Give me an "A"

We have tried gymnastics, ballet and tap, and soccer. All of them were not the right fit for Ashley. But I wanted her to do something this fall.

So we signed her up for cheerleading through our town's park and rec. She has practice twice a week and she will start cheering at the little kids' football games in September.

And this cheerleading thing? Is totally up her alley. Ashley is loud and in certain situations she is extremely outgoing. She loves cheerleading. They are teaching them some simple cheers and some tumbling. She is in the mascots for girls age 5. There are also minis who practice at the same time, and those girls are first and second graders.

Last Thursday at the end of practice, they got both groups together and formed a circle. They did some cheer where the girls would go in the circle and say their name and say they had spirit and would do a "spirit move", like a jump or cartwheel. It was completely by choice. Of course all the older girls went right in, and after a few of them went, Ashley moved right into the center of the circle and did her thing. She was the only mascot to do it, and I was so unbelievably proud of her. She had no fear of getting in front of 25 other girls and do a move she really didn't know how to do, but she did it without prompting. Her coach was proud of her too.

So far so good...