Ack! The cuteness! I can't take it anymore!

When Liza was a baby, the surest way to get her to smile during photo shoots was to pretend to sneeze. This was especially effective if Jason was doing it - he can really ham it up.

Fake sneezes are so 2006, though, and I've been working on a new way to get her to not grimace as though in pain (her version of a forced smile) every time she sees the camera. And today I think I stumbled on the answer.

Burps.

Let a good loud one (or even a pathetic breathy one) rip, and the kid giggles like mad while looking straight at you.

I knew some of the skills I learned in marching band* would come in handy someday.

*burping on command, pretending to play when my slide has frozen in place, marching backwards really fast while holding my upper body completely steady so I don't cut my lips to shreds on my mouthpiece, proper house-toilet-paper-rolling techniques, consuming four donuts without puking or getting the shakes, and looking dignified despite the huge feather mohawk on top of my helmet.