"Nicholas, you gotta shake, shake & bounce!"

Nick started music class last week and man oh man, does he love it. My friend Malu and her son Ben, who is 18 months old, have been going for a while and invited us to join them. I'm so glad we did! The teachers have (between them) dozens of years of public school music teaching experience and it shows; they were so good with the kids, very patient and kind. Nick is normally pretty gun-shy in new environments, slow to warm up and get in the mix. But not this time! He was jumping out of my lap, going and touching the other kids and playing with the toys he was given. My favorite part was that he really liked the teachers and listened to them. It was the first glimpse I've had as a mom of what his school days will be like.

At one point they were dancing to a song that said "shake and bounce" and Nick was just standing there, so one of them said, "Now Nicholas, you gotta shake and bounce!" and he did! He started bending his knees to the rhythm and I swear, it was the cutest thing I've ever seen. He does it now at home, too, especially if I "dance" (meaning bend at my knees to the rhythm) with him.

How he went from taking his first steps to dancing in just a matter of weeks, though, I do not know!