A Great Performance

I have learned about a month or so ago that babies LOVE applause. Of course we all do, but babies will automatically assume that all applause is for them and will unabashedly bask in the glow of it. Back in July, in a room full of babies, I applauded a baby and said "YAY!". Every single baby stopped dead in their tracks and beamed as if I was applauding for them. Even the canned applause on television is greeted with a big proud grin by a baby. Applause is a very potent tool in the baby playing and training arsenal.
Sasha, like all babies, LOVES applause. She is a great cruiser, walks around the whole house so long as she has something to hang on to but on occasion she will just stop and balance herself and let go. About a week back, Sasha was practicing her new standing without holding on to anything trick and I gave her a rousing round of applause.
So now the routine basically goes like this: She stands holding on to my leg or a table. She lets go with her hands and puts them half-way up in the air, balances standing for a second, looks at me as if to say "LOOK MA NO HANDS!" then falls on her butt. Next she gets a big proud grin on her face and that expectant "Where is my applause?" look on her face. (If she doesn't get it? That's no problem. She will just applaud herself and say "YAY!" anyways.) She'll pause for a bit to bask in the glow of her applause and then she'll pull herself back up to a stand again to repeat. She repeats this about 5-10 times.
The past few days, she will ask for applause without any accomplishment. She'll just say "YAY!" and start clapping and usually her father and I will copy her. Perhaps I should save the applause for her tricks.