You run a tight ship, Captain Milkbeard!

A little bit of back story . . .

Clarissa was born with a very cute cry. After the ear-shattering screams that Carolyn often blessed us with, it was a welcome change! For the first 2 weeks, her cries raised in pitch before she would stop to take a breath like she was asking a question. I could just imagine what was going through her mind, "What is going on? My tummy hurts and I don't know why?", etc.

That didn't last long, but then she adopted her trademark "I'm tired" cry. I tried not to laugh at her but man most of the time I just couldn't help it. It was a very classic "Ahhh" sound, but it jumped an octave in the middle. If she was beyond tired she would do it several times in a row, with the starting pitch raising after every few repetitions. A handful of times, she did that and then get so upset when she was at the top of her range that she'd kind of "tarzanate" on it . . . kind of sounded like revving and engine. That was truly comical.

I was very sad when that cry stopped. After that one, all of her cries had some sort of "aye aye aye" in it. So we started saying "Aye, aye, captain" to her a lot. Last week while just babbling and playing with me, she said something that sounded astonishingly like "ahoy", which totally cracked me up. Then that same day Craig came to say hi to her while she was drinking a bottle, and in below her ear-to-ear grin, her chin was covered with milk. Craig said, "Ahoy Captain Milkbeard", and we busted up. The nick-name stuck, so now she is both a Bug and a Pirate.

I say that she runs a tight ship because she has put herself on a schedule, and she is very serious about it. She spits up a lot, and since her skin doesn't react to baths the way that Carolyn's did, we bathe her almost every night. Bathtime is at 8:00 and if I am late she yells about it. She likes to go to bed at 9:00, and if I try to rock her or anything beyond that time, she almost always yells and arches her back until I put her in her bassinet. Then she is perfectly happy and goes right to sleep. She does that sometimes for her naps, but not nearly as much. Funny girl.

Our little Captain Milkbeard runs a tight ship indeed, which is really probably for the best because it keeps the rest of us on a schedule as well, and that is something that is beneficial to everyone.