E's "banastics"

I realized I haven't posted anything about Ella's gymnastics, or "banastics" as she calls it, and how in the world could I miss that? It is a huge part of her life these days! We had taken her to The Little Gym for quite a while, which was tons of fun, but we never saw any real progression in her tumbling skills. And if you know me at all, you know when it comes to my daughter and tumbling/ cheerleading- I want only the best! haha! No, seriously, it is so much easier to teach a 4 or 5 year old to tumble than a 10 or 12 year old- more flexible, no fear, all that. And I think if she likes it and decides to stick with it, she'll be grateful she learned at a young age.
We decided to check out Midwest Cheer Elite, an all-star gym very close to our house. The first time we walked in, I was thoroughly impressed with the place. They have a gazillion all-star teams, from 3 years on up, and most of their senior level teams have won national championships the last few years. The place is strictly business and pretty incredible. I absolutely cannot believe the stunts and tumbling they have 8-10 year olds doing! Amazing!
Anyways, Ella's been taking there about ten weeks now. She is learning so much and the most important part is she LOVES it!! It is the thing she looks forward to every week. On her very first day, I was kind of worried she would be intimidated, but she wasn't in the least. She just jumped right in and gave it her all. I am always so proud of how hard she works and how she listens and then really tries to do what her instructors tell her. She takes such pride in keeping her arms and legs straight, keeping her fingers together, and jumping and rebounding perfectly after each skill. I always laugh because the other kids will be cartwheeling and flopping all the way down the floor and Ella is always twenty feet behind them- she won't start her next cartwheel until she's landed the first one on her feet and rebounded just so-so. My little perfectionist. It cracks me up. Anyways, I see so much progression every single week and am so proud of her! Just yesterday, she was pulling herself up into an almost perfect handstand and, ten weeks ago, she didn't have the strength to straighten her arms and get her head off the floor!
She will spend hours practicing and flipping all over this house. She always wants me to spot her, but she's a leftie and it's kind of hard! I can't tell you how many times a day I hear, "Watch this one, Mom! It's gonna' be a good one!" =) She loves to straddle roll...

I have been trying to get some pictures at the gym, mostly to show Daddy, but the lighting is different and I can never seem to get any good ones. She's in the purple shirt here, rolling down the mat.

One of her favorite parts of class is trampoline time. She is begging us to get a "huge, long trampoline in our house, so I can practice!" Sure, it's just that easy! =)

And not to be left out- Cade has gotten pretty good at flipping all over the place, too! haha!