My first child’s first extracurricular activity: ballet class. Who’d have guessed?

I took Annie to see Annie (1982) today. Her first movie in the movie theater. She did great. Ate an entire small popcorn by herself, down to the kernels. Sat rapt in the seat, elbow-deep in that popcorn bucket, pushing down with her legs while the seat cushion threatened to pop back up. The second half she spent in my lap, and fell asleep once, during the Easy Street song—grown-up stuff. She was attentive and polite through the whole adventure, and saved the questions for the way home.

Why didn’t Annie have a mom and dad?
Why was she all alone?
How do we die?

Oh, girl. You keep me on my toes.