This is one of the ways that Cora smiles. Well, maybe “smile” isn’t
the right word, but it’s the face she makes when she’s excited about
something. Much like someone just tipping the hill in a roller coaster,
she tenses her muscles, throws her mouth open, and starts shrieking and
hooting.
This is an expression of pure anticipation: she knows what’s coming
and she can’t wait. She’s full of excitement and, man, is she happy!
This expression tends to only show up for experiences that are fairly
new to her; or at least ones that haven’t lost their luster.
As her parent, I love what this expression means.
Whenever I see this face, it means that my little girl is pushing the
boundaries of her existence, doing something that’s new and exciting,
and enjoying the ecstasy of exploration. She’s discovering the world
that I already know, and she’s telling me that, as a newcomer, this is
the coolest place she’s ever been.
It’s just like that roller coaster I mentioned earlier:
the exhilaration we all feel — have to feel — when we’re
taking that plunge. I haven’t shrieked with joyful anticipation over
anything in a
long time. Cora says that it’s my own fault. She says that playing in
the bath is so much fun that it’s worth a shriek just thinking about it.
She says that there has never been anything as cool as a swing set on a
playground in a park near a lake, seeming to say, “This is no time to
be nonchalant: this is a playground!”
I try to show
Cora the world through my eyes, but I think on this score she may be
right, and I may need to see it her way. I think I need to take that
ride and find that coaster and tip that hill and shriek, just because
there’s so much fun to be had!