wan-na find something?

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

from monkey to tiger

the bean's been doing really well at her gymnastics class.  seems like just yesterday that she went to her first session, and we were struggling to get her to try anything without bawling.

this weekend was the last class of the session, and we wondered if she'd pass the tests and show enough independence to advance to the next level - tigers.  she was still in the monkeys class, which was for kids anywhere from 1.5 to 3 years old.  but she'd been kicking ass, doing all of the activities and obstacle courses without needing one of us to hold her hand.  we'd been making a point of backing away and letting her do her thing, and the teachers were taking note.

it started like any other class, with a quick warm-up:


when i saw what the first course entailed, i cringed a little.  she's been afraid of the high beam during every other class, squealing and demanding to hold a hand (if she even got up on the thing at all).  but i sat back and watched as she observed one of her classmates go through it without any fuss.

and i was stoked when she did the same.  monkey see, monkey do.


she went through the whole course with a big smile on her face while we cheered her on.  handstand!


the next two courses were just as easy, and it was fun to watch her go through them cheerfully.



during free play, she jumped right into the ball pit as she always does.


at the end of the class, she trotted over to receive her hand stamps and accept a couple of awards:


whee!  as we'd hoped, she'd been moved up into the next class.  look at our little tiger!  next week's class should be interesting - tigers don't have parents on the floor with them anymore.  instead, we get to sit and watch from a distance.  hopefully, seeing a few pals who'd moved up last time will distract her enough to relax and enjoy the class.

cross your fingers.

3 comments:

  1. I am excited for your little gymnast. She will become a popular cheerleader.

    Kids who do math workbooks become isolated nerds. Not that I know anything about that.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Awww she is so cute. How cool to see how much her independence grew over the course. Awesome!

    ReplyDelete

i heart comments. i wan-na hear what you have to say.
um, i think.

heading out to the big apple

like most of our best vacations, our christmastime trip to NYC was kind of a last-minute decision.  i don't even think there were six we...