The Reindeer Pokey

Last night was the annual school Christmas program, and compared with last year, G was more comfortable on stage, more comfortable in general. During the Reindeer Pokey (think Hokey Pokey), I saw her hands *and* her mouth moving, and during the applause, I even saw her smile. Then there was the obligatory rendition of "Happy Birthday, Jesus", also done in Spanish* this year. And finally they more or less "danced" to Little Drummer Boy with exuberant but albeit scattered bursts of rum-pum-pum-pum throughout.

*This will bowl some people over: During rehearsals, Ms Stephanie invited G to solo sing Happy Birthday in Chinese for the rest of the class – and she did! Hands by her side, stiff as a board, she managed it loud and strong, something I could never have fathomed last year when she was in Ms April and Ms Monika's class. Ms S said that even Ms A's jaw dropped, had no idea G had it in her. Ms S joked that they could have her sing it for the families and the rest of the school, but I didn't think G was quite ready for her feature debut.