Milestones

We had two big milestones recently.

Josie joined a dance class! She's been all about ballet and ballerinas for over a year now, thanks to my sister who grew up dancing, and me turning on "ballet" music at her request (a Pandora station that plays classical music used in ballets). For whatever reason, it stuck, so I looked into putting her in dance class.

She's pretty young, in fact I'm fairly certain she's the youngest in her class. It's a 3-4 year old class but she's only 3y2m old. Her age shows a little bit. The first day of class, her teacher told me that she was running all over the place and that she had to sit out for a while. Josie was very saddened by this and kept asking me, "Why did I have to sit criss cross apple sauce?" We talked about it all week (seriously, like almost every day) and I was confident that she understood her error and would do better the next week.

She did do much better! I asked the teacher if she listened to her, and she said that she listened great but did scream loudly a few times which wasn't really appropriate. I'll take it, though. That seems pretty minor. 

I really had to fight some mommy issues after the first class. Was she too young? Is she going to be the child that drives everyone crazy because she won't listen and is just wild? How do I address this behavior? Is there even anything I can do?

So then I prayed about it, and my worries pretty much disappeared. She's a smart little girl that is still figuring out this world. Organized classes and groups of people are pretty new to her and of course she's going to need time to adjust and figure it out. 

Mostly, I want her to learn how to interact with others in a polite way, to make friends, learn compassion, and build relationships. If she learns to dance, that's a great bonus. :)

(Skip ahead for the next update... the following are a bunch of pictures from her first day of dance.)

She was not feeling it at first...

But, slowly she started getting excited.

Pretty soon, her goofy self was shining through.

Our next big milestone was a sleepover party. For our fifth wedding anniversary, my sister, Auntie Lara, took the girls overnight so we could get away to celebrate. 

They've stayed overnight before (when we went to Denver earlier this summer, or a wedding out of town last year) but never was it treated like a true sleepover party.

It was reported back to me that they had popcorn, ice cream, watched movies, played with barbies, and made pigs in a blanket (little weenies in crescent rolls). It doesn't get more fun than that! I, of course, was not there to get pictures, but my sister posted a few on Facebook of the girls playing at the park nearby (as it started to rain, typical...) and of them enjoying themselves at her home.

The girls were pretty excited and once they knew we were coming back right away the next day, it was easier for them to relax and truly have fun. I am so proud of them! They behaved and listened to auntie pretty good, slept well, ate well, played well, and overall did a great job. 

They are growing up... bah!!

Jo's face...

Who knows what is wrong here...

Audrey is peacefully reading, Jo is taking a moment to collect herself.