Ballet Day

3 / 5 / 1311 / 13 / 13

So, on Sunday evening I had a bit of an unfortunate {and awkward and embarrassing} incident with a set of stairs and a poorly placed tee ball bat. The end result (other than me laying face down on the front lawn in agony as neighbours were out for their evening strolls?) was a very sore swollen foot and crutches I’m terrible at using. Not good when you’ve got a busy little lady that’s used to go-go-go-ing.

A perk to being the lame mom who has to sit and watch on the sidelines during our usual parent and tot ballet class however? Being able to snap a few photos of our little ballerina in action.

She’s sweet, isn’t she?

♥

For extra fun, like us on Facebook here and find us on Instagram here.

Ballet Day

2 / 19 / 1311 / 13 / 13

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again… There’s nothing as adorable as toddler ballet. The toe tapping, the pizza feet, the beach ball arms, and the freeze dancing… It’s ridiculously cute. We’re back for a second round of our Ballet with Billie classes, and though Grae can still be a little shy walking into the studio, she settles in right away, lets loose, and even gets a little silly sometimes. The best part is that she’ll often ask in the morning, “Is today Tuesday, Mama? We go to dance class today?” and when it’s not, she wants to know exactly how many days are left until we get to go again.

Keep up to date with all of Billie’s classes around Vancouver here.

♥

For extra fun, like us on Facebook here and find us on Instagram here.

Last Day of Ballet

11 / 27 / 1211 / 13 / 13

Today was our last parent and tot ballet class. Grae was so excited about it (and so thrilled to hand out her ribbon wands), that she didn’t have a nap beforehand. She just couldn’t fall asleep. Of course, we all know how that turns out…

Needless to say, come time for class, she had some of her classic overtired crazy energy going on.

Of course it all turned out alright. She proudly handed out her gifts, danced her little heart out, and said goodbye to her dance buddies.

Miss G loved this class so much that we will definitely be signing up for the next session starting in January. Billie is amazing with the kids and the class was the perfect blend of ballet moves, good old fashioned dancing, singing, and ‘acting’.

For more info on the classes Billie teaches around Vancouver, visit her Facebook page here. I promise you’re going to LOVE her!

♥

Howl-O-Ween Play Gym

10 / 26 / 1210 / 27 / 12

This morning my little brown fox and I headed out to our first official Halloween event – ‘Howl-O-Ween Play Gym’ at our local community centre. Gracen was super excited and happily announced different costumes as she saw them. Her favourite? An ridiculously cute broccoli costume worn by the baby brother of two little girls in her Ballet with Billie class.

Here’s our morning in photos…

Gracen the fox.

Making music.

Jack-o-lantern (quite possibly the trickiest craft ever for wee ones 4 and under!)

Foxes teeter totter too.

Decorating a cookie for Papa.

So spooky.

Costume model.

♥

Ballet Tuesdays

10 / 2 / 1211 / 13 / 13

Will I ever get used to the cuteness that is Tuesday ballet afternoons? Ummmm…probably not. Especially when the cute is 12 tutu-clad little ladies dancing around a studio with long ribbons in hand. Because our class is a parent participation class, us mamas gallop, stretch, plié, and sing alongside our little ones, making it very tricky to take photos of the class itself, but I always make sure to take a couple before and after. Grae’s so used to it now that she actually stops before going into the community centre, positions herself against the wall, and says, “Picture time, Mama!”

♥

iPhoneography // Mini Ballerina

9 / 18 / 129 / 19 / 12

Today it was back to ballet class for Miss G and I. And though Grae was a little bit sensitive when it came to loud stomping and ‘angry feet’ last week, this week she participated in everything quite happily. We’d talked about how funny it is to stomp around loudly and make your feet look angry for the last few days, and with a couple of tiny reminders at the beginning of the class, she was just fine this time around. In fact, she was having so much fun that she spent most of the class on the other side of the room, dancing and participating without any help or reassurance from Mama.

pre-class warm-up // ribbon dancing

mini ballerina // post – class beach ball hands

Have I mentioned how cute a studio filled with giggling tutu-clad toddlers is? Trust me, it’s ridiculous.

♥

Photos edited with Instagram. Find me under jkossowan.

The Ice Cream Game

9 / 14 / 129 / 22 / 12

Grae’s new favourite game…

♥

First Day of Ballet

9 / 11 / 1211 / 13 / 13

With fall soon approaching, I knew that I wanted to get Gracen in a couple of organized activities. Though our days visiting parks and beaches and playgrounds will continue through the winter months, it’s nice to have more than just our usual play gyms, pools, and libraries to sneak away to when we want to escape the cold. When I came across Ballet with Billie, a parent and tot class held at our local community centre, I knew Gracen would love it. Music, dancing, singing, and little friends… It sounded perfect for our little lady.

So today, the first day of classes, we got her dressed in her little leggings, her brand new leotard, and the tutu she’d specially selected for the occasion. As I packed up our bag, she came to me with the handmade scarf she received for her birthday and said, “Mama, Grae Grae wear scarf. Windy day. Sooooo windy, Mama.” I explained that it wasn’t really all that windy, but she desperately wanted to wear it, so out the door we went.

We arrived to the class and met several lovely mamas and babes right off the bat, the teacher was beyond fantastic with the little girls, and Grae really enjoyed herself {once we got passed the loud stomping part that left her feeling a little frightened and clingy}. The best part? She left the class, star sticker on hand and first ever goldfish cracker in belly, asking when we’d be going back.

♥

Sunset Centre Play Gym

3 / 16 / 123 / 16 / 12

It’s Friday, and true to our old routine, we headed up to Sunset Community Centre’s play gym. It was a bit of an interesting day (a father decided to inform a mother nursing her 6 month old baby – with a cover no less – that it was inappropriate to breastfeed her child in public…yikes…poor guy sure knows how to get a group of predominately stay-at-home-mamas riled up!), but Grae had a wonderful time none the less. Here are a few photos from our visit:

Baby jail.

Teetering.

Dancing and twirling in the centre circle.

Stacking.

Visiting her pony friend (this was taken just after she planted a kiss on his nose).

Play Gym at Sunset

3 / 9 / 123 / 16 / 12

I don’t know what we’ve been up to, but we certainly haven’t doing our regular Friday mornings up at the Sunset Community Centre play gym sessions… Maybe it’s because the weather’s been getting nicer and we’ve been spending more time outdoors, or maybe it’s because the lovely teacher, Aggie, no longer runs the sessions, but either way, it was nice to be back today. Gracen loves it, it’s nice to chat with the same moms each week, and it’s just a few blocks up from our house. How can you go wrong really?

Gracen was very excited to be back. There was some regular play involved…

But she spent the majority of her time frantically running from one car/trike/bike to the next, climbing on, pushing the centre of the wheel/handlebars, and declaring, “Beep, beep, beep!”

I’m not sure what this is all about, but hopefully it’s not a reflection of her Mama’s driving. :)

Playground Girl

1 / 5 / 121 / 29 / 12

The sun was shining this afternoon, so Miss G and I headed out to one of our favourite parks to soak up the nice weather.

She’s becoming such an independent little thing on the playground. Today she was walking up the stairs on the own and sending herself down the slide time and time again.

And there may have been some rolling on the ground too. That’s just how this little lady rolls.

She may have had a little help getting up on this rock, but either way, Grae’s the queen of the playground. ;)

Growing Up

12 / 16 / 111 / 22 / 12

I’m not quite sure what happened here, but today we went to Play Gym up at Sunset after missing it last week, and suddenly my little lady can do all kinds of things she couldn’t do last time we were there…

Today she was getting in and out of the little cars without any help…

Positioning herself in front of the slide and sending herself down all by herself…

And got down off of the trampoline on her own… How did this happen so quickly?

And yes, I am completely aware of the fact that my one year old looks like she dressed herself… In fact, she sort of did. Every morning when we get ready for the day, I pick out part of her outfit and she picks out the remaining items. I had already picked the striped leggings and teal cardigan this morning, but the problem was that there weren’t many viable t-shirt options. As much as I hoped she’d pick the plain white tee, she opted for the canary yellow one instead. And don’t even get me started on the purple dotted shoes. She’s in loooove with these shoes right now. Most days she wears them around the house too and cries when I tell her that they have to come off for nap time, so there was no convincing her that other shoes might better suit this outfit. :)

Lunch with Santa

12 / 12 / 111 / 21 / 12

Sunset, the community centre closest to our house, always hosts fun events to celebrate the holidays. We had registered for their very popular ‘Lunch with Santa’ event long ago, and today was finally the day that it took place.

There was plenty to see and do, and right away Gracen set out to visit each of the inflatable characters.

Since we arrived before the event actually started, it was calm enough for G to actually bounce inside the castle for once.

Soon after, things got WILD inside the bouncy castle (as they always do), so we resorted to our usual bouncing on the outside edge technique. Not to worry, Grae doesn’t mind one bit as long as she’s jumping around like a monkey.

After a sufficient amount of bouncing, it was off to the arts and crafts area to decorate a paper gingerbread boy. Grae loves crafts, and I think she would have cleared out the entire stock of pom poms and goggly eyes had I let her.

There was much too much excitement around to actually sit down and eat properly, but we gave it our best shot anyways. Santa arrived ringing his bell part way through the meal and we all went over to visit with him for a quick minute.

Although Santa wasn’t a hit with Grae, the band certainly was. She was completely and totally enamoured with these high school kids who played several carols for all to enjoy.

This was as still as she sat the entire time… What can I say? This little doodle loves music. :)