The face of a show-stopper.

Emma Kate is a show-stopper. Literally. Picture us at Jacob's winter band concert. The director of music for the school district organizes it to showcase her talented teachers and intermediate students. It is a HUGE deal. We arrived 15 minutes early and still had to sit in the nosebleed section (high up in the stands is a foreshadow of how Emma came to be a show-stopper). We were about 25 hollow, wooden steps up, third row from the top (another hint). Oh, and this is the second section of the high school gymnasium, so be thinking huge capacity. Jacob's group went very first out of what was an 75 minute concert. We sat intently for the first five minutes then had to suffer through the remaining 70 minutes. About halfway through the concert, a restless Emma decides she has to go to the bathroom and Abby agrees to take her. Upon their return lies the problem. One song had just ended and another was about to begin. However, about two steps up, Emma discovers that she can make a delightfully loud noise by stomping up the stairs. Thwomp! Thwomp! Thwomp! I start immediately snapping my fingers and yell-whispering, "Emma, stop that! Emma, that is too loud!" to no avail. She is coming up the stairs one painfully loud stomp at a time with her head down watching every footstep. By the time she discovers me yell-whispering, she is nearly to me. She looks up at me and smiles. Probably 50 people around us are laughing and half of them clap when she smiles. Aye, aye, aye. As if that weren't bad enough, I then discover that the band director had to wait for Emma to sit down before she could announce the next song! Abby's comment: "Mom, your face is bright red!"