Victory!!!

Two huge victories today:

1. Stone went in to school with a smile and a thumbs up... and came running to me when I picked him up exclaiming, "I did it!! I did it!! I didn't cry today!!" So we stopped at the store on the way home and got his bonker thing. We all had a party and Erik taught him Ninja tricks this afternoon. Stone's next goal is to participate (and not cry) tomorrow so he can buy a foam sword for Erik so they can fight together.

YAY, STONE!!!

We walk past a 2,000 year old Roman aqueduct on the way to Ballet 

2. Lucy and I re-visited the Ballet school to observe a higher-level class (the class she joined on Tuesday was far, far below her level). At first I was very put off by the teacher's manner again today - for example there was one moment where I explained that we were there to observe the class, and she just looked at me, raised an eyebrow and spun on her heel and walked away. And during the class, she was so rough with those girls! Yanking, cranking, yelling, clapping... but none of the girls seemed phased by it. She would be so harsh but then a minute later have this playful twinkle in her eye and tease them. And at several points she would push the girls really hard to master a skill and when they'd get it the whole class would cheer and she would give them a hug. The dancers really seemed to like her, and by the end of the 2 hours I could see that she was a much better teacher and a much warmer person than her brusque exterior had first suggested. So Lucy decided to go back on Tuesday and said "if she is mean I will just handle it like the other girls do." I was so proud of her. I think this will be really good for her (and for me!!) to acquire skills to deal with different - I would say difficult - personalities.