Ballerina

Hannah has been taking ballet lessons this fall.  She's mighty cute, in the way that only three-year-olds in leotards and tiny ballet slippers can be.  And this afternoon, she performed in her first recital: The Nutcracker.

A few weeks ago, it occurred to me and Jonathan that Hannah didn't know the story of The Nutcracker, so we got a copy of the picture book, and went to a local community ballet company's showing of it.  The result?  A little girl who is absolutely obsessed.

Hannah wants to read the book at least twice or three times a day.  Driving in the car, she begins a monologue about Naughty Fritz or Godfather Drosselmeyer.  (Yes, a child who can't pronounce "school" or "forgot" can say "Godfather Drosselmeyer," and quite clearly, too.) 

And then she decided that she should have her own nutcracker doll.  She even asked Santa for one.  But I'm getting ahead of myself...

In the recital, Hannah's class was the little girls at the party - the ones who admire Clara's new doll.  And in this version, they all sit around the Christmas tree and rock their own dolls. 

Due to the realities of life (read: crying baby and full memory card), even with two doting parents each armed with at least one camera, Jonathan and I didn't get as many pictures of the actual performance as we hoped.

But we got lots of good shots after the show.  Is this not the most excited kid you have ever seen?!

And guess who didn't have to wait for Santa to deliver the much-desired nutcracker doll?  Grandma made good a full two weeks early! 

We were a little worried that Hannah would want a bouquet of roses like the other girls.  But she only had eyes for one thing.

She even ventured onto the stage after the performance to show off her prize to her dance teacher.

So here is our own little ballerina, ready to take the dance world by storm.  I tried to tell Hannah that I was proud of her for remembering her dance (she's practiced quite a lot) and doing it in front of an audience.  Her response?  "I got my own nutcracker!"