Ever since Erik did soccer last spring I couldn't wait to get Elliot in. He was ready to play when he was two, but was just too young. Finally he turned three last month and was ready. The only time the class was offered was right after gymnastics. By accident I realized Erik should be doing this class with Elliot since everyone in the class was really Erik's age. We tried to do it with Erik last fall, but he lost interest in soccer and we didn't sign him up. With Elliot in his class and as luck would have it, his friend Eli from preschool, Erik is now much more into it than last time. He is actually competitive and has a great time with it. I have thought of switching gymnastics several times, but both Erik and Elliot LOVE their teachers and I like them taking their classes at the same time. I just can't bear to switch them so for now we do gymnastics and soccer Saturday morning and soon we'll whittle it down to one or no activities for that day.
At our gymnastics class there are about 4 classes going on at the same time and they switch an activity every 15 minutes. Erik is in Level 1 and Elliot is in a progressive class for 3 year olds that gets them ready for Level 1. I basically watch them enjoy themselves for 45 minutes.
Here is Erik in his class. First they warm up. This first picture is amazing because you can see how much he admires his teacher and likes him. This is why I can't take him out and find another class, just loves working with Shawn too much and it shows in all his language.
Today Erik became very aware of me taking pictures and started showing off by proving how fast and strong he was. He was so excited about them so his pictures are slanted towards that. Here are his first moments without him knowing. Probably my favorite moment of the day. He worked for about 3 minutes to get both feet on the bars, it wasn't easy for him. He never gave up until he accomplished it. Such a great trait. Also I had no idea he could flip on these bars already. How he changes in just the few shorts weeks since I had been there.
They are learning to do cartwheels.
Elliot is equally in love with his gymnastics teacher and repeatedly asked if she could come to his birthday party.
He isn't good at hanging on yet, but one of these days he will be. He does have amazing balance.
The reason he is in the progressive class, he has a hard time listening and following directions. Hoping that changes once he starts preschool.
He loves running out of the pit after swinging on the rope and giving me a big hug. He is proud of himself everytime he does it now.
We have about 30 minutes before we start soccer and its a 5 minute drive so we have a snack, rest in the car and go to activity number two. During this time both Erik and Elliot are in the class together. Its definitely an age group geared more towards Erik's age. Its interesting watching Elliot. He is obviously younger and not grasping it as well as the other kids. He does participate and engages constantly, but he needs more practice to learn the rules and many concepts are above his head. It sweet watching Erik and Elliot play together and looking out for each other while soccer is happening.
I love watching these little kids run for nap reasons and because it is really adorable.
Although at times I did feel a bit schizophrenic not sure who to photograph and when. Both Erik and Elliot are both adorable I couldn't figure out who to get in what moment. I think Elliot won out today because there is nothing cuter than a 3 year old trying to hang with 4 year olds and 5 year olds doing soccer.
I got caught up in a conversation about kindergarten and preschools with two moms there so this was the last moment I caught before my attention was elsewhere. Although the conversation was worth it because it was so nice talking these two ladies today. Without me even voicing it, these moms were worried about the same critical thinking, sitting still, what is going to happen in academic kindergarten that I am worried about. It was so refreshing to have this conversation with like minded friends.
Elliot needed a lot of help with this game. He just didn't understand that he needed to guard his goal and just kept kicking soccer balls. A little boy was trying to help, but Elliot was just going with the flow and not paying attention. I laughed at the adorable nature of the problem.
Erik and Elliot playing goalie and scorer. Pretty adorable and I was in heaven.
So definitely an active morning for us on Saturdays but I take solace in knowing that throughout the weeks I schedule lots of downtime the boys really need. Also a side note about today's pictures. The quantity was too large and I wanted to write this blog quickly so I went for quantity over quality in my editing today. You can more than tell. Mostly I wanted these pictures today so I can use them for Erik and Elliot's book next year.
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