Dance, Dance Gabbie

Last night I Twittered that there is nothing in the world better than watching Gabbie dance, and I absolutely believe that this is the truth. It’s adorable and hilarious, and we spend our evenings doing everything we can to get her to dance. She holds her arms out and bent at a ninety-degree angle and twists from side to side, then shakes her butt a little and bounces up and down. She even sings a little while she does it. She prefers rap or rap-like pop music to rock, something we’ll have to work on. Her favorite songs seem to be by Black Eyed Peas, Outkast, NERD, and Rhiana. However, the song that never fails to make her dance (and never fails to make me feel like a less-than-awesome mom) is the PBS Sprout On Demand theme song.

Back when we were getting her to try to put weight on her legs, just after she got out of her hip dysplasia brace, we would hold her hands while she stood and twist her back and forth while singing “Dance, Dance Gabbie”, a little three-word song we made up. She loved it, and would laugh riotously the entire time. She also loved, and still loves, when we would dance with her in our arms, bouncing and spinning along to whatever fast-paced song was on the radio (Love Shack is her absolute favorite). We’d spin, and she’d laugh. We’d jump, and she’d laugh. We got quite the workout most nights, dancing to get her to laugh. Now dancing serves the opposite purpose. We try to get her to dance so we can laugh, but it’s still just as much fun. We still get quite the workout, dancing right along with her and belly laughing.

The other day she was walking past the TV using her walk-behind toy while I was watching Ellen. Ellen’s DJ played Rhiana’s Shut Up and Drive when she gave away a car, and Gabbie stopped, shook her rear a few times, and then continued on her way. I? Nearly fell out of my chair laughing. This past weekend at my aunts’ house we put on some Michael Jackson, which she loved, and we watched, laughing so hard that tears streamed down our faces.

We’ve been trying to get her dancing on video, but she seems to not want to dance when the camera is out, so we’re going to have to find a way to trick her into dancing. I really hope she never stops doing this, even though I’m sure it will pass far too quickly, just like all the other cute things she does right now. This phase, like all the others that have passed so far, is my absolute favorite. It’s hard being a mom, wanting to freeze everything and yet being anxious to see what your baby does next. As long as she keeps on dancing, I’ll be happy. It really is the best thing that I’ve ever experienced. All of it.