So yeah, Christmas and New Year pretty much sucked (see previous entry), but the one true saving grace, the one shining, glittery, make-ya-smile, neon light that kept us from full on self-destruction...was little Clark Otis.
Christmas morning was ever so special. It was his very first, run into the living room to bask in all the Santa glory!
He totally recognized that something special happened overnight. There were a multitude of extra presents under the tree, and like my parents did before me, left a few, unwrapped, scattered about for instant gratification. The nieces and nephew came over later on to another melee of gift unwrapping. Clark pretty much got the gist after that. If he sees a whimsically wrapped package, he identifies it as "Ho Ho". Meaning, Santa must've brought this, and he must've brought this for ME.
Visiting Nashville is always a pleasure. Clark eats it up. It's like he knows his heritage is engrained deep in the pours of his Nana's house. He not only has the run of the joint, but he loves going "outshide?" where there is acres of land for him to roam free, independent, and safe from the hazards that would usually be in our front yard in Los Angeles. Did I say front yard? I meant street.
Clark's vocabulary is growing by the day. He's getting really good at imitating, which as I'm sure you can guess, is causing us to censor ourselves lately. Though it's a lot of fun to hear him refer to a "fork" or his own name "Clark". (get it?)
He knows nearly ALL of his ABC's. That's right. He can recognize a handful of numbers. He knows who Batman is "Baba", he can now spot Superman ("Man!"), calls our dog by name ("Mowwee"), can express "bite", "juice", "mah" (milk), "night-night", "eyes", "nose", "mouth", "ear" (eeooh), and melts us every day with "Mommy" and "Daddy". D'awwwww, LOVE IT!
Not sure what our plans are for his big Oh-Two, but considering last years plans were thwarted by weather, we're opting for an indoor venue.
Every day his personality gets bigger. Sometimes preceded by a brief moment of shyness. But after a bit of a warm up, he'll high five, fist bump, blow raspberries, or do his best to make you smile!
