Jenny nodded sadly. “Okay,” she said.
I pulled out some bolts of material from the closet. There was this stuff with gold sequins all over it, and some other fabric with silver threads running through it. “We could make a canopy out of these,” I said. I set them on the floor by Andrea’s seat — and noticed she’d thrown down every one of the toys I’d given her. “Oh, Andrea,” I said, laughing.
“She doesn’t do it on purpose,” said Jenny. “Mommy says that she’s just not old enough to hold on to things for very long.”
“I know,” I said. “I’m not mad.” I piled all the toys back into Andrea’s lap. “There you go, Your Highness,” I said.
Andrea smiled at me and said, “Blurg.”
“Okay,” I said. “So we’ll have a gold-and-silver canopy. What else?”
But Jenny didn’t answer. She was too busy twirling around the room, her hands in ballerina positions. Every so often she’d stop and do some tap-dance steps, and then go back to her pirouettes.
“What are you doing now?” I asked, although I had a fairly good idea.
“Dancing!” she answered breathlessly. “Maybe I can dance in the parade.”
I rolled my eyes. She just wasn’t getting the message. “Jenny,” I said, feeling like I’d already explained it fifty times. “The parade is just for babies. Now be a big girl and help me decorate Andrea’s stroller. We can have fun doing it, and then when you watch the parade and see Andrea win a prize, you’ll know that you helped.” That was dangerous. I was practically promising her that Andrea would win a prize. But I was desperate.
Jenny brightened. “Then it will kind of be my prize, too?”
“That’s right,” I said.
“Okay.”
Jenny and I spent the rest of the afternoon creating the most ridiculous-looking “coach” you can imagine. But when Mrs. P. came home, she loved it!
I think I understand what made Jessi write that in the club notebook. We ended up having kind of a baby convention that afternoon, and it was a little bit overwhelming.
Jessi was sitting for Becca and Squirt that day, because her parents were both at work and her Aunt Cecelia had gone out to do some shopping. Her first half hour was fine. Squirt was totally captivated by Sesame Street. His favorite character is this little guy Elmo, who isn’t on very often, so Squirt has to watch carefully in order to catch him.
Meanwhile, Jessi was showing Becca, for the six-hundredth time, the five positions for ballet. Becca was doing all right at first, second, and third positions, but every time she tried fourth she would get twisted up and fall over.
Becca does not have the same natural grace as Jessi.
But she didn’t let it bother her. In fact, every time Becca fell down she would squeal, then she’d giggle, shrug, and get up to try again. Finally, though, she grew tired of the game.
“Let’s do something else,” she said to Jessi.
Jessi looked at Squirt. He was singing along with the Sesame Street song, which meant that the show was ending. “Okay,” she said. “How about if we go over to Claudia’s? I think they’re starting to build the float over there today.”
“Yay!” said Becca. Jessi had told her about the baby parade and about the float that Squirt was going to ride on. Becca was excited about the idea. “Maybe I can help to build it,” she said.
Of course, Squirt didn’t understand at all about the float, but he loves to take walks, so Jessi had no trouble convincing him to go over to Claudia’s. He led the way to his stroller, climbed into it, and waited impatiently for Jessi to start pushing.
“Go!” he said, grinning. “Go, GO!” He was hanging on tightly to his favorite toy of the moment, a red plastic fish.
Jessi let Becca push Squirt most of the way. Becca thinks that’s the biggest treat. When they reached Claudia’s backyard, Jessi saw that Claudia, Stacey, and Mallory were there already, working on the float.
Jessi was a little surprised, she told me later, at the way they were working. It was completely quiet in that yard. Nobody was laughing or talking.
“Hey, guys!” Jessi called. “How’s it going?” Nobody gave her much of an answer. Each of them was too busy with the job she was doing. Jessi lifted Squirt out of his stroller and, carrying him, walked around to take a look at their projects.
Claudia was bending chicken wire into the shape of a humongous shoe. Jessi said later that she couldn’t figure out exactly how and where the babies were supposed to fit into the plan. She offered Claud a suggestion, and Claud thanked her and kept on working.
Stacey was mixing paints, for whenever the float would be ready to decorate. She was trying out little dabs of color on a big sheet of cardboard. Jessi wondered whether she was mixing up enough paint — the shoe that Claudia was building looked so big. But all she said was, “I love that orangey-red color.” Stacey looked up and smiled. She had a spot of yellow paint on her nose.
Mallory was sketching costumes for the babies. Jessi leaned over her shoulder. “Those are adorable,” she said. “And they look like they’ll be easy to make.”
“That was my plan,” said Mallory, pushing up her glasses with one finger. “And look at this great material I got. It was really cheap, but isn’t it nice?” She held out a big bag to Jessi, who peeked into it.
“Nice,” Jessi said. “Really nice.” The material was a bright pink, and Jessi shuddered at the thought of how those costumes were going to look next to the orangey-red that Stacey had perfected. Talk about clashing!
But she didn’t say a thing. Everybody was working so hard. Who was she to criticize them? If only they would talk to each other, she thought. But each seemed to have her own opinion on what the float should look like, and none of them appeared interested in what the others thought.
Since Becca was having a good time running around Claudia’s backyard, Jessi decided she would hang around for awhile. She offered to help Mallory with her costume design, but Mallory shook her head.
“I’ve got it under control, Jessi,” she said. “Thanks, though.”
So Jessi and Squirt just sat and watched.
“Hey, what’s up?” called Dawn, walking into the yard. Jamie and Lucy Newton were with her. She walked around just as Jessi had, checking on her friends’ progress. “Looking good!” she said to Claud. “Nice work, Stace!” she said, looking at the paints. “I love those costumes,” she remarked to Mallory. “They’ll be terrific.”
Dawn joined Jessi underneath a nearby tree. She was carrying Lucy, and Jamie had run off to play with Becca. “Oh, no!” she whispered, leaning close to Jessi. “Do those guys know what they’re doing?”
Jessi giggled. “Shhh!” she said. “They’re all working so hard —”
“I know,” said Dawn. “Anyway, I’m sure it’ll be a great float, no matter what.”
Squirt and Lucy grinned at each other. Squirt waved hello with his red fish.
“Look!” said Jessi. “They like each other. I just realized that this is a great time for them to meet — before they’re on the float together.”
“You’re right,” said Dawn. She giggled. “Ms. Lucy Jane Newton, I’d like you to meet Mr. John Philip Ramsey Jr.,” she said, holding her nose so that she sounded like a proper lady.
Jessi laughed. “So pleased to make your acquaintance,” she said, holding her own nose and speaking for Squirt.
“Charmed, I’m sure,” said Dawn.
“What are you guys up to?” asked Mary Anne. She had just entered the yard, carrying Laura Perkins. Gabbie and Myriah were following close behind her.
Dawn laughed and explained that they were making sure that Squirt and Lucy had been “properly introduced.”
“Oh, in that case,” said Mary Anne, “may I present Miss Laura Elizabeth Perkins?” Laura held out her hand to Lucy, as if she wanted to shake. Jessi, Dawn, and Mary Anne giggled.
That was when I arrived, with Jenny and Andrea. Jenny ran off to play with the other little kids, who were by
then having a great time running around together. I sat down under the tree and “introduced” Andrea to the others. There we were, with all those babies. It was kind of awesome.
I hadn’t gotten a good look at what Claudia, Mallory, and Stacey were doing, so Jessi and Dawn filled me in. I thought that maybe I should talk to them, but Mary Anne convinced me not to.
“Let them go on working,” she said. “The float may look confusing, but I’m sure it’ll come together soon.”
“Besides,” said Dawn. “We’ve got to watch these babies.”
“Aren’t they adorable?” said Jessi with a sigh, gazing at Squirt and Lucy. They were sitting next to each other, not actually “playing,” but still getting along well.
“I just love babies,” said Dawn. “This parade is going to be a blast!”
Just then, Lucy grabbed Squirt’s fish. She had been eyeing it for several moments, and the temptation must have been too strong to resist any longer.
Squirt let out an earsplitting wail.
Lucy smiled and put the fish’s tail in her mouth.
“Lucy, honey,” said Dawn. “Give Squirt his fish.”
Lucy ignored her.
Squirt cried louder.
Then Laura started to cry.
“What is it?” asked Mary Anne. “What’s the matter, Laura?” She picked her up and held her close, jiggling her slightly to calm her.
Dawn finally got the fish away from Lucy and gave it back to Squirt. His cries started to die down, but Lucy’s grew louder. To distract her, Dawn held her up to look at Andrea, who was sitting in my lap.
“See Andrea?” asked Dawn. “She’s going to be in the parade, just like you. Only she won’t be on the float. She’s going to be in her very own stroller.” Of course, Lucy didn’t understand a thing Dawn was saying, but the distraction seemed to work and her crying finally stopped.
Laura was still crying, however, so Mary Anne decided to check her diaper.
Meanwhile, Andrea was becoming restless, so I decided to try Dawn’s “distraction” technique. “That’s Lucy,” I said, holding Andrea up to see her. “She’s going to be riding on a big, big float.” Andrea gave Lucy a toothless grin.
Then she spit up, all over Lucy.
At the same time, Squirt dropped his fish, couldn’t reach it, and started to cry again.
Laura was still wailing.
Claudia looked up from her chicken-wire sculpture. “Can’t you guys keep those babies quiet?” she asked. “We’re trying to get some work done here.”
I almost blew up at her, but Mary Anne caught my eye and shook her head. She was right, I knew it. We didn’t have time for a big fight, not if we wanted to get that float into the parade.
Somehow, we managed to clean up the babies and calm them down — and even enjoy the rest of the afternoon. But, as Jessi said in the notebook, the scene in Claudia’s yard did make us wonder if there could be such a thing as too many babies.
Maybe Dawn really did think she was being honest, but still, she did owe us an apology. Or at least she should have apologized to Mallory. But I’m getting ahead of myself here. Let me tell the story as it happened.
Dawn was sitting for Nina and Eleanor Marshall. We used to sit for them more often when the club first started, but then the Marshalls got a full-time housekeeper. Lately the Marshalls have been calling us again, since they cut back on the housekeeper’s hours.
Nina is four, and she’s a lot of fun. She’s at that stage in which she’s learning how to have real conversations with people, and some of the discussions she gets into are pretty funny.
Dawn said that Nina once told her about this friend of hers at her preschool. His name, said Nina, was Jimmytony. He was her “boyfriend,” and he called her up all the time. Dawn thought that Jimmytony sounded like a great friend.
Later, Dawn found out that Jimmytony was a great friend — a great imaginary friend. Mrs. Marshall explained it to her one day. Nina had made him up, all on her own.
Eleanor is two, and she’s incredibly cute. She’s got blonde, wavy hair with a big cowlick in the front and gigantic blue eyes. She’s just beginning to string words into sentences — sort of. For example, if she and Nina are playing with Nina’s Barbie, dressing her up for a night on the town, Eleanor will say “Barbie — dress — dancing!”
Eleanor likes to copy her big sister, and she tries to say and do everything Nina says and does, which isn’t always easy for her.
Anyway, Dawn was sitting for the Marshall girls that Thursday afternoon. She’d told Mrs. Marshall about the float we were making for the parade (of course, she’d already gotten permission for Eleanor to be part of it), and Mrs. Marshall was excited.
“It’s too bad Nina is too old to be on the float,” said Mrs. Marshall, on her way out the door that day.
Dawn nodded. “I know,” she said. “There are other kids we sit for who would like to be in the parade, too. But it’ll be fun for Nina to watch her sister go by on our float. Right, Nina?”
Nina nodded. “Can we play hide-and-seek?” she asked, changing the subject.
Her mother laughed. “Well, I guess she doesn’t mind that she’s not going to be on the float! I’ll leave you to your game.”
As soon as she was out the door, Dawn found herself with Nina pulling her by one hand and Eleanor holding on to the other.
“Hide-and-seek!” yelled Nina.
“Hide! Seek!” yelled Eleanor.
Dawn had never played hide-and-seek with the girls, so she figured that they must have just learned the game and wanted to “teach” it to her. “Okay,” she said. “What do we do first?”
“You close your eyes and count to ten while we hide,” said Nina.
“Find!” said Eleanor.
“Right,” said Nina. “Then you say ‘Ready or not, here I come!’ and you find us.”
“Sounds like fun,” said Dawn. “Let’s play just in this room, though, okay?” They were in the living room, and she thought it might be a good idea to keep the game small. She didn’t want to hunt all over the house for the girls.
As it turned out, she was worried for nothing.
The Marshall girls had their own version of hide-and-seek. Here’s how it went: As soon as Dawn finished counting and said “Ready or not, here I come,” both girls started to giggle in their hiding places. They weren’t very well hidden, either. Nina was standing behind a lamp that was much smaller than she was, and Eleanor was simply facing into a corner of the room, figuring (Dawn thought) that if she couldn’t see Dawn, Dawn couldn’t see her.
Anyway Dawn began to prowl around the room, thinking out loud about how to find the girls. “Now, where could they be?” she asked herself. “Where are those girls hiding?” The giggles grew louder and then turned into shrieks as the girls, unable to stand the suspense, ran out of their hiding places and flung themselves at Dawn.
“I found you!” Dawn cried, laughing. They played the game five more times, and each time the girls hid in exactly the same spots and Dawn found them just as quickly. It wasn’t hide-and-seek the way Dawn had learned it, but Eleanor and Nina were having a great time anyway.
When they’d finished playing, Dawn suggested they go over to Claudia’s to see how the float was coming along. “It should be almost done by now,” she said.
But when they reached Claudia’s backyard, Dawn took one look around and wanted to run back to the Marshalls’.
The float stood in the middle of the yard, looking like a lumpy, streaky red mountain. Claud is a talented artist, but I’d had the feeling that something as big as a float wasn’t going to be as easy to make as we’d thought. Especially since she’d been trying to take all of our suggestions into account. She must have felt confused.
Claudia and Stacey were hovering around the float adding final touches. “Why didn’t you mix more paint?” Claudia asked Stacey, as Dawn walked up to them. “This wasn’t nearly enough. No wonder the float looks awful.”
“I really don
’t think that the paint is the problem, Claudia,” said Stacey. “I mean, look at the shape of this thing. Who would ever guess it was a shoe?” She turned to Dawn. “What would you think it was?” she asked.
“I — I don’t know,” said Dawn. She didn’t want to get in the middle of their argument. “It looks fine,” she said. “But — where do the babies sit?”
“Don’t worry,” I said. I had just arrived with Emily. “I have some ideas about that.”
“Oh, you do, do you?” asked Claudia, her hands on her hips. “I’m the one who built the float. I’ve tried to use everyone’s ideas, but that’s only made it worse. So now I’m just going to do it my way.”
“Okay, what’s your way?” I asked.
“Well —” she said. It was obvious — to me, anyway — that she hadn’t even thought about it.
I looked around. By then, Jessi had arrived with Squirt, and Mary Anne was just coming into the yard carrying Laura Perkins. I knew that Mallory was sitting for Jamie and Lucy Newton that day, and that they would probably be coming over, too.
“I know,” I said. “How about a dress rehearsal? We can put the costumes on the babies who show up today and see how the kids look on the float.”
Everybody agreed, so I ran up to Claud’s room to use her phone. I called Mal at the Newtons’. “Can you bring the costumes over here?” I asked her.
“Sure,” she said. “They’re not quite finished, but we’ll get an idea of how they look.”
When she walked into Claud’s yard, Mallory was carrying Lucy in one arm and a big brown bag in the other. “Here they are!” she said. She put the bag down and pulled out one of the costumes. The color was even brighter than I had remembered.
I took one for Emily, and Dawn grabbed one for Eleanor. Jessi got Squirt’s, and Mary Anne found one that looked like it would fit Laura. Mal started to button Lucy into her costume.
The costumes looked (to me) like little clown suits, with ruffles down the front. I’m not sure what Mallory had in mind when she designed them, but they did look kind of cute once we’d gotten the babies into them.