Sparkle

One of my favorite things about Ellie right now is her generosity. "May I have a hug?" or "Why don't you give Mommy a kiss?" is almost always enough to pull her from whatever she's doing and send her running for the appropriate person to give generously of her affection. And once she's started sharing her love and gotten such positive feedback, she often feels compelled to continue around the circle, hugging everyone or giving every creature - Lizzi included - the chance to participate in a few bars of "Row Row Row Your Boat."

Ellie enjoyed the community fireworks display we went to see on Sunday night, after we had a BBQ with a few friends over at our house. We spread out our blanket on the ground, and she happily sat on it, looking up at the fireworks exploding just across the street. She moved to lie against her daddy, then to cuddle in my lap, then with just her head in my lap, then leaning against her diaper bag, legs curled demurely beside her, then, finally, lying on the blanket with her head on the bag, completely relaxed, enjoying the show, enjoying the people around us.

She fell asleep in the car on the way home, and when Paul went in to check on her later, he found her sitting up at the foot of her bed, fast asleep.

Yesterday, we went to the Webster Groves Independence Day Parade, and Ellie enjoyed that too. We liked pointing out the firetrucks and the police officers, the marching band and the horses. Paul had to name the soldiers for her, because as soon as the first marines rounded the corner in their desert fatigues, I got choked up.

It is, alas, an election year, so the parade was a bit of a campaign event. Ellie didn't mind; she happily accepted stickers and flags, pamphlets and buttons from candidates from both parties (some went directly into the bottom of the stroller as soon as she was done with them, others were affixed to her shirt until she was ready to remove them).

Last night we attended another BBQ, and again Ellie fell asleep on the way home, this time as it began to storm. Paul and I spent a quiet evening at home while the rain pounded our house; we're hoping for a chance to see more fireworks tonight, after the rain delay.

Sure the fireworks and parade we saw were kind of lame, by adult standards. But it's amazing to enjoy them all by watching a 2-year-old who's experiencing these things through eyes that are too young to be jaded. As a gift of her diagnosis, perhaps her joy in these simple pleasures will never end. And I let that be a lesson to me, whenever I think of it. She causes me to think of things like that every day, every day.