Tenacious "D"

At Thanksgiving, Matt's parents brought a box of some of his childhood memories for us. I fell in love with this little guy & based our Christmas decorations this year around him.


After about a week of searching, I stumbled on the perfect ornaments at Target.  They have a whole line of felted objects, in the perfect colors.  I'm calling it, "A Minimalist Peruvian Felt Christmas."  We HATE HATE HATE taking down Christmas, so we're decorating just enough to make it look festive.




Last Friday, Dev's school took a field trip to the local ice skating rink.  It's only a few miles from home and school, but we've just never taken the time to visit.  (Even though Santa brought Dev her own pink skates last year)  Somehow, the skates still fit a year later and we were ready to give them a whirl.

I wasn't sure how she would like it.



She didn't like it...she LOVED it.  After about an hour of nearly constant falling, she started to get the hang of it.  The falls were brutal to watch.  She would lose her balance and land hard on the ice.  She did this again and again and again, for two straight hours.  No breaks.  I will fully admit to being a major "helicopter parent" during the morning.  I kept asking her if she was ok, if she wanted a break, maybe just a sip of water.  After awhile, I just let her go and gave up trying.

One teacher told me she saw Devin take a very hard fall and skated over to check on her.  She asked if Dev was ok.  Guess who yelled, "I'M FINE!!!!  Stop asking me!!!!"  Then she looked up and saw it was Miss Katie and said, "Oh.  I thought you were my Mom."

It's interesting to see this little tenacious streak in her.  And, I love the fact that she's willing to try new things...really try them and immerse herself in the experience.  We've seen similar interest and commitment for swimming/diving, writing cursive, doing a handstand and tennis.  Her newest obsession is music, specifically the piano.  We bought a new keyboard and she plays it for about an hour each day.  (Formal piano lessons start in January)  She's so excited, as they have a piano at school and the lessons will be during the regular school day.




The skating instructors were excellent and taught the children how to fall properly.



They found holding on to each other was helpful.  (This is Dev and one of her best friends)



When we got back to school for lunch, I could see the look on her face.  The pain was setting in.  I was just about to leave school for tennis, when she begged me to take her home.  One look at her knees, plus she was soaking wet and cold....we went straight home:)

The next day was brutal.  She hobbled around like an old lady...no handstands, no jumping, content to watch movies and work on art all day.


I'm happy to report a full recovery after a day of rest.  And, she's resumed her daily schedule of non-stop movement.