose breath was taken away when I saw how well she was listening and trying every.single.move.  My heart was captured (once again) when a couple minutes into the class she turned around and said, "Mommy, look!  I'm a ballerina!" She studied the teacher, studied the other girls (most of who are a year older, were in this class last year, and in her eyes are probably so much wiser) and she was keeping up with them.  Sure she was wobbly (as were they all) and got distracted every few minutes because she was looking back to me and blowing kisses (heart melting!) or flashing me her million dollar smile, but in my eyes, she was amazing.  She was determined, but not stressed out when she made a mistake. She was serious, yet she let herself have fun.  She was happy, so incredibly excited.  She was fulfilling a dream of hers and she rocked it.  During the tap dance portion, she initially fell a few times because the floor was slippery.  The first time she looked at me and said, "I'm OK, Mommy!" and she got right back up. After that, with each fall it was like she learned how to be a little more careful, and by the end of the very brief tap portion (five minutes because of the floor), she was not falling anymore.

After class, she ran to me and said, "Mommy, I want to come back next time!"  So we will. :)  We both learned a lot yesterday.  I learned that my girl knows what she wants and knows how to go after it.  I learned that God has blessed my little girl with an incredible confidence that Jared and I are working hard to nurture and grow.  I learned that she listens really well to other people (now to work on listening to us a bit more). ;) I learned that even though she was the smallest in her class (and one of the youngest), she didn't let that intimidate her for even a second.  I learned that it only takes me one time of me telling her that she was awesome before it is implanted on her heart and she tells others about how awesome she is. :)  And Addi...she learned a little bit of ballet, a little bit of tap, and a lot of patience with herself.  She learned that practice is important.  She learned that even when she is by herself and pursuing her goals, she will always have a cheering section. She knows her biggest cheerleader is God, who will always be with her, who will never fail her, and who graciously provided the means for this class. In this class, it was Mommy and Brogan (who by the way kept saying, "Addi is doing a good job!"). From a small distance it was Daddy (while at work).  From afar, it was her extended family.  All of us excited for her...all of us proud of her...all of us hoping for the best...and all of us so blessed and so thankful to have her in our lives. 

Sidenote:  Brogan was so well-behaved while we were there! He sat on my lap and watched his sister the entire time.  He was cheering her on (quietly, thankfully). ;)  After class, Addi's teacher told me that she was amazed at how well he did while waiting.  She said she had never seen a child that young do so well and gave him a sucker. ;)  He did awesome and not because I had to coax him...I never once had to tell him to behave.  He just did it on his own.  He, too, is growing up and showing us his character and it is incredible.  Jared and I are so proud of him!  *Oh, and his moment is coming...he LOVES music more than any child I have ever met and gets to start music classes on Sept. 10th.*

***Oh, and Addi sleeping with us...yeah, that's another story for another time. ;)