Tutu cute!

Avery had her very first dance recital on Saturday. She did two dances...one ballet (to the song "Thank Heaven for Little Girls" by Maurice Chevalier) and one jazz (to the song "I'm Shakin'" by The Blasters). She did such a great job...and looked absolutely ADORABLE (thus the 20+ photos below)! She got to dress up in a fancy, fluffy costume (which she had been eyeing for months!), wear LOTS of make-up, and have her hair slicked back in a beautiful bun. Yippie! After her first trip on the stage, Avery reported, "I had the time of my life! I was a real ballerina!" I love seeing her that excited...

Here are some shots of our real ballerina...

Dress Rehearsal

Fancy...

The members of her Creative Movement dance class...

Mrs. Lisa lining them up...

Practice performance...

Photo shoot...

The Recital

Getting ready...

Ta-da!

Warming up...

So sweet...

Getting a little nervous...

Waiting for her turn...

*We weren't allowed to take any photos (or video) during the performance, but...

She did it!

Dancing with her congratulatory bouquet...

Taking it all in...

It has been so much fun watching Avery's love of dance grow throughout her eight months of classes. She became much more elegant and graceful and confident and OBSESSED! with each lesson.

It was unbelievably wonderful watching my tiny, little girl up on the big, BIG stage...without me. Sure, she was nervous. Sure, it took her a moment to orient herself after the bright spotlights suddenly took the stage from dark to (really!) light. Sure, she would occasionally become distracted from her dance by looking out at the oceans of people staring up at her. Sure, she felt anxious about not having her parents by her side should she want/need us. But, she didn't let any of that overcome her...and she did it. From my seat in the crowd and through the tears in my eyes, I watched my baby dance her little heart out. She was great...and beautiful...and happy. And I was (as always) so proud to be her mommy...