These are quite nice! I would recommend trying to push your beans further in terms of gesture so you can really feel the twisting, the pulling and the squishing (maybe something that can help with this is drawing a line of action). I would also suggest making your beans “tighter” in a sense. They feel floppy, kinda like they represent something other than the movement of the torso. Something I think could help with this is using more spherical forms and really emphasizing the stretch and squash of the bean. Another thing that can help is drawing Stan’s drawing if the bean from his video(s) to help you get familiar with the bean’s movement (it would also help you get mileage and it gives you the assurance your doing thing properly as you follow along) Otherwise, I really like your gestures, especially how you simplify the hands! And for your question, usually Stan recommends practicing each lesson for a week or two and making sure you understand each concept before moving on. Hope this helps!

I love him! What about the design is making you unsatisfied? My main thoughts when looking at the picture are that the tongue looks a little off... like maybe it's a little too stiff, sticking out the side like that. Not sure if your boy Marlow had a tail, but I also was thinking I'd like to see the tail flapping in the wind as he ran to the water. Overall I think it's a super expressive and charming design though! I'm sure your wife will love it.