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.

Clara Grace Dictionary 1st Edition

These are the words Clara Grace has demonstrated awareness of as of her seventh month. Of course, there is dog, daddy, mommy and Clara Grace. In addition, she can pat and kick on command. She also clearly becomes excited whenever she hears the words eat and water.

Dolly WWF

Clara Grace enjoyed playing with Nana’s baby doll during her May visit to Michigan. The doll has no hair and is a little slow, but does have a pacifier and so is okay in Clara Grace’s book. Using this doll as a model Clara Grace’s daddy attempted to show his daughter the motion required for a forward crawl. Clara Grace sat opposite the two and watched curiously. After a moment’s observation, she got on all fours like the dolly. Pleasantly surprised, her daddy sat the doll on its bottom and Clara Grace sat herself down again. Even more amazed, her daddy stood the doll in front of her at which Clara Grace attempted to stand. She got as far as one knee in the kneeling position and the other bent to push upwards when gravity inevitably took over. To the great delight of her daddy Clara Grace imitated her plastic friend’s positions reliably time after time. On another evening, Clara Grace’s nana observed her attempting to coax the floppy baby into some sort of play. Generously, Clara Grace offered one of her orange interlocking stars to the motionless infant. After no response was forthcoming from the doll, Clara Grace took the baby’s hand in both of her own and pressed it firmly onto the star several times. Nana reported that she looked a bit puzzled at the new friend’s inability to open her molded plastic fingers. The two still get on well enough, though, in spite of Clara Grace’s repeated knocking of her new friend’s bald head onto the floor.

Reading into Speech

It could possibly be argued that dog was Clara Grace’s first word. It is even more probable that Da-da was her second utterance with meaning, and Clara Grace’s mommy wonders whether or not she might have spoken her third word on Sunday, May the 29th. This all came about, ironically, in a church service during which Clara Grace’s mommy was doing her utmost to keep the little girl quiet. Numerous toys lay strewn below the pew at Mommy and Daddy’s feet, but finally, a shoe seemed to hold the baby’s attention for longer than the customary thirty seconds. Clara Grace pressed the shoe to mommy’s nose, then to her eye. She rubbed the shoe up and down mommy’s cheek and then shoved it into her mommy’s smiling mouth. At this she giggled and uttered what sounded very much like “Eat!” As with her other forays into speech, the merits of this imperative could be debated; however, she did only speak the word when the shoe was thrust into the exact location where she has observed the act of eating occur. “Eat” does also seem like a word that she has had ample opportunity and motivation to acquire.

Michigan Milestones

Clara Grace’s grandpa was hoping to see her achieve one major milestone during the week of her first visit to Michigan. As it turned out, he got his wish several times over. On Sunday, May 29th, Clara Grace pulled herself to her feet in order to meet her daddy in the morning. He reported to her mommy that he found her standing up and gripping the crib bars tightly. Clara Grace also found a new melodic way of talking that week. It involved her upper register and most of her conversation came out as cheerful singing. Finally, while Clara Grace was still by far a better backwards crawler, she did find enough inertia to get herself moving forward during the stay at her grandparent’s house.

Sit Ups

Clara Grace’s mommy went in to greet her daughter on the morning of Sunday, May the fifteenth. There was Clara Grace, sitting up in her crib and proudly waiting for someone to notice.

As Good as it Gets

On Thursday, May twelfth, Clara Grace, her mommy, and her daddy all went to a party. During the mingling, many people tried to figure out exactly which parent the little girl took after. “I can’t tell,” they all concluded, “When her mommy holds her, she looks like her, and when her daddy holds her, she looks like him.” “She is a good mix,” Clara Grace’s mommy told them proudly, “that is exactly what we wanted.” Furthermore, as more of the baby girl’s personality is revealed day by day, it is clear she got the very best of not only each parent’s looks, but of their inner traits as well. For example, she seems to be as curious, excitable, and determined as her mommy, and as content, happy, and playful as her daddy. All of this goes to make Clara Grace a truly amazing baby.

Mother's Day Resolutions

On Mother’s Day, Clara Grace’s family celebrated with a picnic outside after church. Clara Grace sat on her Grandma’s lap and was quizzed over three familiar words. Unfortunately, it became quite plain that she was most familiar with the word dog. A close second was the word daddy, and then bringing up the rear was mommy. “Where’s the dog?” Grandma asked. Clara Grace looked down at Katie who was making a general nuisance of herself by scrambling over people’s feet under the table. “Where’s daddy?” Grandma asked. Clara Grace turned toward her daddy and grinned. “Where’s mommy?” Grandma asked. Clara Grace looked at Uncle Jimmy. “No, that’s not mommy, where’s mommy?” Grandma tried again. Clara Grace began to suck on her toes. “I’m right here,” her mommy called dejectedly. “Remember me? Happy mother’s day and all that?” Daddy snickered, obviously a bit pleased with the turn of events. “Well,” Clara Grace’s mommy asked, “how do you think she learned your name so well, hmm? And maybe if someone said ‘there’s mommy!’ whenever I walked into the room, she would know my name too.” Slightly less smug, her daddy promised to put more effort into teaching the word mommy from then on. Good to his word, her daddy wore out the word “mommy” that afternoon. By evening, Clara Grace knew it as well as daddy, but, try as he might, “dog” was still the front-runner.

First Mother's Day

Clara Grace’s first Mother’s Day fell on the eighth of May. Before mommy awoke, she and her daddy secretly cleaned the entire house. After that, they cooked a marvelous breakfast for mommy over an open fire. After mommy unwrapped a box from daddy containing all sorts of jewelry, Clara Grace decided it was her turn. For several weeks, she had been preparing her gift with much secrecy by building lip strength with funny sucking sounds and many spit bubbles. Now, the time had come and she proudly blew her very first raspberry. To the little girl’s extreme delight, her stunned mommy and daddy praised her profusely and laughed hysterically. Their reaction resulted in a bumper crop of raspberries that morning. The excitement carried on into the afternoon when Clara Grace found it even more fun to blow raspberries with a mouthful of sweet potatoes. Not only was a better sound possible, but daddy’s face was splattered with orange goop and mommy was thoroughly amused. Of course, after the second time, mommy decided laughing might not be the best reaction since it would be her turn to feed little Clara Grace next. In the end, both parents resorted to a firm, “Not while we’re eating.” And the raspberries held off for dessert.

She is a Biped

Thursday April twenty-eighth, Clara Grace, sat on her Mommy’s lap to play with her wooden activity block. Without warning, she took hold of the squiggly bars on top and pulled herself up to a standing position. She was wobbly, but held on for at least five seconds without support. “What a big girl,” her mommy declared in surprise.

Impressive in a Scary Kind of Way

Clara Grace’s Daddy left his daughter alone for just one second on the morning of Thursday, April twenty-seventh, but just one second was all it took. When he departed, Clara Grace sat benignly on her nursery rug rocking her toy fishbowl in front of her and listening to its cheery bubbling sounds. This would be a fine moment, her daddy thought, to go and put on a pot of coffee. He promises he was only gone for half a minute, but when he reentered the nursery, an extremely different scene played out before him. Somehow, there was his baby girl in the air, tummy down on top of the fishbowl, with her arms and legs flailing wildly to maintain balance. For a few seconds, Clara Grace remained suspended in a superman like pose, until inevitably, she rolled not so gracefully onto the carpet. Happily, her daddy reports that Clara Grace shows no signs of trauma. Without a peep, she continued her play. Though her daddy did not see the means by which his daughter actually mounted the wobbly fishbowl, the incident clearly prophesies events to come. If Clara Grace can manage to get into this amount of mischief after being able to sit on her own for only a few short weeks, her parents shudder to imagine the future predicaments greater mobility has in store.

First Word?

It is a very real possibility that Clara Grace vocalized her first word on Monday, April the twenty-fifth. While playing in the yard with her mommy on a cheerful spring day, Clara Grace watched Katie, the Australian Shepherd; persistently drop her slobbery ball on mommy’s foot to be kicked. Distinctly, and with evident effort, Clara Grace announced, “Dog.” Her mommy interrupted her phone conversation in order to report to Liana, “What do you know? My baby girl just said ‘dog!’ Of course,” Clara Grace’s mommy acknowledged after the long moment of disbelieving silence on the other end of the line, “Of course, she probably didn’t really mean anything by it.” Tuesday proved to be rainy and cold, so Clara Grace and her mommy stayed indoors. And that might have been the end of it, except that while playing in the back yard on the afternoon of Wednesday the twenty-seventh, Clara Grace very clearly declared “Dog,” once more. This time, her mommy reacted with a bit more enthusiasm “Yes!” she exclaimed, “Yes, this is a dog!” As she spoke, she bent down to scratch the top of the drooling Australian Shepard’s head. Clara Grace’s mommy is well aware that most everyone will read this report with a skeptical eye. After all, at this point, the consonants D and G do admittedly make up the vast majority of her daughter’s vocal repertoire. However, the facts remain that Clara Grace made a distinct effort to pronounce each part of D-O-G. She has repeated the word twice so far, and she has not vocalized it as part of her many babblings while indoors. And so there it was, with that one little vocalization, all the hopes Clara Grace’s mommy had cherished of hearing that magical word, “Mama,” roll with first importance from her daughter’s tongue were painfully stripped away. And as much as Clara Grace’s mommy and daddy hate to admit it, after a few more days of examination it may be declared that Katie, the insanely irritating Ausie, has claimed the honor of being Clara Grace’s very first word.

Potential for Percussion Concussion

Clara Grace learned to beat two toys together on Tuesday, April the twenty-sixth. Proudly she sat on the living room floor and began a percussive concert for her mommy. In her right hand, she held the yellow ball that crowns her stacking tree, and in her left, the red stacking star. The two plastic toys made extremely gratifying knocks as Clara Grace beat them together in varying rhythms.

Makes You Sick

On Sunday, April the twenty-fourth, Clara Grace showed signs of being sick for the second time. Her mommy got her fever down with a little bit of Tylenol, but poor Clara Grace was left with a runny nose and sore throat. It wasn’t until Clara Grace’s mommy and daddy also succumbed to the illness that they realized just how stuffy and sore their daughter must be feeling. Yet again, Clara Grace never once showed signs of complaining. Even when her congestion made eating and sleeping nearly impossible, she smiled and kept at it. While listening to the hoarse coughs from the crib in the middle of the night, Clara Grace’s mommy wanted to cry for the little girl who refused to cry for herself. But on hearing Clara Grace babbling herself to sleep with her new consonant sounds, she decided to be brave just like her little daughter.

Animation

On Wednesday, April the thirteenth, Clara Grace presented her mommy with yet another new trick. All at once, she began bouncing up and down like a pony rider on her mommy’s lap. This was an especially fun developmental milestone since she now looks absolutely adorable when she becomes excited.

Copy Frog

On Monday, April the eleventh, Clara Grace invited her friend Nicholas over for lunch. While the two mommies conversed, Nicholas showed off one of his old talents. Since a very young age, whenever his feet come into contact with the ground, Nicholas has been jumping like a frog. Clara Grace watched in wonderment. Jumping was something she had not yet attempted in all her six months. In sheer admiration, she bent at the waist and then threw her body upwards. Unfortunately, this did not have quite the desired effect. Time and time again, she studied the bouncing baby boy and then doubled over for another go. When things seemed to be at an impasse, Clara Grace’s mommy tried to lend a hand by pushing on the backs of her daughter’s knees. “Bend yourself here,” she told her perplexed child. Several days after Nicholas went back to his home, Clara Grace was still valiantly trying to propel her fourteen pound self into the air from the waist up. In the end, she put jumping on the back burner in order to focus on other more pressing developmental milestones.

When There's Nothing to Do

Clara Grace experienced her first trip to the zoo on April ninth. Any animal that was nearby and fast moving held her in rapt attention. The lumbering elephants in their multi acre habitat, on the other hand, were a mammoth disappointment. Their fence was rather tasty though, so it wasn’t an entire loss. Her favorite exhibits included the mere cats, llamas, goats, monkeys, birds, and fish. A tank full of tropical sea creatures absolutely delighted her. Perhaps this has something to do with the early influence of her daddy’s murals in the nursery.

The Best Toy

Clara Grace amused herself on the morning of April sixth by rolling across her nursery floor through the obstacle course of interesting toys her mommy had laid out. First, she pulled the large gumball machine toward herself and pressed the lever to receive her prize. Then she rolled twice and wound up beside her fishbowl, which she rocked vigorously to obtain music and bubble sounds. Then she was off for a rocking dish, which contained several large balls filled with various sea creatures. She kicked it repeatedly and was rewarded with the raucous knocking of its plastic balls. Next she found her way to a cloth block, which she flipped over and over with each side producing a different song. She reached the finish line and bumped up against her blow up turtle on whose back she had first rolled over so many weeks ago. Her mommy reentered the room after eating breakfast to find Clara Grace stroking the turtle’s polka doted foot as if to tell mommy and the turtle, “Look what I can do now. Although this was not the first time Clara Grace played by herself, it was the first time she played in her room making decisions about which toy to play with. Mommy is still useful however since at this point, Clara Grace only rolls one direction efficiently and needs to be reset at the beginning of the track.