Nutcracker mania has reached a fever pitch in our house, fueled mostly by A.

Going into the holiday season, the girls’ interest in The Nutcracker had waned a bit. Once they learned that we were going to be seeing the ballet, however, their ardor returned. For about a month leading up to December 21 (the date of the ballet), A asked us daily how many days were left until the ballet, whether the ballerinas were practicing, etc. The day of the ballet, the girls were incredibly excited. We enjoyed a great local production that had all the bells and whistles they needed, and they have talked about it ever since. Daddy took them to a Nutcracker puppet show last week, which they also enjoyed (though there was no Mother Hubbard).

For Christmas, Nana and Grampy gave them a Nutcracker doll (one end is the Nutracker/Prince, and the other end is Clara). Nana also found a book of The Nutcracker, which the girls have requested for bedtime reading every day this week.

A, however, has pushed things to a new level. Since yesterday, she has insisted on wearing her hair in a ribbon tied in the back that looks like Clara (and only Buppie and Daddy seem to be able to tie it how she likes it).  Today, she has been walking around with a wooden ballerina doll that comes with magnetic tutus, shoes, crowns, etc. and calling it her Nutcracker doll. She’s been cradling it very gently, like Clara does in the ballet. And she keeps complaining that it’s "broken" (which it isn’t), because the Nutcracker gets broken by Fritz in the ballet. The coup de grace – and I am not making this up – is that during dinner and bath, she insisted on being called "Clara" instead of "A," a request that M has unfortunately been indulging.

The girls are enrolled in two ballet classes this fall – one at the community center and one on Sundays at a dance center not too far away. On tap for tomorrow: buying some leotards/tights/tutus.

Here are some videos of A dancing to the Nutrcaker music (a soundtrack that is now permanently etched in my mind).