My daughter and I just got back from a girls get away with Grandma to Portland. Four days of travel, adventures, and making friends. On our last day as we walked to the train station my mother reflected on how interesting it is to see how people react to Emeline. Some, like the woman on the train ride to Portland (traveling with her cat) & the mother of three on the trek back, become part of our village. These people share warm smiles with my daughter, encouraging her to giggle and gaze back. Others seem not to see her. When this happens, she can be quite insistent in trying to get their attention. A natural extrovert already, she loves meeting people and saying hello. This pushes me to engage them for her as she can’t yet talk and doesn’t understand why they might not want to say hi. We practice charming all sorts of people, drawing their stories out amidst her exchanges. And our trips, as well as our lives, are richer for it.
