Flip Flop.

Guess who's finally getting a chance to wear some leotards, and not just for dress-up with sparkly fairy wings and a pair of froggy boots? Guess who had her first gymnastics class Tuesday morning, and skip-hopped around the springboard floor with her classmates and then later, without them, when she was supposed to be stretching or putting her hands on the ground to practice the start of a handstand?

It was Toot!

Marley and I watched Rudy warm up with the other three- and four-year-olds, and Marley was giddy, shrieking with laughter while Rudy, as best as she could, followed her teachers' directions. "She's hilarious!" she kept saying. Rudy's two instructors seemed to get a kick out of her, too. When Rudy pranced over to one of the teachers, who was trying to explain a wide-legged stance for a stretch, the teacher paused, smirked and said, "Hi, Miss Rudy." And then the other teacher walked Toot back to her blue circle to try and get her to follow along. That sort of thing happened several times.

I think it will take Rudy a while to fall into line. First, let's just say she's not adverse to attention. Second, this is the first time she's been on her own in a lesson-type situation. Up to now, she's watched hours and hours of Marley in dance and gymnastics, and she's gone to lots of story time at the library, a short stint at Gymboree, and an free art class, all with me. And this year she's a big girl, taking gymnastics and this Saturday, ballet and tap. Next week, she starts preschool. I just hope that she settles in and learns to listen, and I also hope that she maintains some of that Rudy edge. It's this quality that can best be described as, "She's in her own little world, and it's a happy and silly one, and I would love to be right there with her."