So the child and I went for a walk on one of the trails in the area, and passed a group of a couple of dozen Chinese tourists/students/both. They beat us back to the park, and Gracie took a minute to stare in fascination - she's not heard much Chinese spoken and wanted to listen. I asked her if she wanted to say hi, which she did most cheerfully, and all twenty-four of them turned around, saw her, smiled and waved.

Twenty-four pairs of eyes, trained on one three-year-old.

Total preschooler glee.

She lit up like she'd just swallowed a spotlight, flung her arms out, waved, and said "Hi! I Gracie!"

I've gotta get that kid into some drama classes...

A recent conversation with my child, who's still having trouble with this whole "authority" concept:

"I wanna be the Mommy AND the Daddy."

"But then what would Daddy and I be?"

"You can be a frog and a pumpkin for Halloween."