Big Time!

Lately, Abby has been having a hard time sitting on the sidelines and watching Nate play soccer. I don't blame her; this is the 4th season he's played. So I decided it was time to let her have an activity of her own, and yesterday was the first day of "real" gymnastics class!!

My parents were gracious enough to volunteer to pay for this little weekly class for Abby, as an (early) birthday present. Thanks Nanny & Poppy! And of course every girl needs a new leotard on the first day of class. I told her to "say cheese" and this is the sassy pose I got. Hilarious!

P.S. I promise we feed her. I have no idea why she is such a string bean!

I had originally signed her up to be in the 3 year old class, only to get there yesterday to discover no one else had signed up! So they moved her into the 4 year old class and luckily, she did fine. There were 3 other girls in the class, who had clearly done this before (!) so we have our work cut out for us. But, my girl is a fast learner and pretty athletic as far as I can tell, so I have no doubt that she will catch up quickly.

Her coach's name is Ashton, and she was super patient with Abby and gave her a few extra instructions here & there. She led the girls through stretches, an obstacle course, trampoline work, and then finished off class on the 4 balance beams. 

On the trampoline, Abby did the funniest/worst seat-drop I've ever seen. I laughed out loud from the bleachers and a few parents looked at me weird. I don't care, it was hilarious and probably what was so funny is that Abby thought it was a good one! She looked up at her coach like "I did it!" And God bless Ashton, she told her "good job" and then told her how to do it a little better on the next try.

I was impressed with all the little things Abby already learned during her first class:

1. How to stick a landing and "put her stop signs out" (put her hands in front of her)
2. How to walk on her tip toes on the balance beam
3. How to do a back bend

It was interesting to watch Abby in a setting where I am not in charge of disciplining her, and where she has to pay attention, listen to rules, etc. She was good most of the time, but I did see her goofing off a little behind the coach's back and not doing what she was supposed to. I couldn't help but laugh, because this is just another way she is just SO different from her brother! Nate barely breathes without asking permission!

Anyways, I attempted to take pictures, but this is all I got before I got in trouble. (Didn't know you weren't supposed to take flash photography, oops!)  Here she is getting assistance on the "obstacle course," doing a backwards roll.

Abby was super excited about class and told all who would listen yesterday afternoon that she "did a handstand all by herself." Completely NOT TRUE, but I let her believe she did :) Just glad she had fun and I hope this is something she will enjoy doing for a long time. I took gymnastics as a kid and I think it's a great sport!