Closer 2

89.

"Careful, okay?" Brett reminded her for the millionth time as he carefully positioned the violin under her chin. The fact that a super tiny shoulder rest came with it was insane, honestly, but it seemed to be working perfectly for her. "You holding?"

"Yeah!" she grinned, holding onto the neck of the violin like baba had shown her. Brett knew the grip wouldn't be suitable for tones, but she didn't really have strong enough fingers for tones yet anyway.

"Okay, don't drop it, then," Brett said, slowly letting it go to see how it went. Her proud grin made him smile too. "Good job, baby!"

She truly looked adorable with the tiny violin on her shoulder and the biggest grin the world had ever seen. The worst part was that her posture wasn't all that bad.

"Wanna try the bow too?" Brett asked her as her concentration was drawn to the fingerboard as if she was trying to find a note. He let her look at it for a bit. This was more about discovering something new than about learning violin, really.

After a bit, she turned to the case and pointed at the bow.
"Bah?" she asked, forgetting about the violin on her shoulder for a moment and letting go with her hand to point.

Thankfully, Brett was quick to grab it.
"Yeah you can get the bow, but you gotta hold your violin so it doesn't fall."
He helped her find her grip again before gently taking the tiny bow that wasn't even as long as his forearm out of the tiny case. He tightened the hair and turned back to Elise.

"Can you make a bunny with your hand like this?" he asked, tapping the hand he wanted her to do it with before showing her. She giggled and tried to reach for the bunny Brett had made with his hand instead.

"Bunnyyy!" she giggled softly, tiptoeing to try and reach it. Brett chuckled with her. He loved this.

"Yeah, can you make a little bunny with your hand?" Brett asked, again tapping her right hand. She lifted it and held up her fist proudly like she had done it.

"Bunny!" she repeated, waving it in front of baba's face so he'd see. He nodded.

"Almost, yeah! Can you open bunny's mouth?" Brett asked, showing her what he meant by doing it. She copied him as best she could.

"Yeah well done, baby!" Brett praised, shifting the bow to his other hand so he could give it to her the right way. She wasn't even two yet, and here she was already trying a violin for the first time! "Can you make the bunny bite the bow like this?"

He showed her what he meant, but it kind of just ended up with her making a fist around it. Brett was okay with that for now.
"There you go! Now you can play!" he grinned, watching her struggle to coordinate her arms enough to get the bow to the strings. He just grabbed his phone, deciding to document this.

It wasn't until he opened the camera app he spotted Eddy watching them in the background. He still snapped a few pictures before Li-Li could notice, which was smart because once she did, she half ran over to show dada too.

"Bah!" Elise grinned proudly up at dada, holding up the tiny bow.

"Wow, yeah, that's your bow! Wanna play something for me?" Eddy asked, squatting down to be on her height. She again tried to maneuver her bow to the strings, kind of struggling. Once she looked for dada for approval, he clapped and cheered.

"Bravo! You're so good!" he smiled, kissing her forehead before gently taking the violin. "Let's have some dinner now, though, and you can practice a bit more after dinner if you want."

Elise began whining like she always did before crying, but Brett was quicker to distract her.
"Show me you can put the bow in the case! Come on, you can do it!" he encouraged, pointing to where in the case it was going. She considered it for a moment, but eventually waddled over and put the bow in the case as gently as a 1,5 year old could do.

"Well done, princess. Let's go eat," Eddy smiled, handing Brett the violin to put away and picking her up. "Some yummy veggies!"