mama musings

part of elinor's bedtime routine is a bit of piano with papa.  {check out these two in action here} as you can see, it is pretty darn precious.  elinor doesn't exactly "tickle" the ivories.  it is more of a spastic thrust or smack at this point.  but we have plenty of time to work on her form and finesse.  for now, we are just loving her zeal.  she gets so excited when she is plopped down on her papa's lap.  she breathes in deeply and reaches out toward the sheet music with wild eyes.  mostly, she just wants to get her little fingers on the pages so she can nibble on the notes and spread her drooly goodness...but we like to think that she is just our tiny prodigy who can't get enough music. {delusional parents alert}  then she places her hands on the keys and plays a note or two or three while papa harmonizes or resolves the melody or other such musical jargon that i know nothing about...

anyway, in addition to her contemporary composition skills, our little einstein on the beach has also figured out another neat trick.  she has learned how to wrap her parents around her highly capable finger!  she has rather quickly come to understand that her parents are praise-giving fools.  just once, after a particularly rousing performance, ben and i clapped and let out a simultaneous "yeeeaaaahhhh!".  well, that pretty much did it.  now, after every few notes that she plays, elinor retracts her hands in one swift and dramatic motion and shoots me an expectant glance.  "mama?  approving applause, please..." she says with her eyes.  uh oh.  we have created an applause junky.  and she does it every time now.  and what on earth am i supposed to do?  just sit there and pretend like her playing is just no big deal and withhold clapping from the cutest thing i have ever seen?  fat chance.

well, looks like we are creating a little diva.  great.  i guess we have managed to hold off for a decent chunk of time. who had their money on 28 weeks?