My Tiny Dancer

Today was Sloane's very first dance class.  It's a summer class (six weeks) for 2.5 - 3-year-olds and I signed up as soon as my friend Ann Marie told me about it.  I honestly don't know why I was so excited to sign her up for a dance class - I took one year of ballet/tap when I was seven and didn't love it.  Maybe it's because her legs are almost as long as mine and she enjoys the spotlight so much - I just knew she'd be a perfect fit.

Well.  We showed up early and she gleefully danced around the room as other families arrived.  When it was time for the class to begin, she eagerly took her place on one of the circles and I went to the waiting room (we were in a temporary space as they're putting final touches on the new studio).  I put my bag down and reached for my camera.  As I looked up, I saw a horrified Sloane.  Her face was so sad and her little lip stuck out as far as it would go.  I smiled and waved as she looked at me with desperate eyes.

I wish I could say this stopped after a few minutes, but the first half of the class was pretty similar.  The teacher learned her name rather quickly and was so kind to Sloane.  Thankfully, things turned around about halfway in and she really started to enjoy herself.  

She got to twirl, practice walking on her toes, pretend to be different zoo animals, ribbon dance (that seemed to be her favorite), and play with new friends.  By the end of class, she was all smiles.  She hugged her friends and her teacher and couldn't stop talking about it on the drive home.  Next week she taps!

This is the first thing we've done that is for Sloane only.  Even though I'm not right next to her in the class, it's neat to have a little mother/daughter bonding time.  Meanwhile, Jude will be spending that hour with Michael each week so they'll have some father/son bonding time as well.  

Here are way too many pictures of our tiny dancer.  So proud of her for being brave and sticking with it (when it was quite obvious she wanted to quit)!!