Eleanor's First Dance Reital

Eleanor just finished up her first session of dance class. She and Katelyn took tap together on Thursday mornings. The first few weeks were a little difficult for Eleanor. Apparently Eleanor is not a morning person and 9:30 was just too early for her. She would complain about how her "dance school" is too hard and would often fall asleep on the way there. I finally got smart and started putting her to bed at a decent time on Wednesdays and she stopped complaining and trying to sleep while holding the dance bar.

It's been so much fun having Eleanor and Katelyn see each other once a week. They have developed quite the friendship. When you mention to either one of them that they are cousins, they will correct you and say they are "best friends". I don't know how it started, but every week they have to bring the other some little surprise. It's adorable!

Katelyn is quite the little dancer and likes to make sure Eleanor is paying attention and doing all the steps correctly. A few weeks ago their teacher told them that Santa Clause was going to be watching them and that was the best thing she could have told Eleanor. Every since that day Eleanor has paid attention and works so hard on getting every step down!!

Last night they had their recital. To be honest, I was a little nervous about it. I made sure to give Eleanor a good nap before because I knew she'd fall asleep in the car on the way up and would be a beast!! She got a good nap, but it put me a little behind schedule and I was stressed out there would be traffic and we would be late. I was also nervous John wouldn't make it. This week has been crazy for him. He has been home before 10 pm only once this week!! Poor guy is worn out!!
Anyway, we all made it on time!

Mindi and I had to leave the little girls backstage before their performance. It was so cute seeing them all dressed up!! Don't ask me why, but I was a little nervous about leaving Eleanor backstage. I think I thought she would be a little scared or confused with so much commotion. Boy was I wrong. When I went to pick them up after their performance I asked what they did while they were waiting and she said, "we just hung out with some big girls and talked". I guess some of the older girls were in charge of watching them and Eleanor thought they were just amazing!!

I must admit, I had one of those proud mother moments when I saw Eleanor walk on the stage. It hit me that she is really is a big girl!! She looked adorable and she had the biggest smile on her face. You could tell she was loving every second of it!! She did great on the dance and even threw in a few extra twirls. All year she's been struggling with putting up three fingers during a certain part of the dance, and last night it took her a few extra seconds to get all three fingers up and in the air. I loved it!!

When it was all over she kept asking if she could go back on stage and dance again. I'm so glad we put her in dance this year and that she got to have her recital. It was such a big deal for her!!