New Threads Already

It was thirteen weeks after Clara Grace’s arrival when her Mommy packed away all of her zero to three month outfits. As she refitted the seemingly monstrous three to six month apparel onto the vacated hangers, she felt the familiar stinging in her eyes and tightening in her throat that warned the job would be more emotional than expected. By the time the project should have been nearing completion, she found herself sitting dazed on the wood floor in the middle of heaps and heaps of disorganized clothing. However disheartening, the project’s necessity had become apparent when Clara Grace’s neighbor, Lillian Smith, had come to coo over the baby days earlier.

“Oh, my gracious, her looks sooo cold.” Lillian commented in her syrupy Georgian drawl. Clara Grace’s Mommy paused in order to think of a way to respond politely without admitting she’d wantonly put her baby at risk of double pneumonia.

“I guess it’s hard to know how to dress them on one of these 70 degree days in January.” She tugged in vain at the cuffs of her daughter’s pants wondering why on earth they refused to cover the bottom half of the baby’s bare legs. This was certainly an unexpected development since the very outfit had practically engulfed Clara Grace just a short time ago.

Mrs. Smith smiled sweetly, albeit disapprovingly, and shuffled back across the street hunched against the spring-like breeze in her, two undershirts, flannel, and down coat.

And so it was that the very next weekend found Clara Grace’s Mommy knee deep in outgrown bows and ruffles. A few hours and several tears later, Clara Grace’s closet was functional once more. It was harder than anticipated for Clara Grace’s Mommy to let go of the seven pound fourteen ounce newborn who remained curled up against her chest just like a little turtle several minutes even after she’d been taken out of her bassinette. However, she did have to admit there were distinct advantages to the twelve-pound growing infant who had recently learned to smile and stretch out her arms when she wanted to be picked up from the bassinette.