During District Tournament, Hadley was just dying to wear her cheerleading uniform to a ballgame one night and have her picture made with the "real" cheerleaders. So before the game began, we managed to snap a picture with the real things themselves. I thought that would be the end of it, but then all of Hadley's cheerleading dreams came true. One of the cheerleaders, Ellie, asked Hadley if she wanted to cheer with them while the players were being announced, just before the game started. A huge smile covered her face as she nodded yes.
I sat on the front row, just a little proud, as she shook her pom poms and cheered for the girls as their names were announced. She didn't jump up and down with excitement, as that's not really Hadley's style anyway. She was pretty serious, and maybe a wee bit intimidated.
Again, I thought this would be the end of Hadley's cheerleading debut. However, then Ellie asked Hadley if she wanted to stand on the sidelines throughout the entire game and cheer with the girls. Uh....yes! And you can imagine my utter shock when, during a timeout, I look over to see my wee five year old being hoisted into the air. I wish I had taken a picture of her being lifted all the way up, but I didn't get one of those. I was just a little bit nervous myself. At some point after the game, Hadley said, "Mama, did you see me lift one leg up when they held me up in the air?" Um, no, I didn't see that. Thankfully ;)
She drew just a little bit of attention this night, as you can imagine. People were telling me, right and left, that any hopes of her playing basketball were totally shot now that she had gotten a taste of cheerleading with the big girls. The game went in to overtime and was super exciting. But it was the littlest cheerleader of all that held my attention on this night.
Although our girls were defeated in overtime by the eventual state runners-up, we were so proud of each and every one of them. What a special night and fun memory for Hadley (and her fans).
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