Oh, what a difference 1 year will make

Christmas program 2013 demonstrates one very important thing about my child: she is not going to be the most introverted kid forever.  Despite conditions that would otherwise have sent her into a tailspin merely 1 year ago, she sang, performed, and stood still unflinchingly while sandwiched between two classmates. 

We had seats way at the back of the sanctuary, so it's pretty amazing that we even got this shot, but this is as good as it gets.  Mine is in the middle with the striped sweater.  And look!  She's performing the hand motions for the super cute Christmas song!  By the end of the program, the cutie in green had really crammed in on her space, but it didn't seem to faze her much.  That, my friends, is progress.  It's also why we really wanted her to experience pre-school cause social skills have not always been easy with this one.  She's the apple; I admit to being the tree on this one.

Just for a point of comparison, this was exactly 1 year ago.  Notice the shading of the eyes in the classic feline move--if I can't see you, then you can't see me. 

Busy, stressful day for the little one. The best stress relief is, of course, dragging an assortment of sleeping bag, blankets, clothes hamper, pillow, and stuffed animals out to the living room in order to make a nest on top of the vent.  This is, by the way, normal for her, other than the falling asleep part.  Is it just my kid that does this?  Makes a nest for herself on top of floor vents?  I like her imagination; I think we'll keep her.  At least a little longer.  Plus, she whispered "I love you" to me while eating lunch with some friends after the program today.  Unprompted.  To me--the one to whom she regularly tells is second fiddle to Daddy because "You use a cup to rinse my hair in the bathtub and Daddy doesn't."  It must have been because I slipped her half of a breadstick.