Parenting Win–Super Brave Ally

This season Ally moved up a level at Gymnastics. She is now a Shooting Star! This was a big goal for her and Ally worked really hard all summer to get moved up to this level. Practice is once a week for 90 minutes and she is the youngest girl in her class (again). Most of the girls are 9 and 10.

While she loves it and her skills have improved incredibly – this upper level means more challenging and for Ally “scary” elements. She has mastered one handed cartwheels, almost has the back walk over down, and is learning how to do a back handspring! Ally told me one night – “it’s a little scary doing flips” we talked about good scary or too scary and how she needs to to what her coach asks her to do, even if its scary. That part of getting better at gymnastics and growing up is being brave and doing things you are scared of.

I told her the story about how in college I went to Africa. I did not know any one I went with and it was a long way from home, and they ate different food and everyone in Africa looked different than me. She seemed marginally interested in my story – the moral of which was – I did something really scary to me, but I felt good about it and I had fun. New and different can be scary, but it can also be fun.

Then the next day as we waited for class to start I reminded her about how she needed to do what her coach asked her to do. (She sometimes shakes her head no at his request and refuses to do a skill she is afraid to do.)  I told her she does what her teachers at school ask of her and she needed to do what the coach asked as well. She asked me “what happens if I don’t?”…”don’t do what?” I asked “what happens if I don’t do it” she said. I replied “I don’t know…” and let her think about it.

Well class started right then and off to run and warm up she went. About half way thru the session the girls were working on the bar. The high bar. The bar that Ally usually refuses to even swing from because it is so high up off the ground.

Her coach had piled mats up so he could stand at the high bar and spot the girls as they did their skills on that bar – the same skills they do on the low bar. I should say Ally doesn’t always do her skills on the low bar, because that is high for her – she can’t even reach the low bar from standing. So the low bar is high to her – I sat in the parents waiting area with baited breath wondering what she would do when her turn came.

She did it! Ally chalked up her hands and climbed up the mats and performed her skills on the high bar. Her coach was so proud of her he called over her other coach to show her and pretty much 2 classes of girls stopped to watch little Ally way up there on the high bar. And wow – it was high. I will admit I was a little scared for her – it is really high up there. But mostly I was and still am, so very proud of Ally.

I was too stunned the first rotation to take pictures but her second time up there I managed to take these to show Becky, and posterity what Ally accomplished.

 

The upper bar is just over 8' feet high.

Go Ally Go!

Apple Picking Birthday Party

Ally and I attended the party of one of her classmates, and our neighbor, Maya. There were lots of school friends there and it was at the same Orchard we had been to twice already this Fall! It’s a long drive out there so we brought Ally’s friend Willow with us. It was good to have some company for Ally in the car – the two of them laughed the entire way there. They are so silly.

 

The whole gang – all ready for picking!

Yummy apples.

After apple picking we checked out the farm animals and then the girls braced the hedge maze(the small one – not the giant one). After cider and donuts we headed home. We walked thru the Orchard back to our car with Alma, her dad Andrew, and her sister Ilsa. Andrew took the pictures below of the girls.

Seated on the right – Willow, Ilsa, Alma and Ally.

Cuteness

We carved our first pumpkin last week – I decided why wait until Halloween for it all? Ally had fun trying to make a face to match the pumpkin for the picture.

Fun new dress – and fun happy girl in the morning before school.

Particular

Ally refuses to wear jeans – its become a joke between us and her babysitter Lauren. I have bought knit jeans (jeggings) and still Ally rejects them. She says “I don’t like jeans” in past it was because they restrict her movement and they have zippers and buttons and those are not comfortable. But I finally found a pair that is made of almost the same material as her other pants.

Ii got them on her body (she was watching TV so I kind of tricked her) and as soon as she looked down she groaned.

I told her to wear them for a few minutes and if they were uncomfortable she could change before school. She never mentioned it.

But after school, walking home, she told me they were not comfortable.

There she is – all grown up- long hair, with a cardigan sweater and jeans before school.

She had nature class after school, and there she is in jeans (for once).

Who Knew

Who knew a white board was such a wonderful thing. One of Ally’s teach has a smart board in her classroom, which as I understand it is kind of an electronic whiteboard. But there is also a white board. Ally asked for one “mommy, I really want a white board for our house”.

We got one and she was so excited to use it – she asked me to text or call or email mama to put it up so it would be ready to use when we got home from music class.

Then she proceeded to spend over an hour on it.

First it was practice writing her name, and then she wrote our names – in Spanish (I am mami not mommy) and a picture of our face next to our name. I think its her Spanish teacher who has the board.

A chart with numbers and columns – she took a piece of paper, hung it with a magnet and drew lines on the paper – like 1st grade paper and then wrote her name on the lines. The teacher have been working on the y below the line and using capital and lower case letters.

Then Ally drew herself working at her table and wrote in Spanish I am drawing  “Yo debujar” she wrote more and continued the sentence to say I am drawing at my table – but I missed taking a picture of the whole sentence.  Then there is a picture of our whole family – including our 2 cats and our fish.  Ally was really proud of her non-stick figure people.

For a while Becky and Ally played hangman and Ally created an elaborate chart with numbers. Then before bed – she told Becky to close her eyes and Ally wrote a message “I hope that you feel better for mama” Becky is sick – has a cold and was feeling crummy. Talk about love. As I tucked her in to bed, Ally told me to leave the message up so mama could see it all day while she stayed home sick from work.

Sunday Part 3

The final event on Sunday was a birthday party.

As is our birthday party routine, Ally wrote her card in the car on the way there. All lined up waiting to go to room #2. There were 26 girls there!

Ally got all hot and sweaty but she had a wonderful time. The giant slide was her favorite thing.

Then on the way home she asked to go to the park! She wanted to practice her gymnastics on the bar there.

Sunday Part 2

The Blessing of the Animals service at church. We read about it in August and Ally has been asking to bring our cat Carl. We were worried how he might act (and meow really loud) during the service. We learned we could bring pictures of our pets and that children were encouraged to bring a special stuffed animal.

We brought pictures of Carl and Nali and Ally decided to bring her current favorite special thing  Coconut!

Instead of a sermon there were 3 stations set up to bring your animals to – dogs, cats and other. Ally and Becky went to other. It took a while, because each animal was blessed individually. They were up there a long time.

Ally with her blessed stuffed animal Coconut. Gruncle – you should be so proud!

Ally also received a card with the animal’s blessing on it.

We talked on the way home about how Carl would have done ok – and so when we got home we put our cat harness and leash on him and took him outside. He was pretty freaked out and went running into the house!

But maybe next year.