ELF IMPERSONATORS

The kiddos performed in their very first Christmas program this morning, and it was unbelievably cute! It was also unbelievably impressive that they both stayed on stage and more or less followed along with the songs and whatnot. James didn't sing anything as far as we could see or hear (and neither did Cora, obviously, though she danced), but he did a lot of the hand motions and kept a smile on his face. We are awfully proud of them!

Here are the preschoolers' 3 songs (Cora and her buddy Julee Ann are on the far left with the daycare director, and James is center stage):

(When he was down looking below the stage, he was checking out all the instruments that the 4-year-olds were going to be using when they came up next. He was jealous. And if he hadn't missed most of the song rehearsals last week, he probably would have sung along. Maybe. He definitely enjoys singing these days and is starting to remember a few verses at a time.)

And here is their Christmas Alphabet (Cora and Julee Ann were the letter F for flower, and James was T and U for tree and underwear, the flannel variety - he had 2 letters because he was standing in for Manu, who is down in Mexico for his family Christmas):

(A was for angel, we just didn't catch it in time. I know you loved seeing Cora run after the director when she walked away. And did you see her point at me and say "Mama"? Perhaps the best part is the little guy who couldn't stand sharing his wagon any longer and stole it away to run down to the opposite end of the stage. Ah, toddlers...)

Moving on. The big kids (Kindergarten through 8th grade) did a great job singing and dancing and performing their "Elf Impersonator" play. We were completely entertained, and James loved every minute of it (and repeatedly asked me if he could go back up on stage with them).

Here is a short clip just so you can see what a group of Montessori kids looks like in the 'Burg:

(The kid who played "Elfis" is the oldest guy at school. Cora loves him. She also really likes the guy that played Santa. We actually know a lot of the older kids because many of them spend time in the nursery and preschool classes lending a hand. It's a very cohesive school, and we're finding that we really like that. Almost every kid there knows whose mama I am, which is quite convenient at the end of the day when it's time to round up munchkins or I need assistance corralling James and Cora into their respective rooms in the morning!)