This child loved going to class each week! If you tell her she's going to class, her little face lights up & she starts listing off many of the things we do there: "slide", her most favorite thing to do at class; "bubbles", an end-of-class tradition when the teacher brings out a bubble machine for a few minutes; "hop hop", jumping on the trampoline; "itsy" & "head-toes", the songs we sing at the beginning of class (Itsy Bitsy Spider & Head Shoulders Knees Toes.) It amazes me that she totally understood where we were going when we buckled up on Tuesday mornings and that her little brain could remember exactly what she'd get to do at "cyass". She even knew that we took off her socks & shoes as soon as we got there each day - whether of not I should be impressed by her memory for things like this, I am.
She has learned an incredible amount from all of this, and it was so exciting for me to see her progress each week. For example, when climbing up a ladder, she used to try to go up on her knees and rarely put her hands down (i.e. relying heavily on Mommy's assistance). Now? She climbs up as intended, alternating feet and hands on the rungs. She can pull herself up on the chin-up bar with minimal assistance. She easily climbed up the giant "mountain" (pic at the top of the post) as we pretended she was a bear, with lots of growls and Grrrr's. One of her most favorite things to do is to find the bumblebee stickers that they have on a lot of their mats. By the last class, she was telling me that a bee says "buzz" each time we saw one.
Another big difference I saw in her as the weeks went on was her attitude towards the teacher. When Miss Tammy would try to help us when the class first started, she was met with the typical Brooke frown and "no no no" that so many strangers have had the pleasure of experiencing. By this last week, Miss Tammy was greeted with hugs and kisses from Brooke & was always welcome to help us (which she tried to do frequently, as she took pity on the pregnant lady with the giant toddler.) This is really encouraging to me, as I plan to start Brooke in toddler classes at the Rec this fall. Even though a parent will still be at those classes, too, I'm glad to know Brooke can already recognize who is in charge and is able to warm up to them quickly.
Providing further proof of how much she has learned from all of this, Brooke did a somersault all by herself this past weekend! It was hilarious because it was completely unprompted. She just walked into the middle of the room, put her hands and head on the ground, tucked her head under, and threw her feet over her head. She did it several times, clapping for herself each time with the biggest grin on her face! She has yet to do it again since, but if you ask her to do a "flip", she'll get in the right position and at least give it a try! All of this progress has certainly kept me open to the idea of enrolling her in Tumblebees again in the future, even in spite of the cost. We'll have to see when the Fall sessions start, as I'd imagine it will be right around the time that Baby Reeder is scheduled to make his/her debut (and since I won't be allowed to lift Brooke for at least 6 weeks after, it'd make my participation in the class almost impossible.)
Here are some of the pics I was able to snap of her a couple weeks ago. Brooke's grandma came to class with us to help give Mommy a break! (Each class, especially the last one, was pretty exhausting for me. I kept looking over at the petite little things that the other moms were supporting, wondering how much easier it was for them as I helped lift my 31 pounder all around. Definitely the biggest child in the class...though certainly not the oldest!)
She has learned an incredible amount from all of this, and it was so exciting for me to see her progress each week. For example, when climbing up a ladder, she used to try to go up on her knees and rarely put her hands down (i.e. relying heavily on Mommy's assistance). Now? She climbs up as intended, alternating feet and hands on the rungs. She can pull herself up on the chin-up bar with minimal assistance. She easily climbed up the giant "mountain" (pic at the top of the post) as we pretended she was a bear, with lots of growls and Grrrr's. One of her most favorite things to do is to find the bumblebee stickers that they have on a lot of their mats. By the last class, she was telling me that a bee says "buzz" each time we saw one.
Another big difference I saw in her as the weeks went on was her attitude towards the teacher. When Miss Tammy would try to help us when the class first started, she was met with the typical Brooke frown and "no no no" that so many strangers have had the pleasure of experiencing. By this last week, Miss Tammy was greeted with hugs and kisses from Brooke & was always welcome to help us (which she tried to do frequently, as she took pity on the pregnant lady with the giant toddler.) This is really encouraging to me, as I plan to start Brooke in toddler classes at the Rec this fall. Even though a parent will still be at those classes, too, I'm glad to know Brooke can already recognize who is in charge and is able to warm up to them quickly.
Providing further proof of how much she has learned from all of this, Brooke did a somersault all by herself this past weekend! It was hilarious because it was completely unprompted. She just walked into the middle of the room, put her hands and head on the ground, tucked her head under, and threw her feet over her head. She did it several times, clapping for herself each time with the biggest grin on her face! She has yet to do it again since, but if you ask her to do a "flip", she'll get in the right position and at least give it a try! All of this progress has certainly kept me open to the idea of enrolling her in Tumblebees again in the future, even in spite of the cost. We'll have to see when the Fall sessions start, as I'd imagine it will be right around the time that Baby Reeder is scheduled to make his/her debut (and since I won't be allowed to lift Brooke for at least 6 weeks after, it'd make my participation in the class almost impossible.)
Here are some of the pics I was able to snap of her a couple weeks ago. Brooke's grandma came to class with us to help give Mommy a break! (Each class, especially the last one, was pretty exhausting for me. I kept looking over at the petite little things that the other moms were supporting, wondering how much easier it was for them as I helped lift my 31 pounder all around. Definitely the biggest child in the class...though certainly not the oldest!)
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