Run Fox Run

Despite what astronomers may claim (and lately they’ve seemed awfully fickle, anyway), it IS possible to obtain high-resolution images of the actual, geometric and gravitational center of the universe. It is not consistently possible, however, to get her to smile.

It helps if two men she loves take her to the Shore, show her how to use half a mossbunker to pull up a mess of crabs, make her crabcakes and don’t raise their eyebrows when she absolutely inhales them, go walking with her in the Great Swamp and Loantaka, and even take her to the Raptor Trust to see some pretty remarkable birds. And if one of these men has brought along Grandma, well, smiles come pretty easily. Witness:

Leda is fearless, independent, kind (she has not met a stuffed animal, toy, or — today at Raybird’s — spoon that she wouldn’t wrap lovingly in a blanket, cuddle and coo to), hilarious (just ask Jamie, 27 months), clever (again, Grandma), articulate, and musical (Grandma from Pittsburgh says so). To this last point, she has discovered that the alphabet song, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, and Baa Baa Black Sheep have identical chord structures and nearly indistinct melodies, and she therefore allows her singing to flow fluidly from one song to the others, correcting you if you fail to make the transition: “I singing Twinkle, Mommy!” She has had some great chemistry with her potty but she’s not yet ready to commit; my girl is playing hard to get, I think. She will grudgingly accept help but will mostly insist, “My do it!” Her favorite foods are fruit, couscous, gyoza, pancakes and French toast, cereal bars, and, as ever, cheese.

Her parents are making it up as they go along, and hoping she won’t notice.