ballet lessons.

call me crazy, but i think i'm possibly insanely biased toward my three precious nieces. these last three and a half years, i've found myself scrambling to etch all of their little moments and eccentricities into memory so that, as my siblings and parents so affectionately do with me, i can relay them to the older versions of sydni, zoey, and kaitlyn. par example, kaitlyn is terrified of automatic flushers in public restrooms. she will refuse to do her business - or, at the very least, complete it with her fingers in her ears - if the toilet flushes without her consent. she also has an imaginary brother named carson who lives at the circus. :) i'll never forget the time that i asked my mom to pluck my out of control eyebrows, and sydni and zoey began to sob and beg her to stop because they were convinced i was in pain (which we all know is truuue). sydni is also in a phase of adoration for that nasty arm & hammer toothpaste with baking soda. she claims it's "nice and minty". priceless. :)
so, of course, this brings me to yet another opportunity for bragging on one of my girls. last week at kaitlyn's ballet practice, one of the little girls in her group had an accident in the studio. as my sister scrambled to help the girl's mom clean up, kaitlyn did an amazing job of getting the other dancers to shift their focus away from the embrassing moment. she marched right up to the little girl, put an arm around her, and announced, "it's alright, i sometimes have accidents too."
what a kid.