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Since our potatty is so very active, I thought now might be a good time to try out Gymboree to see if she could burn off that energy in a new environment and perhaps, oh, I don't know...SLEEP?! Maybe? Just a little better?
I took her to her trial class yesterday, Level 1 for babies from birth to 6 months. The closest facility is in Metuchen so we just shoot up 27 and we're there in 20 min. Parking is another story but I'm hoping my habitual earliness will pay off routinely. We caught the tail end of the toddler class. Those kids are hysterical. There were 12 of them, about the same mix of those at our Music Together trial, but this is a gym so they definitely separate babies by appropriate ages so there's not a Running of the Rug Rats trampling situation.
Once everyone had kissed Gymbo goodbye, the older kids were wrapped up in their layers of sweaters and coats and boots and gloves and shuttled toward the door. The waiting area is about the size of our laundry room so that was fun finagling the infant carrier out of the line of fire but I managed to squeeze past to safety. I exchanged pleasantries with several of the toddler moms who said, "He's gorgeous! What's his name?" Granted, the carrier is orange but she had a pink hat on. Come on, ladies! This is 2015. Gender neutral gear has been a thing for a good 30 years now. It just kills me that she's always assumed to be a boy first. No one has ever asked me, "Boy or girl?" Maybe that's the Bryn Mawr talking but I always ask.
Apparently, no one leaves Gymboree willingly. There were at least two tantrums and one kid and his mom disappeared into the bathroom for a good 8 minutes. We made our introductions and Tempest was proclaimed the most beautiful baby with the most unique and lovely name. Always a good start. Screams were heard issuing from the bathroom and Miss Liz confided in me that this particular child has severe separation anxiety every. single. time. We laughed about everyone assuming that a baby dressed in any shade of blue - aqua, navy, turquoise - is presumed to be male. We talked about Soft Coated Wheaten Terriers and how lovably nuts they are. Miss Liz's friend has a female who has killed groundhogs and brought them inside as trophies. Oscar failed at basic mouse-catching. He's just not that into carnage but I'm sure if we let him loose with a squirrel, he'd make a toy out of it.
Once the screamer had cleared out, we had the gym to ourselves. The "floor" is made of those foam mats that velcro together. There are slides and roller logs and odds and ends for the big kids to climb over but today, Tess was just getting her orientation lesson. It ended up being private because the other little boy didn't show. In about five minutes, Miss Liz turned to me and said, "your daughter is so active that you'd do better to move her up to Level 2. We'll finish Level 1 today but come back next Tuesday for another trial class with the 6-10 month-olds." Tess was not interested in lying on her back, or in singing, or in having her body manipulated. She wanted the balls and she wanted the bubbles. She scooted forward for Miss Liz. She rolled everywhere. It was fun for her but we could both tell that she was ready for the next step.
We ended up using one of the logs to work the core muscles toward sitting up. That was fun, watching her flop back and then righting herself, laughing. She did so well and had to be absolutely exhausted when we were through. There was some mirror play on her belly and we ended with the classic Gymboree parachute. Definitely not as much fun as having a mosh pit of babies under there but Tess loved it. First we spun her on top of it and then we put her underneath. She was watching me the entire time but she did give a smile, finally.
Miss Liz was wonderful and explained the motor skills we were working on and the benchmarks each session attempts to achieve. Classes are once a week with open gym time. Gymboree is one of those activities that is only going to get more fun as Tess grows and moves and learns to play. I'm looking forward to meeting some older babies next week and seeing how she does with the next level.
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