Ballet Class

When D turned 2, she recieved for her birthday a children's book about ballet. All about the positions, moves, attire, performances, etc. Apparently, it was educational AND inspiring.

D has been begging to take ballet lessons ever since. So, we enrolled her this term to begin Teeny Ballet with other 3 and 4-year-olds. She loves it. She watches the instructor and imitates (to the best of her ability) every move she makes.

As I watch her each week, it is very hard not to laugh out loud. D is the youngest in the class, and she tries her very best. She is very serious thoughout the class and her little 3-year-old body just cracks me up. This first video is "Ballerina Trots."

Below is the video of "Flying Hops." It's my favorite part. D isn't getting a lot of air time yet, but A for effort.

Come to Daddy!

We've been waiting for C to reach the next big milestone. He has been cruising around the furniture since July or August, getting more and more confident all the time. But not confident enough to let go and try out those feet! However, Friday night, when daddy came home from work, must have been the moment he was waiting for. C took his first steps, finally letting go of the sofa and taking 2 steps to T. I missed the event, busy in the kitchen cooking dinner. But our boy was kind enough to do it 2 more times so I could see the new skill.

We've been encouraging more steps all weekend and sometimes C happily goes for it. We'll get some video up soon.

Happy Halloween from Perth!

Halloween is such great fun. D enjoys it more and more each year. And T and I truly enjoy watching her get into the spirit. The holiday is not really celebrated by many here in Australia. In the month prior, a few stores carried a small selection of candy or decorations. Costumes here are called "Fancy Dress" and they are available year round, though not in the quantities and number of locations that you can get them back home at Halloween. But, we still insist on celebrating and giving the children some semblance of Trick or Treating.

So, we did celebrate over the past week and it was great. First, and most important, was teaching D a few new jokes. I'm a stickler for some type of "trick" if you are going to be given free candy. D learned 4 new jokes.

Our friends, the Schellhases hosted a great Halloween party last weekend. D arrived in a pink princess dress, but throughout the party, made appearances in several other dresses belonging to the host children. It gave costume party a whole new meaning. We were also wowed by my friend Maggie's handmade, knitted ghost finger puppets and yummy mummy cupcakes.

Friday, I dressed the kids up and we did a little trick or treating at T's office. The kids visited various cubicles and D traded jokes for candy. Then, with some friends expecting our visit, we popped over for some front door trick or treating. It was our luck that a house down the street was decorated for Halloween so we stopped there as well. There was a crowd of children knocking on doors but few were in any sort of costume and I think they were getting very few sweets from the houses they visited. I say, if you can adopt the candy part of the holiday, you can figure out the costume part too!

C was spectacularly cooperative, wearing the Jack Sparrow braids with his pirate ensemble.

D can flutter and wave a wand with the best of them.

Saturday, was the Halloween Festibul (as D calls it) at the International School of Western Australia. This was good fun for D and I. The boys stayed home this time, as it would have been pretty late for C. We took the kids last year but the weather was not so nice. This year, the weather was gorgeous and the people came out to celebrate! The American Women's Club helps with the event and they put on a great festival, though it only went on from 6-8 pm.

The evening included games and prizes, Trick or Trunking (where 40+ people decorate the trucks of their cars and the kids go from car to car in the parking lot for candy. There is a prize for the best trunk), grilled hamburgers and hot dogs, pony rides, and a bake sale. It was a full evening and it attracted LOTS of people, most kids in costume.

D was very good to allow me to take video of 2 of her jokes. I promised her that everyone who reads our blog would laugh their heads off. Don't make a liar out of me! These are the funniest jokes you've ever heard, right!? (the punchline is "tweets!")