Introducing....Eliza the Toe Sucker

Glen and I are both a little on the shy side, so I'm always impressed and amused when one of our kids shows through with an outgoing, bubbly side to their personality. While I think that all of our kids are naturally a little more social than we are, I've been shocked to realize that some of them don't even seem to have a shy side.

Take Ellie for instance. Ever since she could talk she's loved engaging people in conversations....strangers, friends, and siblings. She's friendly and eager to connect with others.

It was interesting to see her out of her comfort zone while it was just her and I out in Utah. While she did talk non-stop with me on the airplanes, it was fascinating to see her concerted, consistent efforts to connect with a whole host of people she's not as familiar with.

Not only did she have a set introduction down that she used for all the friends and relatives she met, but she also had a couple of humorous stories she liked to throw into the introduction to put her new friends at ease.

Here's a little sample of her average self-introduction (scaled back to be a little more concise than her version)...

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Hi, my name is Eliza (never mind that no one actually calls me Eliza other than the people I've just introduced myself to)
and one time when I was a baby I sucked on my cousin's toe.
He was asleep and I thought it was my thumb so I started sucking on it.


I still like to suck my thumb. Did you know that one time Mrs. Lengel (Adam's kindergarten teacher) sucked my thumb too?
My birthday is March 23rd....

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