Gymnastics

Lela started gymnastics!  Well, it's technically a "movement" class - they do "gymnastics" during the first half of the class and "dance" during the second half.  I use quotes to indicate just how loosely I am using those terms.  Dance involves various forms of jumping and hopping and flapping-like-a-butterfly.  The gymnastics portion somewhat resembles actual gymnastics but is achieved only by the teachers flinging the kids through the various motions.  It's awesome. 

Sorry for the terrible photos.  I brought our camera only to realize that I forgot to put the memory card in it, so I had to take these with my phone. 

Lela is probably a little young to start with classes, but I wanted to give us a chance to get out of the house and meet other kids (and moms!).  We were lucky to sign up for a class with Sofia, the three year old daughter of one of my oldest friends.  So Marissa and I get to chat over Starbucks every Thursday morning while our kiddos jump around in leotards.  Fun!  There are two other little girls in the class, too, and I'm in the process of scoping out their moms for friend potential. 

Lela's first attempt at the handstand station.

  

Second attempt.  At least she's semi-inverted!

And we have video! I took this on the first day of class and she's already improved. Now, she can actually do the in-and-out jumps the teacher is demonstrating in the video below. As you can see, this is progress. 

(I can't figure out how to make this video larger. If you want to see it on a larger screen, go directly to YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2Hzayb--Bc )