Goodbye to Little Gym (For Now)

Lucy had her final class of Little Gym yesterday. After 20 weeks in class, I can definitely say this little lady has grown. The first few weeks, I was wondering what I got myself into. The beginning of class is always mat time, with about 18 kids and with at least one parent each. It was overwhelming even for me at times, and Lucy hated it. She wouldn't do anything and wanted to be carried. Sometimes she would cry. Once we were able to roam around the gym and play on the equipment at our leisure, she was fine, but those first 15 minutes were pretty rough.

Slowly she progressed out of it, and now she runs alongside me during mat time. She still likes to hold my hand most of the time, but towards the end of class would also run alone when teacher encouraged all the kids to run with her. She was also terrified of the Air Track (large inflatable bouncy thing) at first, but by the end of the session would sit on it while it was being blown up, and run around, bounce across it, and jump off herself. She has learned to jump in place, jump off things, walk on a beam (with Mom's help), climb all over things, walk like a bear, and grab a bar, hang, and jump down by herself. I'd say she's also about 85% of the way to doing a somersault herself. Her confidence has soared, and while she's still a little hesitant around other kids, her social skills have also improved. It was amazing to watch.

Yesterday at the end of class they had a little ceremony. Teacher Lauren called each of the kids up to the awards podium, gave them a medal, and said a few words about them. Lucy was called last, and ran up for her "necklace." Teacher said Lucy only liked to do things when she liked to do them, but when she did, she was great at it. She also made reference to a session-long joke we had, about how Lucy would never give Teacher a high five. She had only done it twice in 20 weeks. But when Teacher Lauren put up her hand in front of all those people and asked for a high five, Lucy did it with gusto! Daddy was there to take pictures, and we were so proud of our little girl. What a fun time! We hope to get her in another class in the fall. Until then, the summer is all ours!

Getting a ride on the parachute (something else she'd never do before).

Climbing!

Climb up, grab the bar, swing, and jump!

She really was happier than this...but this is a trademark Lucy face!
Daddy bought a treat when she was done!

Cheese!