Little Gymnast

Maybe I can't actually call her a gymnast yet.  She does love to somersault, though.
Mim and I did mom and tot gymnastics at the Legacy Center this month.  The first time we went it was pretty challenging for me, trying to explain turns and waiting to my little 2 year old that has had no siblings to learn it with yet.  Also, Mim just wanted to run around and jump on the springy floor and mats.  She got better at following directions and waiting the next few times, and then last time they had their "exhibition." 

I was kind of apprehensive about it because the moms weren't going to be right next to their tots and there were going to be people and things were going to be different.  I was anticipating Mim freaking out or something, but I wasn't really worried, since she's two and who cares?  She did have a few moments of running to me and taking off when they were supposed to be waiting, but she wasn't the only one.  It was actually pretty cute and funny, watching the teachers try to wrangle all the little ones.  My dad likened it to herding cats when he first found out I was signing her up. 

Now for pictures!

{They wore little cowgirl hats when they paraded in; the whole exhibition had a western theme.}

{They all lined up and then had their hats taken away.  The little girl next to Mim objected pretty strongly to that.}

{The vault.  They ran down the run up, jumped from the spring board onto the mat and then put their hands up and said "Ta-da!"}

{Before I just decided to let the teachers handle it, this was a breakdown caused by me telling her it wasn't her turn to do something.}

{The bar.  Mim pretty much refused to do this one, even though she loved swinging on it in practices.  Her teacher held her up to the bar to grab it, but as soon as she let go, Mim would let go of the bar.}

{The beam.  Mim normally liked this one in practice as well, but looked super grumpy doing it here.}

 

This was her little floor routine.  When she stops and is looking at the ground, it's because she's trying to line up her feet with the footprints on the mat- it was a cartwheel mat.

{Getting her little award.  All the little ones were lined up and waiting for their names to be called, but Mim and two other little girls from her class ran in circles around everyone until they got caught.}

{Doing her "Ta-da!" with her treat bag over her head. }

So, the whole thing was super cute, once I relaxed and decided to just let the teachers handle it when things got crazy.  I did step in one more time at the end, when they were waiting in the line for their medals, because Mim had stolen one from the little girl next to her and no one seemed to notice.

I think I'll sign her up again for next month, just for the whole social skills aspect of it.  And because it's adorable. 

Mim's Birthday Chapter 2: Mim goes to the zoo.

Mike and I planned on taking Mim to the zoo for her second birthday, but with his surgery just a few days before her actual birthday, we knew it would have to wait.  Well, this last weekend was the weekend.  After a week of rain, I was worried that we'd have to put the zoo trip off again, but Saturday was perfect.

Overall, I think Mim was pretty overwhelmed by the zoo.  I realized she's never really been around a crowd like that and I think it kind of threw her off.  There were a ton of people around and Mim did not know what was going on.  Once we actually got to the animals, she relaxed a little bit.  She loved the monkeys and adored the elephants.  We caught the elephant show shortly after it began and she just stared and stared at them.  I did, too.  It was pretty awesome.

{I know she looks worried, but she really did love the elephants.}

{We were pretty close to the mom elephant, but we still got to see her baby do a headstand.}

{Mim and Mike, fascinated by the elephants.}

Then we saw some more animals.  Rhinos were next, and since they're my very favorite, here's a picture:

{The rhino is the one in the background.}

We saw some more monkeys, then by the bear exhibits that currently have no bears because they're renovating (thank goodness) and across the bridge.

{Mim just adores my mom- she usually prefers her to me.}

They've been doing "Zoorassic Park" at Hogle Zoo for the past while, I suppose, which means that they have big animatronic dinosaurs everywhere.  Mim was ok with them (compared to some kids that burst out crying at the sight), but she kept her distance, especially once they started moving and making noise (and spraying water, in the case of the dilophosaurs).  Anyway, most were scaled down in size, except the tyrannosaur. 

{Pretty cool.  Its eyes even moved.  Mike is doing t-rex arms.}

Anyway, my picture taking was kind of falling apart at this point, so I don't have any pictures of the tigers (which Mim didn't really care about, anyway).  She did like these fake ones you could climb on, though:

{Will didn't like them as much.}

After that we saw the giraffes, which Mim liked, and waited to meet up with some of Mike's family.  Then we went on and tried to meet up with the rest of his family, but things got kind of messy and Mim was getting tired and hungry.  We did the butterfly house (no butterflies) and elephants again with them before they had to go, then met my family again for the train ride.  By then, all Mim wanted was for Grandma to snuggle her.

{Mim didn't care too much about the train ride, but she got a nice little rest.}

We went straight home pretty much right after that.  I couldn't believe that Mim didn't fall asleep in the car, but given her recent attitude towards naps, I shouldn't have been.  All in all, a pretty good day.  Next time we'll aim for a weekday instead so we don't have to deal with the crowds so much (the line to get tickets was insane as we were leaving- I'm just glad we got there early enough we didn't have to deal with that).  

Bonus:

Mim got a new baby doll from Trav and Debbie and Ari and Will before going to the zoo and is really excited about having three.  Right after we got home she lined all three up on the couch, gave them each a goldfish ("Here you go, here you go, here you go,") and then laid down to watch a Dora the Explorer with them. 

She Loves Danger

Danger the cat.

Mim picks her up every chance she gets.  She'll often try to put her places, like various baskets (emptied toy basket, emptied shoe basket) or on her bed.  Mim has also figured out how to play with the cat by dragging a string behind her and running around.  She loves when Danger chases it and she laughs like crazy while toddler running in circles around the lovesac.  I love it, too, and will someday get a video of it happening.

Since not everybody gets to see our fridge...

 Mim has started coloring in the lines (sometimes) and it really just delights me.  Oh, by "coloring in the lines" I mean "trying to color in the lines."  I still say it's pretty awesome for a 2 year old.  Who knew that I would be this proud of the little pictures she gives to me?  It caught me by surprise.

And here she is, hard at work.  

She also works in other mediums, like marker, sidewalk chalk, and salt dough.