Nutcracker

You know how Little One is about dancing. Especially ballet.  She pines guys. Pines over ballet lessons.  Well J surprised us both with tickets to the local production of the Nutcracker, because he is super awesome (and possibly also clever enough to hatch this plan so that he wouldn't get roped into going once I found out it was playing).  So tonight, even though it kept us up past bedtime, we celebrated the last day of Her first ever school semester by going on a "big girl date" to the ballet.
Little One loved it.  She grabbed me tight and cowered when the Rat King danced. She gasped when the Nutcracker dispatched him.  She swooned over the pas de duex, She whispered softly, pointing at the princess, "Sometime I want have a dress like THAT".  
During intermission as people roved about, I let Her dance in the empty isles.  She twirled and curtseyed and sashayed, "I'm gonna be jus' like them mama!"
The only problem I had with Her the whole time was when the music became so rapturous and the dancers so lively during the finale, and She begged to be allowed to dance in the aisles again.

C: "No, no! You have to sit in your chair, love.  It's time for watching. After it's over you can dance some more."
LO: "But mama pleeasse? I want dance WIF them!" 
C: "Sorry, Little One, not now."
LO (crestfallen): "Ok but...but after this dance, then it can be my turn to dance on the stage?"

When it ended after two hours, She immediately asked to see it again.  She had a lot of questions about why the dancers couldn't keep performing all the livelong night and where everyone was going. Didn't they want to see some more dance show?
We danced and spun all 6 blocks back to our car.  Little One declared that ALL the dances were Her favorite, ALL the ballerinas were Her favorite, ALL the tutus, "ALL the WHOLE ballet was mine favorite part!!! I like everything!" We chattered about it all the way home, where She melted into a puddle of way-past-bedtime. We brushed teeth and went straight to bed.
As I tucked Her in I wished Her sweet dreams.
"Oh mommy! Yes! I'm going to dream I'm a BALL-ER-EEN-A!" 
As She fell asleep, I'm pretty sure that visions of sugar-plum fairies actually were dancing in Her head.