A Star is Born

Sunday morning, November the twenty-seventh, Clara Grace’s mommy admired her daughter’s frilly Sunday dress as they danced to a Carter’s tune. “Daddy will shoe my pretty little feet, and mama will glove my hand,” she sang. And then, as if Clara Grace had just unlocked the secrets of song, she joined her mommy in a clear high pitched, melody which flowed first up and then down.

Everyday Math

Clara Grace didn’t show much excitement over turkey and cranberries on her second Thanksgiving; however, the ice cream for dessert was a true cause for rejoicing and thankfulness. Daddy fed her bites from her abundant bowl and then snuck one for himself. “I think she has mastered the concept of subtraction,” her daddy announced as Clara Grace waved her arms emphatically and indignantly grunted for daddy to stop digging into her supply.

Ukulele Baby

Clara Grace’s daddy watched proudly on the afternoon of Friday, November the twenty-fifth, as Clara Grace held his ukulele correctly and strummed properly with her right thumb.

Maybe She'll be in Shoe Sales

During the month of November, Clara Grace began several new morning rituals. First, in an extremely helpful way, she always delivered mommy and daddy their shoes at the first signs that they were getting dressed. She ran into the bedroom, dove under the bed and reappeared holding an enormous shoe with both hands. “Shoe,” she would say and lift it to her thankful parents. She always delivered both shoes and never once delivered daddy’s shoes to mommy or vice versa.

Q & A

Clara Grace answered her first question on Tuesday, November second. “What do you want to eat?” her mommy asked while preparing lunch. “Cheese!” Clara Grace answered enthusiastically.

Imperatives

Clara Grace spoke her first two-word imperative on Thursday, November the third. It occurred while her daddy wrestled with a pesky sink pipe. Clara Grace pulled at his arm, whined, and tried all manner of attention getting techniques very non-conducive to plumbing. Finally, she took hold of her daddy’s arm and said “Daddy, cheese!” “Oh, are you hungry?” her Daddy asked. Clara Grace bounced up and down in a happy dance and repeated, “Cheese, cheese, cheese,” all the way to the refrigerator.

Spelling Bee in Training

Clara Grace and her mommy sat on the kitchen floor playing with refrigerator magnets on Wednesday, October the twenty-seventh. Clara Grace plucked three letters from the door and held them out for her mommy’s inspection. “Hmmm, F, R, S. Well if you added a U it could be furs, or maybe an I and a T would make first.” Clara Grace retrieved her letters and as if aware of the new point of the game plucked two others from the door. “GO” was the first word she spelled all on her own. Whether Clara Grace is blessed with extremely high intelligence, or whether she has merely inherited her mommy’s uncanny good luck, it is clear she will go far in life.

Kissy Litter

Thursday, October the twenty-seventh, Clara Grace blew her first kiss to mommy. It took almost no time for her to realize the vast potential this one gesture held for obtaining attention from family to complete strangers. If kisses were tangible things, the isles of stores, neighborhood streets, and house floors would be littered with the thousands she liberally dispensed during her first years.

Would You Like some Cheese with Your Shoes?

Wednesday, October the twelfth, Clara Grace announced “Shus” as her mommy slipped her shoe over her wiggling foot. The following week, Wednesday the twenty-sixth, she announced, “Chus!” as her mommy opened the refrigerator drawer where the dairy products are stored.

Tickles and Kisses

Clara Grace was particularly charming on Wednesday, October the fifth. She crawled over to mommy and tickled the toes. Her mommy rewarded her with a high-pitched, “hee hee hee!” which prompted the same giggle from Clara Grace as well as many more tickles. When her mommy couldn’t stand it any more, she bent down and retrieved the little girl for a kiss. Clara Grace seemed to find this fascinating and brought her round cheek close for mommy to kiss time and time again. Each time, she screamed for fun.

Morning Duties

Clara Grace has what has become almost an obsessive-compulsive ritual to complete each and every morning. Each day, before she cries out to alert her mommy and daddy that she is awake, they hear one by one, pacifiers kerplunking to the nursery floor. When the binkies are all dispatched, Clara Grace calls out her greeting to the world. Each morning, mommy or daddy enters and lifts her from her bed, but before any good morning kisses or hugs can be dispensed, business must be taken care of. The little girl wriggles until she is set down on the floor. Then she pops one pacifier in her mouth and collects two for each hand. Now she stands and is ready to be hoisted back up to the side of her crib where she ceremoniously pitches the pacies to bounce around on the waiting mattress. It seems her day cannot begin until each and every binky is in its proper place. This ritual carried on well into her first year.

Told You So

Clara Grace and her mommy sat across from each other on their music room floor in the late morning hours of Tuesday, June 14. Strewn all about them were the contents of the little girl’s band in a box. Clara Grace had rattled the maracas, beat the drum, tapped the triangle, shaken the tambourine, and clicked the castanets. She had even delved into experimental and creative forms of music such as clashing the cymbals with the maracas, and tapping the drum with the triangle. Finally, Clara Grace sat still as if to say she had gone as far as her eight months of talent would take her in percussion and knew it was time to branch out. Tentatively, Clara Grace’s mommy honked a purple kazoo and handed it to her daughter. Clara Grace accepted the woodwind and gave it a resounding toot. There was some discussion and a good deal of pulling and tugging between Mommy and Baby about which end was to be blown upon, but seeing as how both ends produced the same sound, in the end, Clara Grace’s mommy graciously decided not to belabor the point. It could be noted that when Clara Grace showed her new talent off for her daddy that afternoon, he confirmed that his daughter had been using the correct end all along. In light of the new circumstances, in what can only be described as genuine humility, Clara Grace refrained from telling her mommy, “I told you so.”

Churchgoer

During the church service on June twelfth, Clara Grace rummaged through her diaper bag tossing toys, shoes, burp cloths, and various and sundry other baby essentials onto the floor. At last, she dug out a pair of overalls from the very bottom of the sack. While her mommy and daddy and all the churchgoers in the near vicinity tried desperately to keep focused on the sermon, Clara Grace pulled the clothing over the front of her head and then the back. It was obvious she was trying to dress herself, but unfortunately, she had forgotten the minor detail of putting her head inside of the clothes. Or, perhaps since the over-the-head part happened to be Clara Grace’s least favorite aspect of dressing, she was actually attempting to figure out a way of getting the job done without those dark and suffocating seconds her mommy mercilessly inflicted upon her each morning. After four or five goes, she stared at the uncooperative overalls as if to say, “What’s the problem? You never give Mommy this much trouble.”

Mobility

On Sunday June 12 Clara Grace gained a new measure of independence as she crossed the threshold from one room to another for the very first time. She spanned at least ten feet in her momentous crawl beginning in the music room and ending by her mommy who stood brushing her teeth at the bathroom sink.

Let's Not Rush Things

“Maybe it’s time for her to learn how to kiss now,” Clara Grace’s mommy said, On Thursday the ninth of June. So Clara Grace’s daddy puckered up and made a smooching noise with his lips. Clara Grace watched intently and then did the same. “Well,” her daddy said with a shrug, “that was easy, what’s next?”

Interpretations in Communications

“I really think she is imitating our eating sounds,” Clara Grace’s daddy observed after some careful scrutiny of his daughter’s novel sucking noises during dinner one night. Clara Grace’s mommy paused to evaluate the little girl’s loud smacking and slurping. “Well,” she told him after finding no better explanation, “I only hope it’s your eating sounds she’s imitating.” It was the next morning when Clara Grace’s daddy found the true purpose of his daughter’s odd noises though. While feeding his daughter some delicious butternut squash, he noticed Clara Grace begin her strange slurping ritual. This time however, she also pointed to her sippy cup of water, which remained just out of reach on the highchair tray. “Ah, ha,” her daddy exclaimed, “you want water, WA-TER.” By the end of the meal, Clara Grace’s daddy had her saying “Ahhh,” and pointing to the cup whenever she was ready for a drink. Of course, sometimes the little girl forgets herself and reverts back to her old, slightly less refined, way of communicating, but her parents feel confident that even the etiquette columnists would be understanding at this stage.

Daddy: Clap On, Clap Off

On Wednesday, June 8th, Clara Grace clapped for the very first time. “I have a surprise for you,” her mommy explained when she met her in the crib that morning. “Your daddy is home with us today!” Clara Grace’s anticipation mounted as she understood the word “daddy” and picked up on the obvious excitement in her mommy’s voice. Just then, they rounded the corner of the computer desk and there was daddy himself. Clara Grace kicked her legs, bounced in mommy’s arms and yes, clapped her hands for the very first time.

She'd Like to Teach the World to Sing

Clara Grace has the knack of making everyone around her happy. It isn’t just because she is an adorable baby either. She actually goes out of her way to smile at each person she sees. First she makes eye contact and waits for them to notice her, then her whole face lights up as though they were the very person she had been longing to see all her eight months. “I’ve never seen such a happy baby,” the cashier at Home Depot reported after receiving several of Clara Grace’s smiles. “She’s the most pleasant baby I’ve ever run across,” a woman on the downtown bus admired. On and on the compliments pour in, and Clara Grace’s proud mommy feels that this talent is the very best thing a baby could receive acclaim for at this age. Clara Grace does not show discrimination when bestowing her smiles, everyone; young and old, men and women, and people with any color of skin enjoy a greeting of equal enthusiasm. “She makes everyone happy wherever she goes,” her grandma commented, “That’s a real gift.”

Safety-Deposit Pants

Clara Grace’s daddy was dismayed to find her after naptime with only one pacifier in hand. “Now, I know I put three of those in the crib,” he told her. “What have you done with them?” After a thorough search under and around the crib, her daddy decided that a diaper change was quickly becoming the more urgent matter. He unsnapped Clara Grace’s pants to get at her diaper and out popped the two missing pacifiers. “Were you storing those for a rainy day?” Clara Grace’s mommy asked. Perhaps Clara Grace is hoping to receive for her birthday clothes with pockets.

Clinch Park Zoo

During Clara Grace’s second trip to the zoo, she thoroughly enjoyed her introduction to the fauna native to her daddy’s home state of Michigan. Of particular interest to her was one very energetic otter, two wily coyotes, a friendly elk, and a pair of playful black bears.