SMILE!

She’s been at it for quite a while now, but it still is like catching a glimspe of a rainbow when she lets one loose.  Her whole face brightens, those eyes sparkle and your heart literally melts. 

It makes us all get a little ga-ga to have her bestow us with a grin and the kids aspecially have taken drastic measures to receive one.  Max employs a creepy/maniacal fake smile and a lot of head-cocking.  This hasn’t proven too succesful  – she gets pretty wierded out by it, actually.  Tess, the brute that she is, tends to be too close too much of the time, making her sister a little punchy around her.  This has made Tess desperate for a smile.  I caught her the other day manually pulling up the corners of Ellie’s mouth so that she could announce, “My baby sis-tow just smiled at me!”  I’m not sure who to feel sorry for in that situation . . .

Then there’s Philip.  He’s kept his distance which I think Ellie has recognized and is greatful for.  So, when he does come around and gives her a little attention, she kicks and coos and bats her eyelashes.  Mama Syd figured out that while in the car, Philip is the only person Ellie can see and she spends most drives checking him out.  As a result, he gets the lion share of her sparkly smiles.  You’d think with his arms-distance treatment of her, the novelty would be lost on him.

It isn’t.

Each time he announces she’s smiled at him (which in the car can be every 30 seconds), he sounds as shocked and appreciative as the first time.  Then he smiles and I smile and all is well.

*Apologies about the tardiness of this post.  The computer and I are fighting with each other.  So far, computer 3: Annie 0.