Mesmerizing

We were driving down the back drive along the creek when I was mesmerized by a tall cottonwood tree that was moving in the wind. The leaves were moving in such a way that made me want to stare. I pointed this out to Emi who was in the back seat unaware. She asked what "mesmerizing" meant. I told her it was like looking at a pile of red ants - the movement makes you want to stare at it. Or if something was so colorful or shimmery, etc that you felt you had to keep looking at it. As I looked at her in the rearview mirror for her response to this new word, she said that she sometimes does that to Brooke in her Kindergarten class, then she showed me her mesmerized look. I hope this look doesn't scare off her little friend!