my prima ballerina

Hadley loves everything to do with ballet. The music. The tutus and shoes and leotards. The movements. She loves it. And it started when she was just 18 months. Probably when I picked up a lavender tutu and she wore it around the house with her Mickey Mouse ears.

Hadley 18 months

And now, at 2 1/2, she's still a nut about dancing. Even more so since we discovered Angelina Ballerina. She has at least five tutus. Grandma got her a leotard, tights and ballet slippers, which she actually sleeps with on the pillow next to her. She asks to listen to "ballerina music" in the car.

She twirls about the house with the exquisite grace of a toddler. Stopping to pose with her arms in the air and her toes pointed to one side. When she walks it's like she's dancing.

We decided we needed to find her a dancing class. And, luckily, the local children's dance studio was willing to accept a 2 1/2 year old into a 3 year old class.

She was so excited. As were Jonathan and I. Maybe more so than she was. We headed over to the class, put on her ballet slippers, she ran out onto the dance floor and face planted, splitting her lip. She sat out a lot of the class, but eventually decided that twirling about was pretty cool.

We enrolled her. And bought her a pair of tap shoes to participate properly in the tap portion of the class. I just can't believe that my little girl is in a dance class!

------------------------------------------------------