New year, new class

Since the arrival of baby Diana mommy is always looking for ways to fit in special play time for Amelia during the week. Last fall Amelia played soccer. This year she has been enrolled in a gymnastics class specially designed for kids 2-3 years old.

Amelia's first reaction to this new class was similar to her reaction to soccer. It was almost impossible to get Amelia to remove her shoes and join the class after arriving at the center. It was impossible to get Amelia to follow any of the instructions provided in class; she preferred (as did another boy of a similar age) to run off and explore the huge open space and fun rings, balls and other toys.

However, once the class lost some of its structure and became more of a "free-for-all" on trampolines and in the pit of foam, Amelia had a great time. It was nearly impossible to get her to leave at the end of class. Once the gate was closed, preventing her from running around in the classroom area, Amelia kept searching for a means of getting back in. In fact, she almost slipped past the guards when a new student arrived for a subsequent class.

So it looks like gymnastics will be fun. After class mommy, Amelia, and Diana had lunch at a nearby Chinese restaurant. At that point I couldn't quite decide if I should push my luck and try to buy printer paper or go home. I decided to look for printer paper at Office Max or Office Depot or Office whatever-I-first-encounter but could not find the store I was looking for. I was going to head home, but Amelia expressed excitement and interest in going to Target.


Target was not such a good idea at this point. I found the printer paper and it was a good deal, but then Amelia insisted on spending a huge amount of time looking at toys. She found a huge, pink, stuffed unicorn at the end of a toy aisle and my first thought was, "Oh no, she's going to want that!" Instead, Amelia picked up the pony (which was at least as big as she was) and carried it back to its proper place on the shelf. I was so proud of her I decided to buy her a small toy. I brought Amelia over by the animals and told her to pick one. Well, she refused to choose any animal and instead took one of every kind of animal off the shelves and lined them up in a big animal parade. I tried to buy her a toy, but she couldn't decide and seemed to like playing with the animals in the store just fine.

My apologies to whomever had to pick up all of the cows, sharks, horses, tigers, etc., but I am happy I saved five bucks and a tiny bit of space in my shrinking home.

Lisa