better times

Mika went to her cooking class on Friday and managed to participate without needing a parent with her - phew. As I figured, her reward for a job well-done was forgotten in her excitement of the victory over social anxiety. Mika burst out of the classroom and immediately announced to me that she spoke to two different kids all by herself - meaning that she initiated conversation. Ah grand. She's coming along nicely.

Tonight was Mika's dress rehearsal for her first dance recital this coming Saturday. The kid has been having breakdowns about going to class claiming that she is too scared. There were no changes that caused this - seems out of the blue. The couple of times we made her go against her will, the teacher told me that Mika refused to dance. The class is almost an hour - an hour of my kid standing with her arms folded glaring at the world and refusing to communicate with anyone. Whee! I asked Mika how is she going to know her moves for the recital if she doesn't dance in class? - she told me that she knew all the moves and showed off for me. Huh - so I was hooped there.

Nana took Mika to her final class last Saturday because I was working a bingo for Mika's soccer team. It seemed to work for the kid because she danced and participated like anyone else. Tonight she pranced and danced on stage like it was made for her. There was a 1.5 hour wait between Mika's class routine and the finale and these wee kids handled it just fine. I was aching for a coffee.

Mika planned to quit dance after this year, but her interest is renewed after seeing the teachers and big kids dance. "Mum, I wanna go back to dance next year. I'm gonna learn ALL those fancy moves because I'll need them when I'm a rock star...or maybe people can just dance around me while I sing...but I still wanna know those fancy moves like the big kids..."

Oi.

good times

So...cooking class was a bit of a bust. Mika was too scared to go in by herself. Her cousin was late and that threw her off because she expected to walk in with him. I had to stay with Mika for the entire 2 hour class. It was a challenge to say the least: keeping her from crying and breaking down while encouraging or helping her participate as I held Declan and tried to keep him out of trouble. Ever tried to hold back a freakishly strong and determined two year old boy while a group of kids runs around playing and singing and dancing? Yeah. Not so fun. Mika assures me that she will go by herself and have fun this week. She's bringing one of her webkinz (stuffy) with her for support. Otherwise, it's a great class and the kids are all kinds of wonderful - I think once she gets into it, Mika will have a blast.
Saturday was Mika's second last dance class. She was excited to go and show off her Pirate-ized leotard. As soon as we got to the door, she lost it. Tears aflowing and claims of being too scared to go in. She ended up going in (the teacher almost had to drag her). I figured Mika would be back out within minutes. After about 10, I peeked in the room to see how she was doing. The teacher was leading Mika by the hand going over their entrance and exit moves, so I thought all was well. At the end of class, the wee ballerinas exploded out of the room - all except mine. The teacher led a very angry looking Mika out of the room and said "She refused to dance all class". Lovely.
In other news, we had a fun and windy Saturday afternoon at Hawrelak Park with Wayne and Lauren and their two kids, Jackson and Sophia. Sammi came down to meet us as well and Mika proposed marriage: "Sammi? Do you want to marry together?" His response was something like "I don't know."
We dropped the kids at Nana's on Sunday and had a grand walk up and down Whyte ave. Much needed respite.

...and the kids are fighting. This referee has to run...

Child

Mika is hella excited today - it's her first cooking class at the city arts centre! For the next month and a bit, this is where she will be spending her Friday afternoons. The only downer is that we have to leave right when Declan usually goes down for a nap. Yay me! I'll be hauling a belligerent and LOUD 2 year old across the city on public transit. Edmontonians be warned! Avoid the transit lines from Westmount to the University this afternoon. And every Friday afternoon until mid-June.
Declan is excited because we'll be meeting up with Auntie Darlene while Mika is in class and he has a crush on her. We're going to meet Saoirse and Brighid afterward for supper - another bonus for Declan because he loves the girls and especially Auntie Kris. He has a thing for older women. When asked, he tells them that he is three years old, not two. TOTAL player.

Long Weekend

Oi! We spent Friday cleaning up the yard and running the kids outside. We filled 6 clear yard bags and have much more to go. Ugh. BUT - we've made some progress. Saturday was Els and Oren's Birthday party at the rec centre in St. Albert. It was awesome! Sheena rented out one of the gymnasiums for an hour or so and the kids just ran around like mad fools. There were many balls, mats, and other gymnastic equipment. Forts were built, balls were thrown, everyone had a great time. We retreated to the upstairs party room afterward and feasted on fruit skewers, pizza, and cupcakes. Poor Declan missed his nap that morning and ended up passing out cold in the party room. Saturday night was spent preparing for Easter Bunny morning. The kids woke to filled baskets and hidden treats. Mika would find something, remark at how pretty it was, and gently set it near her basket. Declan would find something, shred it in an attempt to get at the contents, give up, and move on. We went to Nana's for breakfast and had an egg hunt with the boys (cousins), back home for an outdoor egg hunt at home, and then over to Baba's for supper. Monday the kids played in the WEM playpark with Daddy while I wandered and chatted with a friend I haven't seen in close to 17 years. SO awesome. We topped off the weekend with another trip down to the St. Albert rec centre for some swimming. If you're in this area, servusplace.ca is hella fun.
The weather was such that we were running around without jackets all weekend and Mika was in a tank top at one point. We woke to cold and snow this morning. SO much for a weekend of ushering in spring!

Huan ying

Mika is officially registered for mandarin kindergarten starting in the fall. We had a school tour and everything looks great. She's so excited...to start having recess. :)

Question

Mika: Mama what happens if you put fruit in a destroyer?