Marley had her first gymnastics class last Thursday! We have been talking about this class since I signed her up 3 weeks ago. She talked about it every time we drive by the recreation center and asked constantly if today was the day. But I knew she had no idea what to actually expect! She has never been in a class with other kids and definitely doesn't really understand what gymnastics is!
So, I had no idea what to expect when we went to the class Thursday night. I knew she would be shy, but I hoped she would come out of her shell by the end of it. She was so excited when we got there and she saw all of the equipment she would get to use. It was
so hard for her not to climb on things and try it out before the class started, but unlike the other kids, she resisted. The teacher came by, introduced herself, and told Marley it was time for her class. So, Marley held her hand and followed her across the gym to the floor mat.
There were four other kids in her class, who had all obviously done something like this before. Marley was by far the most shy child there. She held tight to the teacher's hand while they did their warm up laps around the mat, but at one point the teacher let go of her to talk to someone else. So, Marley just stood in the spot where the teacher had left her, completely frozen while all the other kids ran past her. I started to get scared that this wasn't going to work out well.
After warm up, they all sat on their "magic carpets" and did stretching. Marley knows how to do every stretchthe teacher tried to get her to do, because she stretches with me every day after our walk. But, Marley sat there with her head down like she was crying. So, i figured she might need some encouragement and went to sit by her on the mat. Now, when I was teaching kids swim lessons, this was like the last possible thing we recommended. Kids always did so much better when their parents weren't anywhere near them, so I was very conflicted about whether I should go to her or not. But in the end I did, and it seemed to help. I sat with her for a minute and did the stretches with them. I encouraged her to listen to the teacher and do what every one else was doing.
By that time, my mom had come to watch and was waiting on the bench where I had been sitting. I told Marley to listen to her teacher and have fun and headed back to my spot on the bench. The next activity they did was flips, which are Marley's favorite! Each kid had their own little carpet square where they were required to sit when it was not their turn at the activity. Marley was seriously the best behaved kids there. I honestly wouldn't brag about her like that if it wasn't the truth, but I was so incredibly proud that I was beaming. They other kids were bouncing all over the place, throwing their carpet squares around, running in circles, and trying to make it their turn. But Marley sat very still on her magic carpet and waited for her turn. I was the happiest mommy in the world watching what a great little girl she was!
After the flips, they moved on to the trampoline. They had two turns each to jump across the trampoline two different ways. I was nervous that Marley wouldn't understand or would be scared to try something new. She was slow at first, but she found her confidence and bounced herself all the way across. And when her turn was over and she was walking back to her magic carpet, she was cheering, "I did it! I did it!"
My eyes were literally filled with tears watching her. I know, it was just a jump on the trampoline, but it meant so much more than that to me. I was realized how proud I am of my little girl and how proud she was of herself. And how big she was! She can follow directions and bounce by herself and she could pick herself back up when she tripped and fell. These things may seem very obvious to someone else, but it just all hit me how overwhelmingly happy I was for her. And I also cried that Asa was missing it. I was trying to soak in every single thing that was happening, so that I could describe it perfectly for him and he could feel like he was there. All of that, combined with that whole being pregnant thing, made me super emotional.
Their last activity was the balance beam, which I knew Marley would be good at from all of her practice outside with Papa. She did one trip normal and one trip on her tip toes like a pro.
After class, the teacher took all the kids to her office and let them choose either a stamp or a sticker. Marley came running over to our bench with her hand out and yelled, "Look! I got a tattoo just like Daddy! I show him?"
She was so excited the next day to tell her Daddy all about her "nastics" class. It makes me so happy to hear how proud she is of herself and how accomplished she feels. I am so interested to see how she acts this week. I wonder if she will be shy at the beginning again or if she will be comfortable enough to participate right from the start. And I really hope that the bad behavior of the other kids doesn't rub off on her and she starts acting like they do in the class! We'll see!
Dancing the Deedee. Dressing up and dancing around always makes her day.
Practicing her big sister skills. She rocks her baby dolls, talks about changing their diapers, and puts Maggie in the car seat. She is so excited to help when the baby gets here.
Helping Papa in the Garden. She helped him collect lettuce today and got to plant her own beans yesterday! She has her own little pot to watch for a plant to grow!
Then about an hour later, she put her sunglasses on as we were walking out the door and she said, "I'm wearin' sunglasses like Daddy wears!"
It makes me so happy that she remembers little things that her Daddy does, like hanging out at home without a shirt on or wearing dark sunglasses. She points out his favorite cereal and bread at the grocery store and lets me know when she sees someone with a Starbucks cup that it is his favorite drink. And one of my favorite moments of all is when she just randomly looks at me and says, "I love Daddy."
She thinks about him so much, and I am the happiest Mommy when she talks about him. It lets me know that I'm doing one of my jobs, keeping her memories of him in her mind and letting her know how much he loves her.
Marley had her first gymnastics class last Thursday! We have been talking about this class since I signed her up 3 weeks ago. She talked about it every time we drive by the recreation center and asked constantly if today was the day. But I knew she had no idea what to actually expect! She has never been in a class with other kids and definitely doesn't really understand what gymnastics is!
So, I had no idea what to expect when we went to the class Thursday night. I knew she would be shy, but I hoped she would come out of her shell by the end of it. She was so excited when we got there and she saw all of the equipment she would get to use. It was so hard for her not to climb on things and try it out before the class started, but unlike the other kids, she resisted. The teacher came by, introduced herself, and told Marley it was time for her class. So, Marley held her hand and followed her across the gym to the floor mat.
There were four other kids in her class, who had all obviously done something like this before. Marley was by far the most shy child there. She held tight to the teacher's hand while they did their warm up laps around the mat, but at one point the teacher let go of her to talk to someone else. So, Marley just stood in the spot where the teacher had left her, completely frozen while all the other kids ran past her. I started to get scared that this wasn't going to work out well.
By that time, my mom had come to watch and was waiting on the bench where I had been sitting. I told Marley to listen to her teacher and have fun and headed back to my spot on the bench. The next activity they did was flips, which are Marley's favorite! Each kid had their own little carpet square where they were required to sit when it was not their turn at the activity. Marley was seriously the best behaved kids there. I honestly wouldn't brag about her like that if it wasn't the truth, but I was so incredibly proud that I was beaming. They other kids were bouncing all over the place, throwing their carpet squares around, running in circles, and trying to make it their turn. But Marley sat very still on her magic carpet and waited for her turn. I was the happiest mommy in the world watching what a great little girl she was!
My eyes were literally filled with tears watching her. I know, it was just a jump on the trampoline, but it meant so much more than that to me. I was realized how proud I am of my little girl and how proud she was of herself. And how big she was! She can follow directions and bounce by herself and she could pick herself back up when she tripped and fell. These things may seem very obvious to someone else, but it just all hit me how overwhelmingly happy I was for her. And I also cried that Asa was missing it. I was trying to soak in every single thing that was happening, so that I could describe it perfectly for him and he could feel like he was there. All of that, combined with that whole being pregnant thing, made me super emotional.
After class, the teacher took all the kids to her office and let them choose either a stamp or a sticker. Marley came running over to our bench with her hand out and yelled, "Look! I got a tattoo just like Daddy! I show him?"
She was so excited the next day to tell her Daddy all about her "nastics" class. It makes me so happy to hear how proud she is of herself and how accomplished she feels. I am so interested to see how she acts this week. I wonder if she will be shy at the beginning again or if she will be comfortable enough to participate right from the start. And I really hope that the bad behavior of the other kids doesn't rub off on her and she starts acting like they do in the class! We'll see!
For a couple of weeks now, we will pass by someone's house who has a tree decorated like this for Easter. She cheers, "Look! They havin' a Easter party!" So, my mom decided we should have our own Easter tree!
Marley carefully directed her Mimi on which color of ribbon she wanted and where to put each egg.
And before we knew it, our Dogwood tree was colorful and festive! Now, Marley is excited to have our own Easter party!
Marley picked out a dress with tons of flowers on it, a little spring-time sweater, and her flower headband that her Daddy sent her for last week's gift. Doesn't she look ready for spring?!
They had a fun little Easter egg craft project, where Marley made an egg that she promised to send to Daddy.
There was also a table for kids to make bracelets. They had a colored bead for each item on the food guide pyramid, and they had a list of exactly how many beads were supposed to go on the bracelet, representing how many servings of each she should have every day. She didn't quite get that, but she loved making the bracelet and the lady talked to her all about different fruits and vegetables. I really thought it was an awesome idea!
They had a booth for the Nacogdoches La Leche League, so I got to meet some women from there and find out about their meetings. I'm really excited to go to a meeting and hopefully meet some like-minded people. Other than that, it was just fun to walk around and look at all the things in Nacogdoches that we have been missing out on. I love little small town community get-togethers like this, and I look forward to the next one!
I am proud to say that my entire family wore red today in honor of our soldier and all the others in the world. Marley's shirt was a little less red, but a little more obvious who she was supporting!
Asa had this shirt made for her while he was in training, and he honestly hates the picture (he does look like he's about twelve, right?) but Marley insisted on wearing it! She even kissed the picture of him before she put it on!
And all day when someone asked her who was on her shirt, she said very proudly with a big smile, "It's my Daddy!"
Unfotunately, I realized today that I do not own a single red shirt. How is that even possible? Looks like I need buy a few this weekend! Hopefully next week I can get a few more people on board! It's not a totally obvious statement like wearing a shirt that says I SUPPORT THE MILITARY! But it is something I thought about all day. And when I saw Marley in her Daddy shirt and my family in their red shirts, it felt like we were all thinking about Asa. Even if we were the only ones who knew it, I didn't feel quite so alone today is missing and supporting my husband.
