A Show for the Dancing Girl

Irina is a performer at heart right now. She loves dancing and singing and she loves to watch others doing so. That said, she's never really had any opportunity to see professional dancers or singers in real life, on a stage. Until last Friday, when she and I got to attend a showcase put together by the Nevada Ballet Company and Cirque du Soleil. It was a free show for kids from the school district and also, this year, for homeschoolers. Free is exactly what we can afford right now, so I didn't want to pass it up! Pat stayed home with Silas that day so that just Irina and I could go without my having to deal with a squirmy toddler who I'm sure wouldn't want to sit still. The older girls were not interested.

Outside the Elvis Theater, which has sparkly floors!

Waiting while all the school kids were seated. She was very patient.

I don't have any pictures of the actual dancing because photography wasn't allowed, but I think Irina really enjoyed it. There were 7 exhibitions and a couple of them were kind of weird and funny and they elicited some laughs from Irina.

We don't currently have the money for her to take any sort of formal dance classes, but as soon as we do, I think that's something she'll really love.

It was held at the Elvis Theater in the Aria Hotel/Casino, which we had never been to, due to our extreme avoidance of the downtown area. There was this really cool looking floor, which reminded me of M.C. Escher.

Mr. Bunny

I made this bunny for Silas for his birthday. I used this pattern, but I made it double-sized. It's just a rectangle with arms and legs and ears, but I think it's pretty cute. Silas likes it, anyway. Sometimes.

See? He even sleeps with it.

Naw, I totally posed that.

Today Silas is Two

2 years and 42 minutes ago, my beautiful boy came into this world in a swirl of pain and excitement and love.

Here is what you should know about Silas right now at two years of age. He loves those little clementine oranges, but doesn't like it if you try to peel it for him. In fact, if you peel it for him sometimes he'll just refuse to eat it even if he asked for it. He loves his big sister, Irina, probably even when he's pulling her hair and throwing things at her head. I know because he always does everything she does. He has the highest-pitched screech of any other toddler on the block, which he is very proud of and uses at every opportunity. He loves playing with balls, chasing pigeons, drinking nee-nee, and playing video games.

Speaking of video games, I think it's possible that he's some sort of prodigy. He's loved video games since he was one and I have never seen another two year old with the fine motor skills to play as well as he does. I mean he usually can't get all the way through a level without dying, and obviously the games that require reading he can't do much with, but I'm really impressed that he can maneuver the characters around at all. Granted, my experience with 2 year olds and video games is limited, but I still think he's awesome. His favorite is Super Mario Galaxy 2. He'd play Super Mario Galaxy 1 just as much, but it's scratched and doesn't work anymore.

He got this Radio Flyer trike for his birthday. I think he likes it. It was surprisingly hard to come up with something for him, I guess because we already have a lot of toys and he's not yet old enough for some of the boy toys he might like later on and that we don't already have a huge collection of. Like we have lot of My Little Ponies and Polly Pockets, but no, um... SpiderMan?

Happy birthday, my littlest one!

Tappity-tap, Tap, Tap, Tap

One pair of $2 tap shoes from the thrift store plus some replacement ribbons equals a happy tap dancing Irina.

Dressing Up