A gymnast in the making....maybe

Last week, Noah started gymnastics. Every week for 17 months now, Noah has been dragged to the gym to watch his sister tumble, run, swing and play. Every week for the past 8 months Noah has beat on the glass begging and pleading to be able to join in the fun.

Last week he did just that. He didn't join his sister's class, but we joined the Mom and Tot class. When we walked into the gym last week without Ta-ta, he lit up. He walked in with a smile from ear to ear and joined right in on the fun. No hesitation, no hanging back with momma, no brief second to even think about what he was doing. He joined right in.

The kids start by running around like wild animals, he did great at this. They hold onto little discs and pretend it is a steering wheel and they are the cars and say "beep, beep!" Now whenever he runs he says "beep! beep!"

They then sat down and did stretches by pretending to make pizza and smell their toes, this part was more of a challenge for my Noah. While he can keep up with the other kids with running, his following directions skills still need some work. I mean he is only 17 months old and significantly younger than the other kids. So the stretching routine involves me herding him back to the group, while he arches his back and screams at the top of his lungs for me to let him go.

This week, I changed my approach on the stretching and just joined in with the others while he stood and watched and often wandered away. His teacher and I would do our best to get his attention and he would wander back over to the group occasionally.

Then comes the fun part....the part he is a pro at or at least tries damn hard to be... the crawling through tunnels, climbing over mats, climbing up arches and ladders, walking on the balance beam, jumping on the trampoline, jumping in general and jumping into the "pit!"

He loves this class, he thinks he is a big kid and for one hour he wears himself and me out! After he completes each task he stands and yells "YAY!" Now all the kids yell that when they are finished too.

Next week I will try and bring a camera to catch this little gymnast in action!