I am HERO!

If you couldn't tell from all my ranting this past year, Clara has grown into quite a free-spirited and adventurous kiddo. She's a diva. Things are her way or she's not going to have it. She's also not afraid of anything. She's the most rough and tumble toddler I've ever seen. In particular, she LOVES heights. She'll unflinchingly scale some piece of furniture or climb some stairs and jump off! I have a sneaking suspicion she's gonna be into sky-diving...

She also, like most little kids, finds a video to latch onto and watch over and over and over again. Lately, she's been watching a Veggie Tales tape featuring a recurring character named LarryBoy. Think Batman meets Superman meets a bad acid trip at the produce isle of the supermarket. Before the hero LarryBoy jumps into action, he says "I am that hero!" Clara has shortened this to "I AM HERO!" At the top of her lungs. Each and every time. And she's made this her rallying cry before doing something adventurous.

While we're talking about jumping... I woke up this past Sunday morning to Clara yelling "I AM HERO!" at full volume. Followed by a very loud, dresser-shaking thud. I did my fatherly duty and poked D to go see what was up. Unfortunately, as I was realizing she was dead to the world, I hear her yell again "I AM HERO!!!" and another even louder thud. I got up and got to her room just in time to look in on her about to do it again. She had scaled the walls of her crib and perched herself at the foot of her bed. Steadying herself by putting her butt in the corner and straddling the corner of the crib with both feet, she pulled herself up, put both hands in the air and yelled "I AM HEEEEROOOOO!!!" before launching herself from the top floor of her crib onto the pile of blankets on her mattress below.

I opened her door and just stared at her. Knowing she was doing something she probably shouldn't have been doing, she gave me her best "I'm cute" face. -.- I stood my ground, though, told her that was a no-no and got her changed and tossed her to her sleeping mother. :D I joked with her later that I think Veggie Tales are a bad influence on her, reminding her that when Colin Power-Rangered himself head-first off a piece of playground equipment, he was permanently banned from watching it ever again.

The way she is, I know she's going to end up in the hospital. Probably more than once. I just hope our insurance is as good then as it is now.