The sweetest little ballerina

Ever since Lily was a about a year old, she has had two distinct personalities. There is the public Lily and the private Lily. At home she has always needed to be the center of everything. She's spunky, fun, loud, bossy and tireless. In public she's usually timid and awkward. I remember the first time her pre-school teacher, Allison, babysat and barely recognized the wild child she thought she knew so well. It's always made me sad that the outside world doesn't get to see the Lily we know and love.

Yesterday, Lily's semester of ballet culminated in her first dance recital. For weeks we've been asking her to show us her routine. She would awkwardly raise a leg, do a half turn and that was it. Suffice it to say, my expectations of her performance were pretty low. I had a pit in my stomach as she walked on to the stage, with visions of awkward nail biting and silly expressions floating in my head.

I was totally unprepared for what I saw... She was absolutely wonderful. She jumped and twirled and danced the best way a 4 year old possibly can. She was graceful and sweet and best of all, had a smile on her face the whole entire time. It was so thrilling to see her act like that on stage, without any insecurities or anxiousness. I'm sure she'll continue to act shy and goofy in public at times, but hopefully yesterday was indicative of days to come.

Get ready, world. The real Lily is coming out... And she's amazing.