April 9

Foot washing! At first she was just pretending to wash my feet, then she took my socks off and headed to the bathroom, saying she was going to get water and soap. I think she had as much fun giving me instructions ("Sit in your yellow chair Mommy." "Put your foot in the water. There, isn't that nice and warm?" "Take your foot out. Now put your other foot in." "Don't move your foot, leave it in the water....") as she did playing with the soap and water, which she loves.

At lunch time Daddy came home sick from work. He went straight to bed and Clara was so concerned about him all afternoon. She kept wanting to "check on him," which I tried to keep to a minimum so that he could sleep. She had been a little whiny most of the day (par for the course after an exciting weekend!) and was pretty needy this afternoon, but she absolutely lit up when I needed to get dinner ready and suggested she cook something in her kitchen for Daddy to help him feel better. Her excitement over doing something to help her Daddy really touched my heart. She then threw herself into cooking something "really special" for Daddy, with lots of pots going, things cooling down and heating up, and all sorts of dishes being prepared. Her tender little heart is such a blessing and it was a good reminder to me as well that focusing on helping others is usually the best way to stop a case of feeling sorry for myself. This little girl teaches me so much every day!