They brought her coloring books and wooden maracas from their vacation in Cuba. They took her to the Spaghetti Factory, the Cheesecake Factory and Big City Coffee. They fed her cheesy eggs, toast with raspberry jam, pieces of Monte Cristo sandwich, shreds of marinated chicken and bean sprouts, homestyle macaroni and cheese and hash browns.
Grammy gave her three baths--one each night, two with bubbles. She gave Clara the requisite comforting hug after pouring water over her soapy curls to rinse them (this hug tends to get you very wet). She combed Clara's hair and watched Dora the Explorer with her. She flicked her nicely-manicured nails across Clara's tummy until she shrieked and wiggled in delight.
Popi read to Clara. In a furniture store we stopped by, he played hide and seek with her in a rug display. He let her watch while he fixed one of the wheels on the grill. He bought her a giant calculator in Office Depot and refrained from using any puns about her being "calculating." He helped pick out jammies and track down clean diapers. He watched Toy Story and Winnie the Pooh with her. He sang "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" to her in the car.
When it came time for them to leave tonight, Clara was running on fumes. She didn't want to go to bed and kept asking to read one more story. I handed her to Grammy for a kiss goodnight and good-bye, and her body went as stiff as a board. She grasped at the air and arched her back. Grammy managed to steal a kiss as Clara shrieked and twisted.
I took her back and handed her over to Popi.
"I'll save you," said Popi. Clara briefly rested her head on Popi's shoulder and then did a half-twist, half-dive off to the side, whining and fussing and flopping around.
Simon and I took her upstairs, and she briefly entered the delirium stage of exhaustion (often prefaced, as was the case tonight, by the Kim Jong Il stage). She giggled and snorted while we sang "A Bushel and A Peck" and gave her goodnight kisses.
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