All right. Here’s the point in our program when I geek out on my daughter’s brilliance. Look, you knew it was coming, right? Don’t act all surprised.
Ava painted this picture a couple days ago. I think it started out as a picture for her Uncle Scott, who was coming over for dinner. OK, I know: It’s just another watercolor by some little kid. I hear ya. And to see her paint these things, you’d be even more disinclined to attach any sort of artistic merit to it. There’re a lot of really, really aggressive brush strokes / brush stabs involved. Such is the artistic temperament.
But I really like the colors and shapes and lines. And I particularly like the small sketch of her father that she included in the lower left. Look here for details. Mouse over the picture to see the notes I’ve included on the image. Happenstance? You decide.
Second thing. We were in a toy store with G.G. on Saturday morning looking for a small gift for our friend Nina, you turned 7 over the weekend. Ava was in a fine mood, walking around the store and talking up a storm. At one point, the woman working the counter — who purported to be a teacher — commented to Leah in near-amazement that Ava was remarkably articulate. I lingered over by the wooden train set, pretending that I wasn’t listening and that my chest wasn’t swelling with pride.
You really have to work at being humble in public when you’re a parent. Before Ava came along, I never had a problem hiding my admittedly dim light from unsuspecting members of the public, but Ava draws a lot of attention. And she doesn’t know enough to be proud of herself, so Leah and I have to shoulder that burden for her.
I actually don’t attach too much significance to Ava’s verbal acuity. I don’t think I talked especially early or often when I was Ava’s age, but I turned out OK. Of course, my expectation is that Ava will surpass every one of my achievements, so comparisons with my past are pretty meaningless.