Little Helper in the Wings

Clara has taken quite a liking to babies in recent weeks.

It started with our most recent visit with her cousin Anna (a 6 mo. old).  Clara was elated every time Anna entered the room.  She would squeal, drop whatever she was doing, and run to greet her with her full attention.

Since then, she has taken a special interest in her baby doll, especially carrying her around and find places for her to do her "seeping" with her blanket and pillow.  (Anna was "seeping" most of Clara's waking hours during her visit).

Now, two of the last three times I've picked Clara up from the church nursery, the volunteers have gone to retrieve her from the fenced off baby area where she was busily "helping" with the babies in lieu of playing with the other toddlers.  The third of these occasions she was had not been allowed into the baby zone by the volunteers, but was still straining on her tiptoes to see over the bookshelf-wall when I entered.

Any baby she sees while out in public will make her very excited.

So, with the impending birth of her very own baby brother, I'm glad to see I have a little helper developing in the wings.  I'm sure she will reach the end of her good feelings towards him at points, but all in all she will take to this baby boy in no time.

Now for the issue of too much help...

Crying Can Be Distressing

A crying baby can be distressing. 

Clara's recent visit with her baby cousin Anna illustrated this sentiment well. Anna was crying in her room, trying to get down for a nap, and we were all listening to her on the monitor to make sure that happened in a timely fashion. Meanwhile, Clara wandered around, apparently distressed by the crying, unable to get on with her play, and periodically whining and searching around in the vicinity of the monitor for the baby.  As this process continued, Clara eventually identified the monitor as the noisy culprit... and proceeded to deposit it decisively in the trash can.

Then, last night, after a long, hard afternoon of playing at the Magic House and eating at Fitz's, Clara and her one-year-old buddy Zoe were clearly overtired. On the 25 minute drive home, Zoe expressed her fussiness in periodic shouts of discontent, while Clara furiously sucked her thumb and twirled her hair, brow furrowed. After about 10 minutes of unsuccessful attempts to quiet Zoe, she let out another shout, and Clara lost it. Her body was racked inconsolably with sobs.  After several rounds of singing songs and rubbing her leg and holding her hands, she calmed down. No sooner than we all breathed a sigh of relief, Zoe let out yet another shout, and Clara melted down once again.  This same cycle repeated itself the rest of the way, with the final shout-meltdown combo producing the most forlorn plea I've heard.  Through the tears Clara shook her head, and through her tears sobbed "no mo! no mo! no mo! no mo!"

It gave us all a good laugh in the midst of a stressful circumstance.  Thankfully we were almost home, so there was to be "no mo."  And, what's more, once Zoe and Clara were out of the car, diapers changed, pj's on, milks in hand, they decided they liked each other again.  All's well that ends well!

Poor Clara's in for some rude life changes in only a few months now.

Clara and Her Bucket

In our playroom there is an ice bucket.  It's too leaky to use for its intended purpose, but makes a great receptacle for the various kids balls we've accumulated.

Clara, being the girly-girl that she is, has little to no interest in playing with these balls.  Her main entertainment comes from dumping the out (they roll under couches and behind play bins), and dragging the bucket around to sit in.  

Last night we watched a movie with some friends.  Clara cracked us all up by moving her bucket right in front of the TV and reclining there for the duration of her movie-watching attention span.

Now, this evening, as I cleaned up dinner, she bustled and banged around to get her bucket into the dining room, select a book, and situate herself in her bucket to read it.  I had to laugh... and take a picture or two.  She's so funny!  And so serious about seeing her mission through to its completion!