Tenacity

A word about my #1. If anything, she is filled with tenacity. When she wants something, she goes after it like there is nothing else in the world. I recently looked back at old videos of her, and even from before she could speak, #1 really knew how to get what she wanted.
In the craziness that was the last few months, I somehow neglected to blog (brag) about #1's bike-riding skills. She received a 2-wheel bike for her birthday back in April. She practiced on the bike for 2 days, somewhere between 20 - 30 minutes each day, and she was done practicing. Let the bike riding begin! I don't remember how long it took me to learn how to ride a bike, nor do I know how long it takes the average kid, but I was impressed with my #1.  Here she is after her 2nd session of practicing, showing off for daddy:

I also neglected to post pictures of her dance recital. She was really determined to get all the steps right for her acrobatic number. Something clicked in her this year and all of a sudden, she really cared about the steps (vs. just the costume and makeup.) Her dress rehearsal went fairly well. During the actual performance, you could tell she was really nervous and concentrating so hard on remembering everything... because she flew through "her" performance while the rest of her ensemble actually tried to dance to the beat of the music. It was very cute. Next year, I'm not sure if it'll fly as cute anymore. I'm not sure if dance will be her thing.

Something else our #1 has been working on all spring is her diving. She just couldn't get it. She couldn't make the mind/body connection of getting her head down into the water first. Her initial tries were very strange belly flops. Limbs everywhere. But she kept at it, and one day something clicked. You can see in the video how happy she is when she surfaces.