Josh's smile is so big while he watches Lulu dance that I'm tempted to look at him as much as I'm looking at her.
He makes a little circling motion with his hand right right before Lulu practically plows into the girl next to her in her haste to form a circle, so it's pretty obvious to me that Josh knows this dance at least as well as Lulu, which isn't saying much.
It's not that she's bad, it's just that none of the kids seem to know more than half of the moves. It's a good thing the teacher is up there doing the dance with them. Most of the time the girls, and the one little boy, seem to be about a half beat behind, pausing long enough to watch the teacher, then doing the steps as quickly as possible.
It's pretty comical. But every parent has their cell phone out and a goofy grin as they film this. I really think it's more about watching their 3 and 4 year olds prancing around in a cute holiday tutu than the actual dancing.
Technically this isn't even ballet class yet anyway. It's "Preschool Creative Movement" and the moves are pretty creative from what I can tell.
But Lulu was beyond excited for the winter recital. They got to pick their own costumes. The only guidance we received was the theme– A Winter Wonderland. Most of the little girls are wearing red or green leotards with glittery tutus. The little boy is dressed like an elf.
But Lulu is the standout. She and Josh picked out her outfit and wouldn't show me. Insisting that since I was coming straight from work I could be surprised. And I am.
She's dressed in a snow white leotard and tutu covered in silver sparkling snowflakes. Perfect for a winter wonderland. She understood the assignment.
After the kids stop dancing in a circle, they all run back to their spots to finish the dance. Literally. There are dots on the floor.
"I'm supposed to be on BLUE!" Lulu hisses as she plants herself as close as humanly possible to one of the other little girls.
As she throws her arms wide, I'm afraid that she's going to smack the other child in the face and I cringe a little imagining how this could end in tears. Josh is trying to motion to Lulu to scoot over a little, but she's only watching the teacher.
Thank goodness it's the end of the dance and they take their bows without further incident. Lulu runs up to us and climbs in our lap as the 5 & 6 year old group starts their number.
"Did I do fantastic, Daddy?" She practically hollars as she climbs into his lap.
"Yes. You were amazing!" Josh assures her, softly as one of the parents nearby gives us a look that conveys that we need to keep the volume down. It would have been nice to have a break between each class so we could get out of here. But I guess that would be pretty disruptive.
Lulu settles down quickly to watch the other dances. Each dance only lasts a couple minutes and some of the older kids are pretty good. Lulu is enchanted by a trio of ballerinas who perform on pointe to the dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy. I have to admit. I really hope that someday Lulu is able to do that. But I don't know if she'll stick with it that long, especially since her favorite number seems to be 9 & 10 year old tap class, who make an exorbitant amount of noise while wearing sweaters with jingle bells sewn on them.
Thankfully, the whole program only lasts a little over forty minutes, then the three older girls bring all the little ones back up for a final bow.
Once the show is over, Josh gives Lulu a dozen white roses and I'm able to take lots of pictures in front of the backdrop. Our parents are going to love these.
"Okay, Mommy! Enough pictures." Lulu finally informs me. "It's time for cookies!"
She leads us over to the refreshment table but by the time we get through the line, there's not a lot to choose from. The decorative plastic plate that Josh brought sits empty. He points at it and grins at me.
"See, mine are all gone. I made good ones."
"Yes, you did." I agree, trying not to laugh. He's really embraced this whole Stay at Home Dad thing.
Lulu takes a Lofthouse cookie with white frosting and red and green sprinkles. I know from experience those look better than they taste, but I don't really mind if Lulu ends up throwing half of it away. Josh opts for a thumbprint jam cookie. I'm not surprised that the kids passed by those. I manage to grab the last rice krispy treat from a plate. I'll share with Jonah. I really only care about getting a cup of coffee anyway.
Sure enough, Lulu takes one bite of her cookie before abandoning it to go back to twirling on the dance floor with her friends. The parents all stand along the window, watching them while sipping coffee.
"Hi Jonah!" A young woman coos, jiggling his foot while moving closer to Josh.
"Lulu's outfit is adorable." Another Mom gushes, fluttering her eyes in his direction. I suddenly realize that there aren't many Dads here. Maybe it's because they are still all at work on a weeknight at 6 pm.
I'm starting to feel a little annoyed at the attention Josh is getting, when he cuts off one of the Moms who is prattling on about something.
"This is my wife, Donna." He informs them arrogantly and the pride in his voice makes up for the momentary jealousy. I don't have anything to worry about.
Just then another young woman walks up. She looks like she's barley out of high school.
"Mrs. Lyman?" She greets me, holding out her hand. "I'm Miss Kaylee. Lulu's teacher."
"Oh, hello. Lulu talks about you all the time. She loves dance class."
"We love Lulu. She's very exuberant." Miss Kaylee tells me with a small laugh.
I think that may be code for a handful. But Josh is beaming at the praise, so I just take the compliment.
"Thank you. We enjoyed the show."
"Well, this was just our winter performance with the younger kids. We'll have a full recital in the spring. I hope to see you there." She informs me with a smile before turning towards the other Moms.
Josh sees the chance for our escape. "Let's go." He suggests with a conspiratorial grin.
"I'm ready if you are."
He motions to Lulu who skips over to us. "Time to go get dinner." He informs her.
A few eyes follow us as Josh wraps his arm around me and moves us all towards the door.
I can't help but throw a little smirk at them. Eat your hearts out, ladies. He's all mine.