Tonight Alli surprised me (in a good way), not once, but many times. First by being all smiles when I prematurely woke her from her nap. At 5 we left work to go to the gym and on the drive Alli dozed off. When we got there, I plucked her from the back seat and fully expected her to be angry at me for waking her. However, she smiled and acted very happy to be in my arms and getting carried into the gym. Generally, she does not wake up in a good mood.

Next she surprised me by not crying when I left her somewhere. Lately, the minute she sees the door to the gym child care area, she throws her bottom lip out, stops walking and starts crying, but not this time. I could not believe it; she looked a little worried, but no tears, no screaming, and no fit. She saw her friend Grace (who is 3 months younger than Alli with BIG blue eyes) and seemed OK with me dropping her off. They started played before I left the room.

After the gym we went to Zoe’s band concert. I had Zoe’s camcorder and she had requested that I record the performance. I sat up high in the bleachers so we could see everything. I had Alli on my lap and the camcorder in my hands. I was worried that Alli would climb off or worse yet fall off and I would end up dropping the camera and the baby. Larry Sabulsky was sitting next to me and he offered to hold Alli. To my amazement, she went to him like they were old buddies and she seemed quite happy about it. Now usually, Alli is not warm to anybody unless she really knows them well. So, again, I was amazed.

Then as the performance progressed, she started to get antsy and my camcorder ran out of memory, so we moved to the doorway / hallway to watch and listen where Alli could move around safely and not disturb anyone. There was another girl there (for the same reason) who was about 3 years old. Well, she took to Alli right away and the two of them had the best time. Anything the older girl would do, Alli would copy. They danced, clapped, climbed on the steps, sat on the bottom bleachers, danced some more, etc. etc. It was the cutest thing EVER. I really wish I had had my camera with me. Alli also was friendly to everyone around her, including the little girls mommy and daddy and a few other random people that she hung on and talked to. I have never seen her so outgoing and friendly. It made me smile so much my cheeks got sore. Truly, the joys of watching your kids grow and flourish are immeasurable.