Nissa Prevails (Get used to it, Noah)

“Han! Han! Han!” Nissa chases the meandering Noah, her arm outstretched. “Han!”

He stops and turns toward her.

“Han! Han! Han!”

His normally somber face breaks into a smile as he holds his hand out. They clutch hands, absolutely delighted with their small selves. Communication! This whole ‘words’ thing, it actually works!

They trundle around, linked awkwardly at the hands, pleased as punch. Then Nissa has another idea.

“Han! Han! Han! Han!”

Noah pauses, uncertain. Aren’t they already holding hands?

“Han! Han! Han!” (What Nissa lacks in vocabulary, she makes up for in FOCUS.)

“Han!”

She reaches forward and grabs at his other hand. Toddler-style, his first impulse is to pull his hand away.

“Han! Han! HAN! HAN!”

But Nissa persists. This is the way of Nissa.

“Han! Han!” She makes a second lunge and grasps his other hand.

Nissa prevails. I suspect this is the way of the future around here.

Now they stand facing each other. Noah is smiling again, albeit a little uncertainly. He’d get with the program if he knew exactly what it was. He glances down at Nissa’s little face, with its sparkling eyes and ever-present drop of drool on the centre of her lower lip. Which lip, as is usually the case, is curved into a smile.

Then she drops her glance to her feet, and, still holding hands, starts to run furiously on the spot, her purple slippers pounding the floor.

Noah is still a bit bemused. WHAT is this girl doing? But, being a amenable frame of mind, he starts to stomp his own small feet, too. And wow! This is FUN!

“Dan! Dan! Dan! Dan!”

Nissa. I knew I’d love this kid.

He’s not lyrical, but…

The luscious, gracious strains of Tchaikovsky’s Sleeping Beauty waft through my living room.

The children dance.

Noah and Tyler jump, cavort and giggle. The concept of “beat” is a bit beyond them, but they’re loving the music in their own ways.

“I’m a fairy!” Anna exclaims, sweeping her arms from side so side in front of her. Gracious, smooth swoops in response to the gracious, swooping music.

“I’m a princess!” Emily extends her arms and swirls them through the air. Gracious (mostly) smooth twirls in response to the gracious, swirling music.

“I’m dancing like A AIRPLANE!” Timmy bellows.

Airplane?

But yes. Timmy stands carefully on one leg, then leans forward, extends his arms straight out from his sides, and lifts one leg a few precarious centimetres off the ground behind him. A wobbling, precarious, ungainly, but undeniable… arabesque.

Guess which one has actually watched a ballet?