Tiny Dancer

Something I have been waiting patiently for for 3 years has finally happened.  Sara Kate has started dance!!!  

Back in June she started gymnastics (which I still need to write about), but I decided she wasn't ready in the summer for dance and that we would start in the fall.  I'll be honest and say I have been so excited at the thought of enrolling her in dance ever since we found out we were having a girl.  I was a dancer and took dance for 15 years, starting before I turned 3, so for a girl it's what I know.  

Here's a throw back for ya...my first recital when I was 3 and 1/2.  It's a tiny little picture and not the best quality, but it was from 1983, I think!! :-)

Sara Kate's dance classes started 3 weeks ago, and I think she's doing great.  Because she is almost 3 and 1/2 (beginning of October), they let her into the 3.5-4.5 year old class, instead of putting her in the 2.5-3.5 year old class.  I was very thankful for that because she is a follower and she tends to do better following older kids as opposed to being the oldest and being the leader.  She is taking a combination ballet/tap class and it is so stinking cute to watch.  They do ballet for about 25 minutes and do tap for another 25 minutes.  Her teacher seems to be very patient and good with the girls and they seem to do a very good job listening to her.

The sweetest little ballet shoes...I cannot convince her to put the tights on her feet!!  Silly girl!

Parents aren't allowed in the studio, but they have cameras in the studios and televisions in the lobby so we can watch.  I wish I could watch her more, but I understand the distraction factor with mommys and daddys watching.  Sometimes she's standing on a dot at the edge of the screen and I can barely see her, but for the most part I can keep an eye on her.

The top screen is her class and that is Sara Kate tip-toeing across the room, doing what she's supposed to be doing, yay! Haha!

Overall, I think she really likes going to dance class.  One day last week she randomly said, 'Mommy, I really want to go to dance class.'  I said, 'Dance class is on Tuesday and today is Wednesday.  What's your favorite thing about dance class?'  She said, 'I get to be a pretty ballerina.'  Melt my heart!  When she's older and has enough knowledge to form her own opinions, if she tells me she doesn't want to take dance I will say ok.  If she ever wants to be in sports, I will say ok.  She can be whatever she wants to be and do whatever she wants to do.  I just want her to be happy.  But she sure looks happy twirling around like a 'pretty ballerina' and I just love it!!