Ballet!

Emily began her very first ballet class today! I was so excited when she decided she wanted to take dance, and it became even more special when she was able to get in a class where I took as a little girl. Her teacher, Mrs. Beth, and I were in classes together. Mrs. Beth's mother, Mrs. Sarah, was our teacher, and she is doing Emily's class until Mrs. Beth returns from maternity leave.

Emily woke up this morning, and as soon as her eyes opened, she whispered, "Ballet!" She has been so excited and was even more giddy today. She seemed so precious and innocent as I got her ready this afternoon. She did not like her tights and said they "felt funny" but soon forgot about them as she got to put on her leotard, skirt, and ballet shoes. The highlight was her bun, and she wanted to look at it in the mirror.

My mom came to stay with Hunter while he napped, and Emily and I headed out the door......EARLY, I might add! :0)

I kept watching her in the rear view mirror as we drove to her very first ballet lesson. She was staring out the window with the sweetest little grin on her face, and it made me a little teary eyed.

Once there, she met a few of her new classmates in the lobby and spent her time playing in the oscillating fan before class began. :0) When the assistant called her name, she jumped down from my lap and ran to get in line with her little backpack. She was so precious and so excited lining up in the "choo choo" line to head back to the studio.


I watched her on closed circuit television. She participated, but not with all-out gusto, the first 5 minutes or so. But when she saw my sister and Betsy peering in the window at her, she started being silly and showing off. I had to go drag them back to the lobby with me so E would behave! :0) She looked so sweet pointing her toes and running around in circles ("like Cinderella" she later told me). The girls were supposed to go put on their tap shoes after they ran with the sash across the floor, but I later found out that Emily completely skipped the sash part because she was so excited to go put on her tap shoes and begin the second part of class. I was wondering why I saw her in the middle of the floor tapping away about a minute before I saw any other little girls on the TV screen. She was SO EXCITED! :0)

She came walking out at the class's end, hand-in-hand with Mrs. Sarah. She was so proud of her blue sucker that Mrs. Beth gave her and told me she was sad that ballet was over. Sweet success!!!

As we headed out the front door, Mrs. Beth giggled and insisted that I get a picture of Emily right then and there......she had her tap shoes on the wrong feet! In her excitement to get out on the floor, she had switched up her shoes, and noone noticed because she started tapping immediately. When I asked if she wanted me to fix them, she said, "Oh, no! I like them like this. They're comfy!" Oh, my precious girl!

We stopped by Starbucks for a little cold coffee treat and then headed to GM and Pappy's to show off my sweet dancing girl.

Aunt Ellen was on the phone and got
to hear Emily tap :0)

We headed home soon after that to tell Gran and Hunter all about ballet. (but she wasn't really talking....too keyed up) When Daddy got home, though, she started showing us some of the things she did in class and got excited all over again. We sure are proud of our little dancing girl!