David's First Christmas Concert

Today was David's first Christmas concert. It only lasted about 5 minutes, but it was a VERY wonderful 5 minutes. He led the class onto the risers, standing on the second level. He did his straight-arm wave and waved at all of us--there were a lot of us that he knew--Gpa and Gma St, Gma Sm, S and N, Gpa and Gma Pr, Gpa and Gma P, and us of course. The rest of the class was just about in position when he announced, "I'm standing next to a girl!" The whole audience roared! So funny! The kids sang one verse each of  "Away in a Manger" and "Go Tell it on the Mountain", "Happy Birthday" (to Jesus) and had a little rhyme to say too. David watched me more than he watched his teacher, so I was trying to help him with the actions that went with the songs. I know he knows the words, because he will sing the songs with me, but he didn't sing very much at the concert. One of my favorite parts though, came when the teacher's aide brought out the birthday cake--complete with candles. David did not want anything to do with candles for his first two birthdays. By the time number 3 rolled around, he figured out that all he had to do was blow, and he was pretty good at it too. The cake walked past David (he tried so hard to blow all of those candles out!) but didn't succeed, so he got down off the riser and walked with the cake, blowing all the way! He made it to the middle of the group when the teacher sent him back to his place. Not all of the candles were blowed out by the time the aide reached the end of the risers opposite David, so she took the cake back to him to finish blowing the last candles out. Mission accomplished!

David's final blow finished the candles

Afterwards the kids gave their parents a present--a calendar that they had made using their hand prints as the pictures for each month--very sweet! Next came cake, cookies, and juice. The Pickard family and company watched David jump down the risers and race across the top riser and jump into N's or Gpa P's arms and run to the other end. We also got to play with him in the classroom with some of the toys and books that he plays with when he's at school. Everybody got in on that fun. I'm so thankful that Allen's and my parents are so involved in our lives. Having David's birthfamily was an extra-special, super wonderful blessing.

David sharing his calendar with Gpa St, N, S, and Gma S

I visited with David's teacher after the program, and she said she was suprised by David today. She said that he usually went up on the risers just like he's asked and quietly sits or sings the songs. She said that the David she saw at the program wasn't the same little boy she usually sees at school. I guess he needed to see his fans in the audience to boost his confidence. What a wonderful little boy!!!!