Our Tiny Dancer

Ava's first ballet recital was a huge success! Just as I thought, Ava loved being a part of this big production of over a hundred dancers, she loved watching everyone getting ready and practicing back stage, especially the older girls, and she loved performing for an audience! Instead of shying away and getting nervous from the chaos of back stage, she flourished in it and got really excited to dance.

We definitely went a little heavier on the makeup for the recital and to make things even more special, we brought spray glitter! Everything is better with a little glitter, right? It turned out to be a huge hit and I had a line 10 girls deep of dancers that wanted spray glitter on their hair and arms, too! Ava thought she was pretty cool having some of the older girls asking to borrow some of her glitter :)

I tried to take a video of the performance, but we were sitting too far back- with it being dark in the auditorium, you could barely see the girls on stage, much less make out which one is Ava. She danced beautifully... and by beautifully, I mean in the cutest 4 year old way imaginable. One of the little girls in her class froze on stage and then started crying and their teacher had to run out and carry her off. Most of the little dancers were distracted by the audience, so in comparison, the dress rehearsal ran much smoother and they were much more in sync the day before- but they did get the loudest cheers and a standing ovation from the audience :)

Of course, all of our favorite people came to watch Ava's big stage debut! Ava loved being the center of attention and she especially loved receiving flowers. If not for the fun costumes, I think she would stick with ballet just to receive more bouquets of flowers!

I didn't expect to have tears in my eyes watching Ava dance, but both Jason and I were choked up. I'm not sure if it was watching her be so brave and smile and dance in front of hundreds of people, or if it was just experiencing another big milestone with Ava and realizing that she is growing up SO fast. It was an amazing moment and one that I hope to remember for a long time.

My tiny dancer, I could not be more proud of you and can not wait to see you dance again. Your face beamed and your huge smile sparkled all the way to the back of the auditorium- no matter what, you will always be a star to me!