Talent Show

The church talent show got off to an inauspicious start for us... we thought the thing started at 6pm. We found out at about 4:35 that it actually started at 5pm. Anna was still down for her nap, just starting to stir. I had 25 minutes to get her up, sort out dinner for the both of us, then get to the show. (I should note that Chris was scheduled to emcee the show but had to bow out today because he has once again been victimized by the insane cocktail of viruses that are tearing through the Michigan populace this year.)

We showed up about 15 minutes late and fortunately in that time, the Sunbeam Choir had not yet sung - they went up about 3 minutes after we snuck in. Whew. Anna stayed up there for the performance this time but still didn't sing anything. Ah well - she's getting there! Step one is remaining up front; the rest will follow in due time.

After that we sat a good long while in the pews. Anna did pretty well, seemed to be content to watch what was going on and eat some apple slices. She did have one funny comment a lot of folks around us heard - after the pie-eating contest, she loudly noted, "They need to clean up that mess!"

One of the younger girls (5 or 6 yrs old) did a basketball demonstration on a little plastic goal. Will (who is a few months older than Anna) wandered up and stuffed the ball in the basket to the delight of the audience. Anna saw her friend Will up there and decided that she needed to join in. She marched right up, took the ball, but was just a wee bit to short to stuff the ball like Will. The ball rolled out and the crowd went "awwwww". The teenager who was helping with the basketball demonstration then retrieved the ball, lifted Anna up, and let her do a tomahawk jam. It was all lots of fun except for the part where Anna nicked her chin on the rim! Fortunately it was just a graze - she had a little red spot for a few minutes but no blood and no tears.

Later I talked Anna into going up front herself. I promised her she could hold the microphone and she was pretty excited about that. When our turn came around we went up, she took the microphone proudly and kneeled on the stage at the front. I thought she was going to do the I-N-D-I-A-N-A cheer but once we were up there, she said she didn't want to do that. I asked her if she wanted to sing and she said yes. She settled on "Twinkle, Twinkle" but then didn't start singing. A few moments passed and I asked her if she wanted to start the song. She answered, "Ok, play the music now so I can sing!" Yeah kiddo, we don't have a tape cued up or anything... I told the audience what she said and Corlie (our organist) popped over to the piano for impromptu accompaniment! Corlie played, Anna sang, and it BROUGHT. DOWN. THE. HOUSE. Everyone cheered like CRAZY when she was done. Then Anna kicked it up yet another notch... I asked her if she could go tell Corlie thank you. She sprinted over to Corlie, said thank you, and gave her a big hug. A huge "awwww" went through the crowd.

I am very, very proud of her. She's a special kid!

Bubbling.

Here is a compilation of Chris' Facebook posts about Anna from this afternoon:

Picked up Anna at daycare. She immediately ran to me and jumped into my arms, and I hugged her. Then her best friend Nolan ran up and hugged my legs. I said thanks to Nolan and then told Anna, "Nolan gave me a hug." Anna replied, very matter-of-factly, "Good job, Dad."

On the way home, she asked me, "Where's blankie?" Blankie was in the diaper bag on the front seat with me, and she asked for Blankie. After I handed Blankie back to her, Anna said, "Aww, they love each other." I asked, "Who loves each other?" "Blankie and backpack," she replied, and I looked back to see that Anna, Blankie and backpack were all hugging each other.

When we got home, Anna coughed. I asked if she had a frog in her throat and she said no. Then she said Blankie would help her and wanted me to tell her how Blankie could help. I suggested Blankie give her a big hug. She agreed, took Blankie into the kitchen, and then went to the trash can to "throw away the froggy." She then thanked Blankie for helping her.

Word to all you adults out there: Blankies are magic.

Now she's cutting my beard, which she says it too long, with the toy scissors from her doctor kit.

Now she's back at the trash can with the syringe from her doctor kit, giving medicine to the froggy.