A couple of Little things.

After a full year of Kindermusik with Ella, Jon and I decided we'd have her do something completely different this fall -- The Little Gym.   Our friends Sara and Randy have had Gracie in Little Gym for a couple of semesters now, and from what Sara's told me, they really like it.  So off we went last Saturday to an intro class!

Ready for a forward roll!

Ella seemed to enjoy herself.  As is standard for her when she's in a new situation, she tends to be more of an observer and more reserved, but she surprised both Jon and I when she ran up and gave Miss Brittany (the instructor) a high-five during the hello song time!  I was fully expecting her not to do it, but she saw the other kids go first, and I think that helped her.

She turned out to be a fan of the balance beam (the low one -- not quite brave enough to go on the tall one, and I can't say that I blame her!), and after some initial hesitation, forward rolls became a big hit as well.  We've been practicing those at home throughout the week here at home, too.

So I think we'll be signing her up for that.  Jon thinks it will help with her future hockey career :)  I think it's a good chance for her to try something different.

The other big thing going on is that Ella started Little Friends today!  In fact, as I'm typing this, she's actually there now.  She didn't cry when I left (and *I* didn't cry when I left, more to the point) -- just gave me a hug and said "Bye!".   So fingers crossed that all is going well.  I go to pick her up in about 30 minutes, and we're going to meet Daddy for a special "first day of school" lunch.

Here's the big girl as we left the house this morning:

Post-preschool update: Ella had a great day, up until about the last 15 minutes, when she apparently decided she'd had enough :)  Her teacher said she did periodically get a little teary through the morning, but she was able to distract her and get her mind on other activities.  She even learned a couple of her classmates' names today.  She says she wants to go back next week -- yay!