Cinderella Magic

Clara turned 3 on Saturday, March 28. Anyone reading this will no doubt believe that everything I say about Clara is totally skewed by the fact that I am her grandmother. But, believe me when I tell you that this little girl is as special as special can be, in every way; her adorableness, her quick-wit, her intelligence, her sweetness, her sense of humor, her enthusiasm for life, her 'with-it-ness', her sense of herself, her curiosity, her expressiveness....okay, I'll stop. (Wait, did I mention how cute she is?)
But, anyway, at her birthday party her Grampa and I gave her a real, bonafide Cinderella dress, complete with an 'authentic' crown and blue-glowing wand. When Clara was handed the bag to open (a Cinderella bag of course), she took one peak inside and knew immediately what this powder blue, sparkling treasure was, pulled it out lickety-split, and smiled one of her signature broad, open-mouthed smiles, with her eyes as wide as they could be. Within a fraction of a second, she had pulled off her cute little fiesta party dress that she was wearing and yelled at her mom, "I want to wear it, I want to wear it!"
JoAnna began madly tearing off the tags and plastic ties in an effort to get her mostly-naked daughter re-dressed as quickly as possible. Fortunately, the Cinderella dress floated over Clara's little body with no effort, and she was instantly transformed into the beautiful little princess that she already is----her mom set the crown on her head, Clara was handed her new wand (to which she exclaimed, "A new wand!"), and she happily turned to everyone gathered around to display her new finery. It was a priceless moment to see this little darling of a girl standing there in her beautiful hooped dress, holding her head so still so as not to knock the crown off........with the happiest look in her eyes-----a magical moment indeed.