Under the Sea

My heart may explode. I am so so very proud. 

Sometimes, in the quiet of the night in between the kids' bed time and mine, I just sit and soak it all in. It is the only time in my day with silence. It is the only time I am without a child in my arms or hanging on my leg or climbing into my lap; yet, I use this time to go through photos and write blog posts about them all while checking the video monitor repeatedly. 

They are my world. 

Last night, part of my world went onto a big stage in front of hundreds of people in a concert hall and performed a dance perfectly. I can barely contain myself. 

My silly, smart, mischievous, inquisitive, funny three year old rocked her first ever dance recital. And I couldn't be prouder.

Her class performed a tap dance to "Under the Sea" from The Little Mermaid. They were dressed as crabs. It was ridiculously cute.

She even sneezed mid-dance and then picked right back up.

When I went backstage to pick her up after her performance, she was sitting with all of her friends, eating Smarties. I told her what a great job she did and that we were so proud of her and I handed her a bouquet of pink roses. She looked up at me and said, "Mommy, where did you get those? You're such a good friend." Then she said, proudly, "I danced on a stage! I sneezed a little, but it was okay."

Be still, my heart.

We sat down with our friends and family to watch the rest of the show. She loved every minute of it. And, honestly, so did her little brother. They made it through the whole show and dinner out after. We celebrated with pizza. Catherine celebrated by falling asleep in her daddy's arms.

This morning, when she woke up, she brought me a single rose in bed and said, "I danced on a big stage. This flower is for you."

I'm not sure I could love her any more. Until tomorrow.

Dance Party

It isn't often that we get Husband home for dinner. Today, he was not only off work for the day, but he cooked dinner! Catherine and I took a two hour nap and woke up to the smell of a steak dinner being prepared. What a nice surprise!

C was dancing to some Sinatra during dinner, so we went to the living room for a little family dance party. She loves to dance to most music, but really loves pop music. We danced to some favorites from the fifties, but when Husband changed the station to Gangnam Style, she really started to move!

Funny girl.

A Day in the Life

Today was a good day. It was filled with a morning of coloring and a make believe tea party, lunch and an escalator ride with Daddy, a carousel ride followed by MORE escalator rides, another dance recital, a bubble bath and a bed time story filled with snuggles and giggles. Strike that. It was a great day.

Tiny Dancer

I grew up dancing, but my "career" ended as soon as I graduated high school. I always loved it, but I lacked the passion and am cursed with the knees of a grandma.

My little sister, however, has always been a driven dancer. Instead of continuing with the studio in which we had grown up in Montgomery, my parents started driving her at least twice a week to Birmingham to dance with a top studio. She basically started over. She relearned how to turn, how to leap, the basics of technique. But, what she really discovered was a passion for the art of dance in an environment of challenging teachers who groomed her into the dancer she was meant to be.

Fast forward ten years later and she is sharing her passion with students every day. She made a career of doing what she loves. How many people actually get to do that?

I've always been proud of her. How could I not be? But, tonight, I watched her studio's dance recital and was able to see all of her hard work poured onto the stage. I loved watching the excitement on her students' faces. I loved watching her choreography come alive. I loved watching her solo, the first one I'd seen in a couple years. But, I really loved sharing the experience with my daughter for the very first time. 

I already planned to put C in dance classes as soon as possible. I knew she would love taking class from Aunt Mallory. I put her in a pink tutu on a weekly basis. But, tonight, I watched her light up as she watched live dance performances for the first time. She literally danced in my lap. She clapped her hands. She swayed back and forth. She bounced up and down. And sometimes, she just sat in awe of all that was before her. I couldn't be happier to share a family love of dance with the next generation; and I couldn't ask for a better role model for my tiny dancer than her Aunt Mallory. She'll be on that stage before we know it!

Ch-ch-ch-changes

Somehow it didn't occur to me that C turned 13 months two days ago. For one year, we diligently took a photo on her month "birthday," and the first month without a sticker, I completely let it pass me by. Our baby is no longer a baby. She is officially a toddler.

I honestly didn't even realize it until a few mornings ago when it hit me like a ton of bricks. She no longer crawls.

For weeks, she has been sporting a walk/crawl combo, starting with a walk and then dropping to a crawl when she needed the speed. But, the other morning, as I put her down on all fours, she immediately stood up and walked away. She practically runs now, waddling with great speed and exuberance. The girl is driven. The dog can escape her no more.

She LOVES kicking and throwing her soccer ball

She no longer uses a paci. This is something I was planning to work on eliminating in a few months, but after the great bathtub incident of last week, she quit cold turkey. No turning back. I have to say, I have been missing the ease of nap time and bed time with our friend, the paci, as well as the welcomed distraction while waiting in the checkout line of Walmart; but, in the long run, I guess it's a good thing I won't have to come up with some creative way to "break" her paci in a few months. Look how sweet it was though...

She has mastered the sippy cup.

She eats nearly everything that we do (no more purees for this girl), feeds herself, and always remembers to share with others...

She wakes up talking and doesn't stop until she falls asleep...

She fights sleep with a vengeance and gets her way the majority of the time (unless a boat ride is involved).

She is sassy and funny and seriously girly. She loves shoes, and dancing, but also loves to play with her football and soccer ball. 

She's our Catherine. And perfectly so. And even though some days are longer than others and some require more caffeine, I honestly can't believe I get to spend every day with this little person. Thirteen months later, I still can't believe she's really ours.

Tango with Me

When you have a baby, you spend your days trying to make them laugh. The thing that made them laugh once might not ever amuse them again. And some things are always funny. So every day, I try to get Catherine to laugh at least once. 

Banks is almost always helpful. She finds him funniest when he is just in from the yard, frisky from the cold air, and jumping around the room. 

Daddy is usually funny. He dances and sings and makes funny faces and funny noises.

Tickling does the trick most of the time. C is the most ticklish under her left arm and on her belly, but is also ticklish on the bottom of her feet. If you get her just right, she'll throw her head back and giggle, mouth open wide, showing off her three (almost four) teeth.

I can usually get a laugh when I make any high pitched noise. This is probably why she finds it so funny to pull my hair, the ow I squeal is all she needs. Sneezes are hilarious.

But, this past week at Kindermusik, we learned a new trick that is funny every time: the tango. With her arm stretched out in front of us, leading the way, we tango around the room repeating with the music, "slow, slow, quick, quick, quick" as we step to the beat. She's learning word associations, but she's also learning the joy of dance.

We practice at home, taking turns dancing around the living room with Mommy then Daddy, laughing and smiling the whole time. Such a simple step, a dance that has been danced for generations, gets a laugh every time.