Hi, Beth,
Sometimes it takes me several days to post a response to a work, but I wanted to comment about your background.
The color in the background is as saturated as the color on the little girl's dress. This flattens the image as a whole and doesn't let the background recede. Check out
this painting by James Tennison (an artist you linked to in the palette section of this forum) and notice that although his background color is very unified with the colors found on the little girl's dress, they are neutralized enough to stay behind the figure.
I'd seen his work in
The Best of Portrait Painting , and how now added his website to my favorites list. Thanks!