Tiny Dancer

From the moment Shiloh was born, I've dreamed about warm, sunny weekend afternoons spent watching Shiloh on the soccer field. She would be too distracted by the dandelions or butterflies to notice the ball...

Well, it looks like this dream is going to remain just that, at least for a little bit longer anyway. After spending a couple of weeks trying to decide between "soccer school" and "dance school", dance finally won out. As a former soccer player, I was definitely cheering a little bit harder for soccer, but only because I knew that she would love either one. There is an indoor soccer place just minutes from our house, so we'll probably still her up for a winter season sometime in the next year or two. That way she'll get some exposure to both.

But back to dance. Earlier this week I signed Shiloh up for a trial class so we could make sure she is definitely a fit for the class before forking over the money. Well, yesterday was her trial class and she LOVED it. Her friend Anniston is in this class as well, so that rid Shiloh of any of her usual shyness. She walked right in and immediately wanted her pants and shoes off like the other girls. Once they were off she walked right through the door and on to the studio floor and never looked back.

She did well for her first class. She's definitely a little more energetic than the other girls. She liked to add little hops and jumps where they weren't supposed to be. But isn't that why we put 3 year old girls in dance? So they can do cute things like that. Overall, though, she listened to her teacher, Miss. Greene, very well and was really trying to do what she was instructed to do. The teacher spoke with me afterward and said Shiloh did well. She has a little problem following some of the instructions (i.e. her little added hops), but Ms. Greene said you can really tell she wants to learn and she's focused, and that's what is important.

Needless to say, we're signing her up! I held off on signing any paperwork yesterday because I felt like I should talk it over with Richard first, but in my head she was already signed up.

Now onto my favorite part. In May they put on a dance recital! I am SO excited. I don't know any of the details yet, but I can't wait to see her on stage shaking her little bum. Because even if the dance doesn't require bum shaking, I'm sure Shiloh will add it. Also, the teacher informed me that for the recital the girls will all need actual ballet shoes. They can be purchased at Payless for $30, but most of the moms said they get their girl's shoes at thrift stores and consignment sales. That sounded good to me since I don't even care to spend $30 on my own shoes, let alone shoes for a three-year-old. So after class we walked next door to a thrift store that just happened to have two pairs of ballet shoes, that just happened to be the exact size that Shiloh wears now and the next size up. We, of course, snatched both pairs right up turning a $60 purchase into $3.98. It doesn't get much better than that.

Shiloh is already asking to go to dance class again. It's going to be a LONG week until her next one, but I'm so glad she enjoyed it and did so well. She's definitely growing up.

Here she is all ready to go

Getting to know Miss Greene

Stretching... Look at that flexibility ;)

She had a hard time looking away from the mirrors

Showing off her "new" ballet shoes :)

The pictures from the class were taken through a window, so the quality is not the greatest.