The Menace

It's sometimes funny how nicknames come about, or how they stick. Clare Bear is fairly obvious. So is Danny Boy, but his more recent nickname - and one that makes him mad - is Captain Random, given his proclivity for making sports-related comments regardless of what we're discussing. Laura is often known as Baby Girl, in fact often enough that Danny once accused Tim of not knowing her name. I confess I stumble over her name sometimes, but since I distinctly remember my mom calling me the cat's name more than once, I think that's par for the mommy course.

Once Laura got mobile, she assumed a new name: The Menace. I'm pretty sure this arose when Tim and I first speculated as to what she would be like when she began to crawl and come near the kids' toys. "Oooooh, she's going to be a menace." Not surprisingly, Danny picked up on this rather quickly. Also not surprisingly, she has lived up to this prediction. She regularly wreaks havoc in the playroom, but does not limit herself to those quarters.

The fireplace guard? Please.


The baby gate at the bottom of the stairs? Amateur hour (and I bet the fact that this led to her toppling down a few stairs will not deter her).


That darling quilt that hung above her crib? History (now replaced by these very cute wall decals).


Those lovingly framed book covers mounted above the changing table? A few flicks of her foot made short work of those (which never ONCE came down during Clare's babyhood). I replaced them with more decals. Which I'm sure she'll figure out how to remove before her second birthday.


As I mentioned, Danny is the most prolific user of this nickname, so much so that it inspired him while making her birthday card. He was very intent, and very quiet, while working on his card, so we all cracked up when we beheld this:


(Translation: "In the meadow we can build a menace")

On the reverse side, though, he wrote this, which sums up how we all feel about our sweet little rascal: