I've had this happen a lot recently especially with my Russians. Rather exciting, isn't it, having a violet so eager to grow!

Linda

They say to remove early blooms to give the plant more energy to grow

Linda, it happens sometimes. Yes, it's a good idea to remove the blooms and let the babies grow. Actually, I remove the first blooms from the starter when I see they match the type description because the little plant needs to grow more leafs and then it will have more flowers.
Polina.