Is She Always This Happy?

I get this question a lot, mostly at the grocery store. It is usually someone waiting behind us in line or some walking down the aisle that she beckons either with her huge infectious smile or her other tactic of pointing directly at someone and yelling, what I believe is, "HI!" They also stop to admire her. She is a charmer and keeps them engaged with that smile that I spoke of, the one that takes up half her face and reveals two lone bottom teeth.

Then I get the question, "Is she always this happy?" There is a long answer and a short answer. Strangers, of course, always get the short answer. Yes, mostly. There are always the qualifiers that you don't mention. Well, sometimes she wakes up in the middle of the night and screams bloody murder. Sometimes she really doesn't like it if Mommy is out of sight, or worse yet, if Mommy is in sight but someone else is trying to hold her while Mommy is busy. The list exceptions to Cora-always-being-happy could be pages long.

Saying that she is always happy seems disingenuous, as does dwelling on her fussy times that though numerous at times, they are brief. Sometimes saying that she's perfect makes my job as a mother seem too easy to outsiders. Not that I should care. But the truth is that I am very lucky to have such a sweet pleasant baby girl. I see other parents with children with special needs and I realize that I really do have it easy. Sometimes you just need someone at the grocery store to remind you.

Happy girl!