IDIOSYNCRASIES

It can be so interesting watching a one year old. They start developing characteristics, habits and mannerisms that are peculiar to them. My daughter Shiloh for instance, does this thing where she crimples her nose and starts pushing air through her nostrils, like really hard. All the while she is doing this, she gets this bizzare frown on her face. This being the Halloween season, we have taken to calling her Chucky, as in the doll from the Child's Play movies. That's one of the many positives about Fatherhood at Fifty, the appreciation for the minutia. At previous stages of parenthood, there was a tendency on my part to be preoccupied with me. What was happening in my life, issues to be dealt with as they pertained to me, feelings to be navigated through, that affected me. But for some strange inexplicable reason, I am enthralled by my daughter's "Chucky face" antics.With my theatrical background, I've envisioned doing a Shiloh/Chucky video vignette. Maybe even post it on Youtube. Get a close up shot of her going through her crimpled nose routine and the labored breathing through the flared nostrils, then cut to some grisly mass murder scene staged in the house somewhere. We'd have to be really careful with the ketchup for blood mixture. One drop spilled on the sofa or floor and it's curtains for real. Instead of her lethal weapon of choice being some faux knife or ax, I would have her wielding the wooden ruler she likes to amble around with. After she performs the dastardly deed on her intended victims, she could then take their measurements, in case they are needed for some reason in the future. Another great shot would be to have her scaling the stairs, deadly ruler in hand. I would shoot this from an overhead angle, cajoling her to make the "Chucky face" as she ascends. This would be a pretty simple task, she seems to get a kick out of us laughing hysterically every time she does it. The only challenge is I have to keep doing the "Chucky face" over and over, until it registers that this is what I want her to do. My mucous is a lot looser than hers. We would then cut to a shot of her older brother Cyrus screaming, with a terrified look on his face. She gets tickled  to pieces when he does stuff like this with her, so the struggle would be to get her to stay in character.
My biggest concern is how she'll react to it all later in her life, at the age of six or seven. Will she be really pissed off at her Dad for making fun of her like that? Of course I would emphasize that we weren't laughing at her, but laughing with her. Somehow I'm sure she won't buy that. I suppose some memories are better left as just that, memories. I certainly wouldn't want some of my grosser habits immortalized. But dog gone it, it's just so friggin' cute. What the hey, places everyone. Shiloh/Chucky, scene one, take  one, and...action!