Sometimes you just have to brag on your kid. It's not something I do in this space very often, but today I just feel the need for some gratutitous cuteness.

I had a realization the other day that I have been getting a lot of joy from being around Elli. I've always felt joy when thinking about her or being around her, but recently that feeling has been ratcheted up a couple of notches.

My opinion is that as she acts more like a person, she's a lot more fun to interact with. Not that her new found discovery of autonomy and ability to stumble around the house in an awkward manner reminiscent of the Frankenstein Shuffle is always full of happy fun times. Like yesterday, when I made her cry because I wouldn't let her play with the dog's bone. Affront to humanity, in her opinion. But despite our occasional differences of opinion, she's a peach.

Funny story of the night...Elli is a reader. Not in the sense that she can read, but in the sense that she likes to be read to. She doesn't have the best sense of what is a kid's book and what isn't, so last night she goes to the shelf and grabs Bonhoeffer's Life Together, as well as Race Matters by Cornell West.

Now, I'm not a hater. And yet, I felt like that might be a little too heady for a toddler. I expressed my opinion. In the very least, she should just try to tackle one at a time. I mean, reading Bonhoeffer alongside one of the foremost Black scholars of our time is a ambitious by any measure. She thought about it for a second, ditched West and spent the next 10 minutes lugging Bonhoeffer around. I though it was a good call on her part, because Life Together is about as easy a ride as you'll find from Brother Deitrich. And yet, when she decided to chew on the pages, I had to cut her off. I mean, she might want to go back and review the book when she's 2 or 3, so we need to keep it in good condition.

Fair Dinkum