The last several days we have had the pleasure of caring for a happy, smiling, ray of sunshine also known as Camille. She has been nothing but fun, making me laugh over and over at her funny antics. It’s nice to have her back.
Not that she had completely disappeared. But for several weeks, a combination of teething troubles (still no teeth!) and then that nasty, nasty stomach virus turned our happy baby into a bit of a grump and I don’t blame her a bit. She wasn’t grumpy all the time. We still got smiles and laughs, but there was often an undercurrent of … something. It’s hard to describe. She just seemed so serious.

But last weekend, the clouds seemed to lift a bit. We took a trip to Birmingham to see Jeff and Michelle and their new house, and Nana and Granddaddy came too. We had a wonderful time, and her smiles seemed to come more quickly and linger longer.
Side note about Birmingham – this was my first visit, so Jeff took us up to Vulcan park to see the city’s beloved statue. From the front, it looks like a respectable iron statue of the Roman god of fire and forge.

But from behind, it looks like he’s not wearing anything under that tunic.

At first, we thought maybe his pants were really tight and gave him a nude appearance. But upon closer inspection – and we spent a good bit of time inspecting it – I’m pretty sure that’s his bare butt. Mooning you as you walk up to Vulcan park.

Anyway, this week Camille has been in a great mood. Tuesday, feeding her lunch took even longer than usual because she’d start laughing after every bite. As if taking that bite was hilarious. And it was, so I’d start laughing at her. And she’d laugh back at me.
Lee and I took her to the park today and she started laughing as soon as she saw the swing. She swung for a while, giggling and enjoying the park. When the toddler in the swing next to us fell in the dirt, she laughed at that too. And to be honest, it was a little funny.
I’m sure we’ll see some more of Serious Cami again soon. We all have our grumpy days, even grumpy weeks, and I love her dearly even when she’s in a mood. But these happy days sure are fun, and I plan to cherish each one.