And Baby Makes Five

Kiwi had a hard time adjusting to Little Man being in school all day.  We decided it was time to let her choose an activity of her own.  She went back and forth between gymnastics and dance, finally choosing to try out gymnastics.  My friend coaches at a nearby gym and told me about their preschool program, so we decided to give it a try.  So every Wednesday morning, Kiwi, Mason, and I head down to the gym and Kiwi spends an hour stretching, tumbling, balancing, running, playing, and loving every single minute of it.   I love watching how much she loves it and seeing her confidence grow (Mason loves trying to climb inside the cubby holes where the kids store their shoes and jackets).

Tonight they held a little open house where all the preschool classes brought their families and each little gymnast got to go to different stations and show off the skills they have been working on.  Kiwi has been so excited to be able to show her daddy and big brother where she has been going and what she's been doing.  We are going to Disneyland next month for the first time (wahoo!) and Kiwi has put tonight on the same level as that.  For weeks she was been saying, "I can't wait for my 'nastics performance and Disneyland!"  

 This look captures how excited she was to have us there.  This ear to ear smile did not leave her face the entire hour we were there.

 Working on the bar with Coach Erica.

 "Sticking it."  She now does this on our swing set out back also when she lets go of the rings.

 Running to the spring board.

      After they checked off all their skills on the sheet we had been given when we walked in, they gathered all the little girls around the podium and each one got their turn to stand on top of it and be presented with a medal.  Have you ever seen a bunch of three and four year old girls with leotards and hair bows climb up onto a podium and get a gold medal while everyone claps for them? Um, pretty much the most adorable thing I've ever seen.

 With her big brother.  He did a great job letting this be her special day and was thrilled when there was an open play time that he was able to participate in also.  I tried to get a picture with Mason in it, but he was having the time of his life running around and bouncing on the little trampoline.  He had never been allowed on the mats before (no one but the coach and gymnasts are allowed during the class, Mason and I sit on bleachers and watch) and I have a feeling it is going to be nearly impossible for him to be content with this arrangement now that he knows how much fun it is out there.

As we were getting the kids ready for bed tonight, I glanced into her room and saw Kiwi had dumped out several toy bins, stacked them on top of each other, and was attempting to climb on top of them to place her medal on the high shelf where some of her special, breakable things are.  Since Little Man has played a couple of seasons of soccer and tball, he has trophies on his special shelf and she couldn't wait to put some hardware on hers.

Oh, baby girl.  You have been a champion to us since the day you were born.