Dance Like Nobody is Watching

I’m finally getting a chance to write something down for this blog! I love to write and haven’t done so in a long time, so it is kind of exciting. And you should know that each day, usually when I am driving or nursing, I think up what I would “say” but by the time I have arrived at our destination or am burping Collin, it has completely left my mind and I don’t think of it until I’m doing something else. I had hopes of starting this right before Collin was born and he is 10 weeks today….better late than never, right?! A special shout-out to Collin who is sleeping in his car seat right now and allowing me to write this. There is a direct correlation between his sleep and this blog:)

Just so you know, I will probably write like I speak… imperfect grammar and punctuation, long and rambling sentences (I wonder if the Internet has enough space for me to blog), etc. I wish it could be otherwise, I am by trade, a very good editor and proofreader (whoa, that was very un-Midwestern of me to give myself props!) – most of this would not fly by my own standards when I was working at Coe College  - thank you Rod for making me a very critical writer and editor! However, I do not have time right now! And I think/hope most of you would want this to sound like…Erin. I CAN write properly, but rarely speak so. :)

In searching for the byline for this blog, this is what I have thought of so far….

Our adventures in eating, drinking and being married :)
Adventures in babysitting…our own kids. All the time.
Two kids and counting…
Maybe if I blog, I will spend less time shopping online….
the search continues….

We had some big “firsts” in our family last night…we all went to the Mauston High School (first time, it’s really nice!) and watched Kate practice her dance recital on the stage in the auditorium. Dave and I were nervous because Kate, though definitely coming out of her shell and demonstrating her outgoing side more and more, has tended to be shy and on a couple occasions just wouldn't go up front or on stage. Though we would love to see her jump right in, I’m not sure it is part of her personality and we have to remind ourselves she is just three!  When we are home and she thinks no one is watching, she will dance like a crazy person! Just the other day, she was in the sun room watching a show while I nursed Collin and a favorite song came on, she jumped off the chair and gave it her all – it was hilarious looking through the door and catching glimpses of her dancing and shaking it. She likes to have dance parties at home and will request songs and then beg us to dance with her, totally worth it by the way, to drop what you are doing for a few minutes and join her. And who doesn't need/want to put the laundry down and dance to a favorite song once or twice a day? In fact, I highly recommend it. It is a great de-stressor. Anyway…..we are always hoping that “Dance party Kate” will show up instead of “hanging on our hand/arm until it will fall off and whining ‘Stay with me!!! Kate.”

Dave is unfortunately unable to attend the full recital on Saturday, so he was happy that he was off work in time to see her practice on the stage. We got there right on time (victory!) and Dave hurried our little dancing queen up to the stage, once I entered the auditorium with Collin, I saw Dave onstage holding her hand – uh oh! Even though we have been talking about it endlessly, I thought she wasn't going to do it! Well, all the kids came down to the seats while Miss Chris talked with lighting/sound, then she said to come up and Kate did! Luckily sometimes, they just follow the crowd:) She did great! I’m not sure Dave and I could have smiled any harder during the half hour they were practicing. When the music finally started (Oklahoma) and the curtain went up, of course, we watched as seven three-year olds stood there and stared at the people working backstage, the lights, each other and barely performed the piece. In fact, we may have paid for this class and taken her each week for the end result of watching her stand still on stage for a couple minutes on Saturday….but that is okay! And actually, she did do some of the moves and better when the “helpers” (older dance girls) stood off to the side and showed them/did the dance. The second song, she did even better (Bushel and a Peck from Oklahoma). Dave and I beamed at each other and when she came down the steps when they were done, she was smiling and saying, “Daddy, Daddy, did you see me?!” That alone was worth the tuition, driving to town (half hour total) for a half an hour in the studio, fighting her (some days) to get into her dance outfit and get her hair pulled back, hauling Collin in the car seat to sit in a small room with other siblings (always sick or loud or wanting to touch him) and Moms that don’t talk to me.

We watched the next class practice because Kate wanted to and so that she could maybe better understand the premise of all this craziness! To celebrate, we went out for Mexican which has become…I’m not going to say tradition but certainly a frequent occurrence now when we are in town around supper time and I don’t have something in the crock pot:) It is also next door to her dance studio and she loves “going to Mexico” after dance. Mommy does too, now that I allow myself a drink once in awhile! And of course, we had the all the fun of taking the family to a restaurant, Kate spilled salsa on her dance skirt and knocked over my margarita (breaking the glass in fact); however, we talked to a nice family in the next booth who had a young girl (4.5 yr old Ruby, who we see at Storytime at the library and is hilarious) and her baby sister (Collin looked bigger than this baby who was nine months old) and the waiter brought Dave and I a free shot of Rumchata! I took a sip as I have never tried it and then Dave graciously finished it for me :) Collin slept the whole time, so really, all in all it was a wonderful meal out.

When we got home, it was early enough to play outside a bit more (when we go out to eat, we love to hit it early with all the senior citizens:) - at least when we have the kiddos, which is every time we go out) so…we tried out Kate’s new t-ball set from Christmas! Another “first” for us and Kate, so much fun. We just set it up in the driveway and she loved it! We did too. My favorite sport in high school was softball and I can think of a million awesome childhood memories with t-ball/baseball/softball. I was sort of choked up standing there (and later running around with her) watching my own child start to have those memories.  And of course, we believe she has a natural ability…though this first session was spent teaching her to run to first base (chalked on the driveway) instead of running to the ball she just hit. Good times. No, great times.

There are so many “firsts” in a child’s life and I am ecstatic to go through it all again with Collin. (By the way, this morning he was on the floor in Kate’s room while I was helping her get ready in the bathroom and when I came back – he was halfway to rolling over, pushing and sort of tipping that way! I mean, I know …not yet, but it reminded me that it will come sooner than I think! STOP growing so fast!) We focus a lot on those first year “firsts” and document those in the baby books…but I am really liking these “big kid” firsts and the ones that are individual to your own child – like going up on stage and not freaking out or laughing all the way around the base path the first time she hit the ball. The ones I write in the baby book in the margins. And while I will get excited when Collin rolls over for the first time and clap my hands, these later ones seem to come with even more emotion. And probably more happy/proud tears.