Baby ballet

I found myself in the very unexpected position this morning of a toddler ballet class. Really, a 1-year-old leaping across the room? She can barely walk!

It happened when we took Molly to try out a gymnastics class at a place in Penfield. Molly trotted off with the teacher, all the other parents left and Kate and I settled in to entertain ourselves for an hour in the parents lounge. The friendly receptionist saw us in there alone and asked if we wanted to try out a little mommy-and-me class that was about to start. I tried to tell her that Kate was too little to follow directions, learn anything, point her toes, etc. but she said it didn't matter, it was really just a creative movement thing. So we did it.

I think we blew Kate's mind. She spent the first part of class dumbfounded. I have to admit, I was kind of dumbfounded, too. There were three other little girls and their moms, essentially doing real ballet. What could they possibly do with kids that little?

The teacher did some silly stuff -- putting a beanie baby unicorn on their toes for tondue, having them pretend to do balloon arms over their heads. They did some stretching, some imitating the teacher through little dance moves, some leg work at the barre, some free dance where she just played music and let them dance around in front of the mirrors. Kate got into it as soon as the teacher reached out a hand. She followed the teacher around and stood right next to the other girls, watching what they were doing.

I didn't take it too hard that she couldn't actually leap over the little foam strips because, well, she can't leap. She's a baby! I didn't know until after the class, chatting with a mom, that one of the other girls is three weeks younger than Kate! Of course, that baby didn't leap either. In fact, I think she's the one who tripped over the foam strips. They all had a good time, though.

And most importantly Molly loved her class. They do most of it in a special preschool room. There was some pretending to be cars, some obstacle course, and a nice dose of trampoline at the end. Seems like a good fit.

The other excitement this week was that the first day of the new session of our parent-child Waldorf class was postponed. When I mentioned to the teacher how excited Molly was for it to start, she suggested she get together with us instead. So we had the teacher over yesterday morning to play. What a very special occasion. :)

I have pictures of none of this. What I do have are some snow pictures that I'd better post quick before it all melts.

 

Kate joins in for bedtime stories with Molly sometimes -- usually just to sit between Daddy's eyes and the book, but occasionally to follow along.