Dancing Queen

My little dancing queen started ballet last week! I've been waiting for this day forever. I think little girls in tutus are to.die.for. (I feel the same way about little boys in soccer uniforms, BTW...so cute :-). Anyway, I've been wanting to see Caroline as a little ballerina since she was born. If I had found a ballet class for newborns, she would have been enrolled...haha, j/k...kind of.

Anyway, Caroline woke up on the first morning of ballet just giddy with excitement. The moment I put her leotard on her she just wanted to dance even though she wasn't even finished getting ready. So dance she did:

Finally, she stopped dancing long enough for me to fix her hair and put on her shoes. Then we were on our way:

But not without a stop for donuts with Caroline's sweet school friend, Avery...who is also in her ballet class. Such fun! The excitement cannot be contained:

Caroline's ballet class is offerend through a church, and their dance studio won't be ready for a couple more weeks. So the first couple of classes are at the church itself.

Posing with Avery outside:

Walking in This is what she did when the church bells started ringing in the bell tower:

Waiting on the elevator to take them upstairs:

"I'm so excited, mommy!!!"

Caroline was picked by her teacher, Ms. Elizabeth, to be an example for the parents about how to "fix" their ballet shoes just the right way. I couldn't believe Caroline went up in front of everyone...she was really nervous though:

Oh, the cuteness...lots of little girls in tutus!

Wish I knew what was going through Caroline's mind in this picture:

And this is the point in the class where the "watching" began. Caroline stood back and watched,

and watched,

and watched some more. My little observer did not know what to think (or do)!

Practicing her splits

Standing on her piece of tape:

This part of the class was so sweet. The teacher handed out dolls and the girls were supposed to rock them to the music. Caroline was in awe of her ballerina baby! Avery made her doll do the splits :-)

Supposed to be rocking but Caroline is, you guessed it, watching:

Putting her doll to sleep:

Oh, just watching some more:

Running over to give me a quick hug (this is why I'm guessing we're only allowed in the class the first day):

Okay, so this was the best part of the class for my ballet star. She crossed her arms, looked back at me, and loudly said "I'm just gonna watch, mommy, okay?!?" Really, Caroline?? At that point, I got up and whispered in her ear that if she participated, she could have some fruit snacks after class. That seemed to do the trick:

This cracked me up...when Ms. Elizabeth had the kids sit on their tape, Caroline always sat backwards so she could face me then turned her head around to listen to the teacher:

Such sweetness

Getting her sticker for a job well done ;-)

I had so much fun getting to sit in on Caroline's first class! Overall, she really didn't know what to think and was MUCH more comfortable observing the class from a little distance. Hopefully, she will be more comfortable this week and participate more. We've been talking a LOT about participating vs. watching so we'll see what happens. It will be interesting this week when I don't get to stay in the class with her. I don't know how she will handle it...we've never done a "drop off" activity (other than swimming lessons which I don't really count). Fingers crossed it's a fun week at ballet :-)