Gives Carousel a Whirl

Clara Grace experienced her first carousel ride on Friday, March twenty-fifth on probably the first truly perfect spring day in Coolidge Park. Over the noises of children laughing, the riverboat’s melodeon, and fountain spraying, the happy music of the merry-go-round called. Clara Grace and her Mommy raced through the turn style and made a dash to claim Ziggy Zebra for their mount. It was Clara Grace’s fascination with contrasting stripes that commended Ziggy to Clara Grace’s mommy above all the other animals. To their left Clara Grace’s Nana and cousin Lucy rode atop a goat like Creature known as Sir William. Aunt Keri-Lynn and Cousin Peter took up the rear on ____.. Clara Grace gripped Ziggy’s metal pole valiantly and held on wile he arched up and down in dizzying circles. Her daddy described her expression as conveying “I don’t know about this, but Mommy seems to think it’s all right, so I’ll give it a whirl.”

The Dawn of Percussion

On Wednesday, March the twenty-third, Clara Grace discovered the satisfaction of open handed patting. During breakfast, she surprised her mommy by striking the table with several resounding slaps. Since then, she has enjoyed the hollow thumps she can make on her own tummy, the muted slaps gotten from the carpet, and the particularly rewarding splashes she is now capable of during bath time and swim class. After a few days, Clara Grace even worked her way up to one-handed bongo playing. She sits on her mommy’s lap with the bongos in front and strikes each drumhead alternately after watching mommy’s hands beat out a rhythm.

Unprofessional Development

Clara Grace went to work with her daddy on March the eighteenth. Her daddy arrived late and there was certainly no sneaking into the room with an adorable little baby on his shoulder. Awkwardly, he attempted to hush the “oos” and “aws” from his fellow teachers and glanced apologetically at the in-service presenter as he scurried for a seat. Due to the monotone presenter, most teachers and even the principal were glad for the distraction Clara Grace provided. A half an hour before time to go, just as her daddy had rehearsed with her, Clara Grace began to wine inconsolably. “Oh, she’s hungry,” dozens of matronly teachers informed the new father. Neither bottle nor pacifier would do the trick though. In the end, his principal allowed Clara Grace’s daddy to take her home early. All in all, Clara Grace seemed to enjoy her first day at school very well. Although, the thirty-five to one teacher to student ratio will be hard to beat in future years.

Calisthenics

Clara Grace seems to do everything with a determination that would make any parents proud to watch. When learning to babble with new sounds, she furrows her brow and scrutinizes her Mommy and Daddy’s lips and tongue for long intervals before taking a turn. This determination also seems to have carried over into her motor achievements. Somewhere around the middle of her third month, Clara Grace began performing tummy crunches twenty at a time. It was as though she knew the next stage in her development was to strengthen her stomach muscles and wanted to accomplish this as quickly as possible. While seated on her Mommy or Daddy’s knees she threw herself forward until her head rested on her toes. Next she sprung upright again with her arms raised in triumph. She repeated this in rapid succession multiple times. Now, in the middle of Clara Grace’s fifth month, she is rolling all around the room. At the beginning of the fifth month, she was rolling, but only with that determination mentioned earlier. Each roll was accompanied by all manner of grunts and wriggling. Two weeks of that, and she was flopping from front to back like a fish. Her Papa from Michigan commented, “Wow, I’ve never seen a baby roll on command like she does.” It’s true, Clara Grace, rolls to her parents when they call from several feet away, and grins proudly on hearing their applause.

Raspberries

At Clara Grace’s fourth month appointment, her doctor asked her mommy and daddy a series of questions. “Can she sit up well? Can she roll over?” “Yes, yes,” her eager parents replied. The doctor concluded his interrogation “Can she blow raspberries?” Clara Grace’s mommy and daddy stood in silent disbelief. Here was a developmental milestone their daughter had somehow missed. “Not to worry,” the doctor assured them, “just start practicing.” Poor Clara Grace endured the showering flecks of spit that night as well as anyone could be expected. As usual, she watched intently and then did her best to imitate. Clara Grace stuck out her tongue and even got as far as blowing, only the vibration was lacking. And here is where she gave up. Her parents still blow raspberries, but mainly for her entertainment. Oddly enough, when mommy makes the sound Clara Grace pays attention politely, but for some reason, the very same sound produced in the very same way by Clara Grace’s daddy has an entirely different effect. When her daddy blows a raspberry, Clara Grace practically doubles over with laughter. Surprisingly, this reaction has not diminished with time or exposure. While it has proven very handy for invoking smiles during picture taking, it leaves Clara Grace’s parents a bit concerned about their daughter’s budding sense of humor.

The Evolution of Cry

Gone is the goat cry that amused Clara Grace’s parents so much during her early weeks. It was first replaced with what her mommy referred to affectionately as the “foghorn” cry. Sometimes, in the dead of night, Clara Grace’s mommy and daddy were awakened to loud and repeated calls of “Wa-ah! Wa-ah!” The two syllables in these exclamations descended in perfect fifths, just like foghorns heard on large seafaring vessels. Clara Grace’s mommy mused sleeplessly one night how not only was her daughter’s cry similar to a foghorn in sound but in function as well. Clara Grace bellowed her loud “Wa-ahs!” from the crib not in panic, but in what sounded almost like a question. “Wa-ah! I’m floating alone in this dark crib in the center of my ocean of a nursery. Wa-ah! Is anyone hearing me? Wa-ah! and if so, respond please.” For better or worse, the foghorn went the way of the goat after only a few short weeks.

It's Snot Funny

On Saturday, March the fifth, Clara Grace woke up with the sniffles. Possibly, she hasn’t seen enough sick people yet to know the expected behavior during times of infirmity, because she bore up amazingly well, smiling and giggling throughout her entire first cold. It could here be noted that both her mommy and daddy were sick earlier and neither managed to come through without a grumble. Even when the sniffles descended into her lungs and caused her to breath with a rattling wheeze she kept up her cheerfulness. During particularly congested morning times, Clara Grace’s daddy affectionately referred to her as his “little monster” because of her gravelly sounding rasps. Despite the baby’s good attitude, it was evident that breathing was becoming steadily more uncomfortable. Her mommy took her into steamy showers and slept with her propped on her arm so she could breath through the night. Clara Grace’s doctor told her that she would have to take breathing treatments in order to get well again. He gave Clara Grace’s mommy a mask connected to a loudly rumbling machine that pumped vaporized medicine through a tube and into the mask. Coincidentally, anything noisy and anything designed to cover her face are on Clara Grace’s list entitled, “New discoveries in the world that I do not like one bit.” In the end, Clara Grace’s cheerfulness barely faltered and she even smiled through her mask once or twice. Much to her mommy and daddy’s relief, her lungs cleared and the sniffles finally went away a little more than a week later.