As she so often does, Ellie simply delighted me tonight, in two wonderful moments:

1. As I was cleaning up the dishes and playing Max Richter’s Memoryhouse album, I saw Ellie dancing, and encouraged her to keep going. After a moment, I looked over to see her spinning in circles. And spinning in circles. And spinning in circles. When she finally stopped, she started freaking out as she couldn’t get her balance. I swooped in and picked her up, laughing with her once she recovered.
2. After she calmed down, she started tugging on my shirt. It took me a few seconds to realize what she wanted, but then it clicked: she was trying to turn me by twisting my shirt. “You want to spin?” I asked her. She nodded vigorously. “Is this a spinning song?” Again, the vigorous nod. So I started spinning around and around with her in my arms, and the sheer joy in the grin plastered across her face was something to behold. We spun first one way, then the other, all the way through “The Twins (Prague)”.

Moments like these are worth remembering.