I have to show you something that happened in San Francisco.

We were at an Indian restaurant on Polk, my wife was holding the baby, and I was sitting across from them. I had my big stupid camera with me and I kept picking it up and pointing it at them. Each time I did so, the ridiculous tiny human you see pictured above would hop up, hold this expression, and squeak.

She’d never shown any particular awareness of the camera before. Probably she thought we were playing peek-a-boo, since my big stupid lens hides most of my face when I’m behind it. But she seemed to know that it meant hold still and be cute, because that’s what she did. Four times in a row.

Smile practice.