Alisha's recital & FIRST SOLO EVER!
So much to say! Our friends Sam & Sonya came over for the weekend with their now-almost-8-month-old girl, Jasmine. I was hoping Jacob would behave (and not try to crawl on top of Jasmine or attempt to grab her eyes), and he DID! Unfortunately there was nothing he could do to impress his “girlfriend”; every sound that came out of his mouth made baby Jasmine cry! We just couldn’t figure out what it was. By today she was 100% AOK around Jacob but (of course) they went back home this afternoon.


Just look at Jacob & Jasmine. They're bonding over tupperware :) 

Alisha really WOWed us with her dance performances! She had 3 numbers: 2 ballet and 1 tap solo. I did not realize that her dances were to modern pop/R&B/hip-hop music (until I went to her dress rehearsal on Friday). I was most impressed by her first ballet performance and her tap solo. The girl can really move! The first ballet routine was to the song, “Welcome to Miami” (by Will Smith), her tap solo was to “A- You’re Adorable” (click here to listen) http://www.sillybooks.net/books/A_Adorable/adorable.html and her other ballet number was to “Independent Women” (Charlie’s Angels soundtrack by Destiny’s Child). You weren’t allowed to videotape the program but of course I brought my camcorder, sat waaay in the back of the auditorium, and recorded what I could, using the viewfinder. Trust me, it was not easy watching the dance and recording at the same time! I wasn’t in the audience for Alisha’s solo (I was on the side of the stage) and because she went on stage earlier than we’d expected (because another girl hadn’t shown up on time), Jim wasn’t ready with the camcorder until the middle of the solo. I was so happy that Alisha didn’t get stage fright; she really and truly exceeded my expectations. Anyway, we were debating whether or not to cough up the 45 bucks (a complete rip-off) to buy a copy of the recital on DVD but ultimately we did, just because of her tap solo!!

The dance recital felt like it took up our entire day; it went from 3pm-7pm...yes, 4 hours!! Alisha & I got there at 2:30 and everyone else got there by 4. Technically it ended at 6:30ish, but then the owner of the dance studio came out on stage, thanked everyone and announced the name of every single student/stage mom/helper; that took 20+ minutes. Needless to say, we were really tired by 7 o’clock. Why didn’t we leave early, you might wonder. Well, after the ballet girls performed their second act, they were kept on the stage until the very end. It’s actually a smart idea because it kept (the majority of) the audience in their seats until the very end.

To celebrate a job well done, we all went to dinner at Stir Crazy, Alisha’s second favorite place (the first being Steak ‘n Shake). 



BTW 1. That’s not Alisha’s costume (dancers are only supposed to wear their costumes when they’re backstage) and 2. Alisha is wearing make-up. I was instructed to have Alisha wear the following: eyeliner (I used purple because black was too harsh), mascara, rust-colored lipstick and blush.

And I finally mastered the hair bun! I went to the dance store and (with the purchase of a bun kit) they provided me with a demonstration. If Alisha wasn’t such a wiggle-worm her hair would have only taken me 3 minutes, but because she is who she is, it took me more like 8-10 minutes. But I was really pleased with how everything turned out.