The Art of Spying on Mum

Introduced her to selected works from Thelonius Monk and Benny Goodman today. She seemed to really connect with the Monk, but kept hiccuping all the way through Benny's set.

Took a late evening siesta on the back deck, where she got to try out her new yellow sunglasses. Thought she'd really dig 'em (kind of a girly kiddy version of Elton John/Audrey shades). But she just kept hiccuping.

As many of you know, Spying is both one of my passions and one of my greatest skills. I have been extremely excited to begin training my daughter in this vital area. So I took her on a reconnaissance/training session this evening. Simple, relatively mundane, very little risk. Just to test the waters, see if she has any sort of inherent aptitude. Anyway, we maneuvered our way into position, at which point I held her up around the dresser to stealthily watch Mum brushing her teeth in the bathroom. She did well for the first 30 seconds. Held her silence well, didn't step on any dry tree branches, kept the cell phone off. Mum was completely clueless. Until thirty seconds in. Then, yes: more hiccuping.

Little disappointing, but she shows so much promise.

She has the greatest smile. Only seen it twice, but it's good. Trust me.

Very big fan of Uncle General Jeremy, who danced with her this evening.