December 20, 2006: Exercise

For the last three months, Veronika has been in a kids gymastics program at the YMCA and a few weeks ago, I got off work early so I could take her there. I brought the camera along but I was so fascinated by watching her interact with the other kids that I completely forgot about taking pictures. Even though she's in more social situations these days (mostly preschool), I never get to observe her there, so this was totally new to me, if not to her.

She was excited to be there and shot her shy smile at the other girls on the mat. She seems to be a very attentive student and was unbearably cute doing her stretches just like the instructor. When the activities (somersaults, balance beam, etc.) started, she got even more excited and smiled at me on the sidelines, proud to be showcasing her abilities. However there were three problems that I noticed that I hope will be rectified before high school graduation:

1. Lifting her shirt up. Veronika tends to play with the bottom of her shirt when she's excited/shy and that resulted in the whole class seeing a lot of her upper torso.
2. Grabbing herself. I don't think she had to go to the bathroom, so I'm guessing this was just another nervous thing.
3. Cutting in line. This was the big one. After nearly every activity, she was so excited to go again that she would jump in line closer to the front. The instructors were understanding and would merely say "Veronika...." and she would remember and go to the back of the line. I don't think this cutting was malicious at all, especially when, after being told to go to the back of the line for the twentieth time, she stayed at the back of the line for the entire exercise, never getting a turn at all.

It was so amazing for me to sit and watch her out there in the world by herself, to get a preview of what she's going to be like as an independent child. From what I've seen, I think she'll be fine on her own. With that sweet smile and demeanor, how could anyone not like her?