My little gymnast

Ari started her gymnastics class on Friday night, and because I'm a total nerd, I took a picture of her before we left. Yes, that's a chocolate chip cookie in her hand... great snack, right? And don't blame me for the sandals/socks combo... I wanted her to wear sneakers, and she insisted on the sandals, and I didn't fight it. Whatever footwear she had, she'd be removing it once we got there, since they don't allow "street shoes" on the floors.

When we got there, the waiting area was crammed full of parents and kids. It was a bit crazy. We managed to find a couple empty seats, and I struck up a conversation with the mom next to me, since she had a little girl who looked to be about Ari's age and who I thought might be in Ari's class. Turns out, I was right. Her daughter, Hayley, was 5, and had been taking classes at this dance school for 2 years. I tried to introduce Ari to Hayley, but she did her shy thing and buried her face in Tony's shoulder and refused to say hi.

When it came time to send her in, she lingered in the doorway a little. That other mom (I never did catch her name... I'm not as good at chatting up strangers as Tony is) encouraged Hayley to take Ari in with her, which I thought was so sweet, but Ari refused. I was bracing myself, at that point, for Ari to refuse to go to class, but after another minute or so, with a little gentle coaxing from me (just stuff like, "Look, all the other kids are in there, so it's time for class to start"), she walked right in. She was still a bit hesitant, walking slowly instead of bounding in, but she never looked back. The teacher began to take attendance, and when she called Ari's name, Ari barely raised her hand, so it took the teacher a second to find her. After that, Ari glanced our way, so we waved goodbye to her, and she gave us a small smile and waved back, like it was no big deal. I was so proud of her.

Her dance studio happens to be right next door to a Friendly's, so the half-hour that her class lasted was the perfect amount of time for us to grab some ice cream to go, eat it, and then pick her up. We got back there right as the teacher was handing out stickers to all the kids, and for whatever reason, Ari was the last to get one. When she turned and saw me, she broke out in a huge grin, ran to me, and threw her arms around my leg. And then, we could not shut her up. She went on and on and on about her class and all the cool stuff they did the whole way home. And once we got home, she wasted no time in showing me all the things they'd done in class. Oh, and the shoes we'd ordered for her had arrived, though we didn't get them until her class was over... so we let her put them on and prance around the house for a while, and she just thought she was hot stuff.

I can't tell you how happy I am that she enjoyed her class so much. I figured she would, but she can be a bit shy and/or stubborn sometimes, so you just never know with her.

Also, I should add that I managed to get a lot more unpacking and organizing done this weekend, and even though there are still boxes and random piles of stuff lying around, this place is starting to really feel like home, and I just love it.