There are no Latina disney princesses

We went to Disney on ice yesterday and I just noticed that there are no Latina Disney princesses.  I really thought there would be one by now.  C'mon Disney get with it! How about an Aztec princess or a Mayan princess warrior?  Or an Amazon warrior princess from the jungles of Brazil or Colombia?  Or a Spanish princess like from Queen Isabella times?  

I normally wouldn't care but I got to thinking about it and a Latina princess is long overdue given how many Latinos there are in America.  And I heard that Sophia the first was supposed to be Latina but Disney actually said she's not, in case you actually thought she was.




 I guess we'll have to settle for Dora. 

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I'm taking a NEW ballet class!

my new leg warmers

After taking an open adult basic ballet class since Sept. at a fancy ballet studio downtown, I decided I needed more ballet in my life.  I love my Sunday class, but I feel like I've hit a plateau of what I'm learning in class.  The class is pretty big (15-20 people on average) and there is no personalized attention in the class.  I don't get corrected and the entire time I'm pretty much in a frenzy to copy whatever the teacher is doing.  I can't possibly be doing things correctly when I'm frazzled and trying to stick with the choreography.

So, I found a small ballet studio closer to my house and I've taken 2 classes so far and I LOVE IT.  My friend is doing it with me too and we are learning SO much.  I think I've learned more in the 2 classes I've taken than the entire 6 months of open classes I've attended.

The studio is run by a Russian family and my instructor is a former Russian ballerina named Anastasia.  Seriously.  She is kind but firm and really wants to make sure we are doing things correctly.  So far there have only been 3 students in each class on Tue. nights: me, my friend who is a beginner too, and another Russian girl who is way more advanced than we are.  But our teacher is patient and makes sure to correct our poor technique every time.

Here is my new ballet teacher Anastasia.

So far I've learned that I stick my butt out too much and don't suck my stomach in enough during class, that I am gripping the ballet barre for dear life instead of lightly holding it, that my toes are never pointed enough, but that my turnout isn't all that bad.

The class is only for one hour but we really do learn so much in that short hour.  In the last class our teacher asked us if we were interested in participating in a short performance that the studio holds in June! Can you IMAGINE that?  Of course I said yes, but I'm SCARED SHITLESS. 

So of course, the next logical thing to do would be to order a ballet barre so I can practice at home.  It should be arriving in 2 days!

Until then I'm making sure to stretch every night.  I leave you with some of the things we do in class:

We start with simple plies in 1st position, 4th and 5th positions.  Then we move on to tendus in 1st position to the front, side and back.  Then we do grand battements, some work on releve, then we do what the teacher calls "adagio" which is simply lifting our legs slowly to the front, side and back.  We continue practicing our cou de pies (aka really hard work), then we stretch, practice running and finally jumping and stretching.

I'm very excited about finally getting better but I think it's going take a LONG time to notice some real improvement.  Ballet is freaking hard.

My favorite things

 

Well I've been a mother for about 3 1/2 years now and our family has purchased a LOT of unnecessary garbage for our kids.  So, I thought I would make a list of some of my favorite baby or child related items.

Disclaimer: (because I'm a lawyer): These are MY favorite items, they may not be your favorite items.  Here goes.

1. Nuby Spoons and Forks

We tried about 10 different brands of forks and spoons and most of them sucked.  These are hands down the best.  Most of the other brands of spoons especially, don't hold enough food.

Also, we went to Menchie's Frozen Yogurt  once in Park Ridge and they have great long spoons that I love.  I may or may not have taken a handful home.

Here are the spoons.  They are REALLY good spoons.  I am not condoning going to Menchie's and stealing their spoons.

2. Small elastic hair bands

This is a weird one, but both of my girls have pretty fine hair and normal hair bands wouldn't stay in their hair. One day our nanny brought home a giant bag of these tiny hair rubber bands and they rock.  Also, there are so many of them that they can be single use bands.  We throw them out after one use, but that's ok because there are like 3,000 more in the bag!

Disclaimer: These are totally a choking hazard I'm sure, so don't let your baby eat them. Also, they're a little hard to pull out without causing an anxiety attack in a toddler, but you're on your own on that one. 

3. Sleeping bags.

Yup. A regular sleeping bag.  I had no idea kids loved them so much.  We got one as a present and my girls love hanging out in them.  Pretty simple. 

4. A Pirate Ship- or other indoor play house

If you have the space, those big plastic playhouses are pretty great.  We have a few outside but obviously our kids can't play in those during the winter, so we decided to buy a nice clean used one for indoor use.  They LOVE it.  

5. Double stroller-if you have 2 kids.  Duh.

This one I wasn't so sure of at first.  But a good double stroller can be a life saver for long excursions.  There are much fancier and more expensive ones than ours, but we're pretty satisfied with our Joovy side by side double stroller. 

6. A teething necklace.  You wear it, and your baby can chew on it. They are "safe" for babies to chew on and keeps them entertained while nursing. 

7. A GOOD baby carrier. Don't get a bjorn. Those suck.  Get something good like an ergo.  They rock. 

8. Long sleeved bathing suit shirts.  Because sunburned babies are not cute.

9. A big wagon with a canopy.  We use this ALL the time in the summer.  Really worth the $. 

10. A toy doctor's kit.  Because everyone wants their kid to become a dr. 

 

For now that's all I can think of.