Jumparoo!

Just a quick note about feeling excited last weekend upon seeing Neve going to town in her Jumparoo.

What’s the big deal, you may ask? Previously, when I’d put her in the Jumparoo, she just kind of hung out, or swung from side to side. But seeing her actively bounce in it – that is, seeing her really start to PLAY – was one of the first tangible indications (witnessed by me, anyway) that she’s becoming a more sentient little person.

Yes, she smiled in response to things at about 6 weeks, and at 4 months, she started giggling occasionally. (Like her mother, she’s a tough crowd, comedy-wise – you really have to nail it to get a laugh.)

But this Jumparoo moment wasn’t her responding to something; it was her initiating something. And that was strangely, surprisingly moving to me – an initial preview of the playfulness to come.

Dance, Dance Revolution!

The night of Lily’s first-ever dance class, in early September, she was so excited that she spent nearly an hour dancing around our kitchen in her tap shoes, watching herself in the oven’s dark glass.

And since then, she asks me nearly every day, “Do I have dance class today?”

So color me shocked when she came out in the middle of her most recent ballet/tap lesson – dressed in her pink, skirted leotard, and this week’s appointed class “leader” – and asked to go home.

Huh? Did I miss something?

Oh, yes. I had no idea in the moment, but yes.