Organized Crime

On Tuesday, January the twenty-ninth, Clara Grace decided to try out some acrobatics. She gripped the fireplace screen firmly and began her ascent. This was followed by a very loud clang at which point Clara Grace must have been more than a little surprised to find herself staring up at the ceiling. It didn’t take very long for her mommy to make things better and within five minutes, she was back to tapping at the screen experimentally. “No, no!” her mommy said firmly. “Don’t touch.” The lure of adventure was strong though. Finally, after repeated warnings from mommy, Clara Grace relented. She headed for her toy basket and picked up her Baby Tad. Cautiously she stepped close enough to the fireplace to place baby Tad’s hand on the screen.

That Tad can be so bad.

Deductive Reasoning at its Best

When Clara Grace was fifteen months old, she began showing the very first hints of moving away from diapers and toward the potty. Grandma watched her zip around and around the living room with her shopping cart when all at once, she skidded to a halt, announced “Uh oh,” and squatted. That next Saturday morning, Clara Grace sat on the couch with her mommy and daddy proudly stuffing shapes into their appropriate holes in her shape sorter. “What do you think that means when she says ‘uh oh’ and grabs her pants?” Daddy asked curiously. “Hmm,” said mommy and sniffed, “I think it means she needs a new diaper.”

Gifts from the Heart

Clara Grace and her mommy enjoyed an uncharacteristically warm day in the yard on Wednesday, January the eleventh. Clara Grace scoured the yard while Mommy listened to the birdsongs and savored the warm breeze. Every so often, Clara Grace marched triumphantly to mommy’s porch swing and said, “Uhhh!” which her mommy knew to mean “Here!” Eight times, Clara Grace placed a miniature pinecone into her mommy’s hands. “Thank you, for the pinecone” Clara Grace’s mommy said excitedly each time. Her enthusiasm was genuine, for these pinecones represented eight generous treasures born completely of her daughter’s own effort and discovery.

Vocabulary Expansion Continues

More and more words are finding their way into Clara Grace’s vocabulary. On Monday, January, the ninth she said “Good job, bath, ball, sock.”

She's So Grown-Up!

Clara Grace went to a baby shower on Saturday, January the seventh. She watched curiously as all the adults performed the strange ritual of placing an animal cracker somewhere on a prostrate and very pregnant woman. Next, each woman had to take a turn removing one of the crackers with their mouths. Finally Clara Grace could take it no longer, with unexpected determination she burst into the crowd and grabbed for an elephant on the mommy-to-be’s leg. “Oh no!” the other women shouted and blocked her path just in the nick of time. Clara Grace’s mommy picked her up and considered how she might possibly explain that this silly game was grown ups only.

Vocabulary

Words seem to be bubbling out of Clara Grace now. On Monday, January the second, she said car, dog, good, banana, and yum yum. Some words which the little girl chose to emulate, mommy didn’t even realize she said so often, but Clara Grace’s regular repetition of “Cool,” has led mommy to examine her unfortunate hang-up on certain vocabulary from the eighty’s.

Prized Possessions

On Tuesday, January the third, Clara Grace’s friend Ashlyn came for a visit. Both girls played happily while their parents ate and talked. Clara Grace seemed more than pleased to share any of the toys from her abundant stock, any that is, except her pink, bouncing ball. Somewhere midway through dinner, she devised a plan that would allow her to free up her hands for another toy while at the same time keeping her prized treasure safe. She placed the ball on her mommy’s lap and made abundantly clear through grunts and “No, no's” that under no circumstances was mommy to put the ball back on the ground.

Conversational English

Wednesday, January the fourth Clara Grace spoke these words for the very first time: stuck, cup, book, and poop.