Lil' Show-Off

"Don't show off every day, or you'll stop surprising people. There must always be some novelty left over. The person who displays a little more of it each day keeps up expectations, and no one ever discovers the limits of his talent. " -Baltasar Gracian

It used to be that my daughter didn't enjoy being around other adults until a few hours into their visit with us.  She hid behind my legs, was uncharacteristically quiet, and wanted her blanket.  Those days, it would seem, are over now.

Right now, about five minutes into a visit, she's tearing around the house, grabbing anyone's hand, saying, "I show ya da Flamango.  I show ya caterpiwer.  I do ah da spwits!".  She will do frog jumps, run fast and slow, make faces, roll a ball, take you on a tour of the greatest insects to visit our garden, and generally make a truckload of chatter, only some of which is intelligible.

I love seeing her come out of her shell like this, so that now other people can see the girl that we get to see all the time.  That, and her voice has developed a happy squeak of emphasis, so she says things like, "That's JU-piter!" with a celebratory jump in pitch. 

I kid you not, this is what happens when I say, "Make a happy face!"