I love you more!

I don't know when it started, but it was probably two years ago that Julia started the "I Love You More" game. It is a game of verbal tag that took off in our family.  We had to establish some rules, so we determined that after you have been tagged, you cannot get the person who got you for about five minutes. The game took off and was quickly picked up by Wyatt when he joined the family.  Zach is too old to play, and Savannah refused to play a game where saying "I love you" is met with defeat by the recipient. So the game evolved to a point where it is mostly played by Julia and me.  We keep a loose tally of who scored the highest each day.  Now you must know this about Julia: she is a highly competitive girl! Julia tries to change the rules to her advantage and now has a creative way to get me from across the room or when I am watching her gymnastics class.  She now signs "I love you more."  I tweaked this with her as she had forgotten the sign for "more", but this girl is on a role and can sign this phrase faster than lightning!

Speaking of gymnastics Andy and I met with Julia's coach last Tuesday.  The meeting started like this, "I am going to try not to gush..."  Yep, those were the words that came out of the coach's mouth before she proceeded to let us know that Julia remembers what she is told and does it which is very unusual at this age.  Julia straigtens her legs and points her toes, and they are recommending that she move up to level 2.  We discussed the commitment involved in moving up (2 nights a week, each with a two hour session). I talked with the coach about Julia's crafty ways of getting to the gym late so that she can miss stretching because she does not like to do the splits.  We also talked about how hard it is on Julia to have gymnastics right after school as the day is far too long for her.  She will do much better with the later time for the level two class. Clearly we have much to think about with Julia.  She flips all over the place, and as Andy points out gymnastics is her bent. However, gymnastics is pricey, and what do you do with it? I mean, really, are we simply grooming a cheerleader here? Gymnasts get such a short time to enjoy their sport.  Now with this school situation (see my "What a Downer" post) hanging over our heads, gymnastics is looking more and more like a dream for Julia that won't come to be. I will call the school tomorrow to try and work out what we will do about school in the fall. It is possible that there was a mistake in the calculation of our application, but I am still carrying a heavy heart this weekend.  It is always sad to leave a place you love where you have such a long history.

Coming up:  I may do a Mother's Day post before Savannah's turn, but both are coming.