Tiny Dancer

Gwen's first dance class was back in September 2012.  Before we began, I only expected to try it out for a few months, but she just had so much fun with it!  And when I found out that there would be a recital this summer (even though it was less than a week before my due date), I knew we had to stick with it!  This will be our last month of dance (for now), and we're really going to miss it.  Looking back, I never really imagined just how much she would change in those 9 months...

THE RECITAL

Gwen did AH-MA-ZING at her first recital!!  The song was "Daddy's Little Girl" by Michael Buble in honor of Father's Day this weekend.  While we were waiting backstage, she wanted to get out there so badly.  When we started walking out, she immediately looked for Daddy, and you can see in the video that I posted when she found him and how excited she was.
Towards the end, I *sort of* forgot the routine (I was relying on the teacher giving her cues - but I couldn't find her), but you can see how Gwen knew exactly what she was supposed to be doing and was so confident about it.  I'm so proud of my little lady, she was such a star <3

Below are some photos and a link to the video on youtube!

with Jade and Cece after the recital

proud parents

with Nana & Papa

LINK:
Gwen's Dance Recital

Little Ballerina!

Someone started her dance class today!!  I've heard that most places don't offer classes for kids younger than 3, but our friend told me about a 1.5-3 yr old class so we were all about it!  Afterall, the little lady has been a dancing babe for pretty much her entire life.  One of the best things about class?  There's a dress code: dance leotard, tights, and ballet slippers!  So of course we went on a shopping trip last week!
So when we got to the studio, we found out that Gwen and Cece were the only 2 little ladies signed up for the class.  That was a little disappointing, because it would've been adorable to see a bunch of little ballerinas running around.  But I was pleasantly surprised by the content - the instructor (Miss Krystn) really seems to know what she's doing.  I honestly didn't know what to expect, but she had a good structure to the class, and kept things moving along. I kind of didn't want it to end!
First, she had the girls play with some toys to get them comfortable with the unfamiliar space (I think it helped that they know each other so well, too).  Then we did some songs and movements in a circle, followed by some fun stretches - Gwen really enjoyed mimicking Miss K.  After that we did some plie's and another ballet move (that I can't remember the name of) against the ballet bar.  Then came some spacial awareness, climbing up and over a little obstacle.  Miss K had Jade and me step away after that, while she played with some toys with the girls, so we could work on their separation anxiety (which they ended up having none of because they were together).  She ended the class with a cute song and bubbles.  I posted a video at the end of the post, of Gwen and Cece dancing around to the song.  I have to say that Gwen really enjoyed herself!  she kept asking "more? more?" after each activity was over.  We're looking forward to next week!  The pics that I have aren't great because we were doing the class with them most of the time, but here's what I was able to get:

getting their stickers for being such good little dancers

Here she is in action!