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March is Women's History Month!

With A Flip Of Her Hair, Julian Castro's 3-Year-Old Becomes A Star

There was one undeniably sweet moment, last night: As San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro got to the part of his speech where he mentioned his wife and his 3-year-old daughter, the camera panned over to Carina.

It seemed like she noticed herself on the big screens at the arena, because suddenly she stuck out our her tongue and flipped her hair.

Castro didn't seem to notice what was going on. But as soon as she was on the Jumbotron, she had the crowd in the palm her hand. Every flip of her hair provoked loud coos and laughter from the crowd in the arena.

In the video, when Castro said he hopes she'll accomplish her dreams, you hear the crowd laugh. They weren't reacting to the line, they were laughing because of Carina.

As the San Antonio Express News puts it this morning, her primping commanded the attention of the arena and the national news media:

"'There's something about a little girl looking up at the big screen and loving her hair," ABC News anchor Diane Sawyer purred, referring to Castro's daughter Carina, 3, and the way she flipped her hair as she looked up at the camera.

"Judy Woodruff, who co-anchored PBS' coverage, also said of the mayor and his mugging daughter: 'He shared a little of that spotlight with his 3-year-old daughter, who was having fun seeing herself.'

"On NBC, anchorman Brian Williams smiled and noted: 'Proving all over again there's nothing quite like being a father of a daughter.'"

And of course, the Internet has responded in kind: launching an animated gif of the adorableness and this crystal-ball tweet:

"Julian Castro's daughter, 2056."

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Eyder Peralta is NPR's East Africa correspondent based in Nairobi, Kenya.