Nothing Sweeter Than A Baby

My mother told me that from the time I could walk I was crazy about babies. In the Chicago suburb where I grew up, people would leave their sleeping babies in the baby carriages without fear while they shoppped. Mom said that I could not (actually would not) pass a baby carriage without standing on tiptoes to look inside to see if indeed a baby was in it. Once we were traveling by train from Chicago to North Carolina to visit my grandparents. We had to change trains in Cincinnati, and it seemed like a long layover to me. There was an adorable little African-American baby dressed in a blue romper complete with matching cap and booties. I could not be still until my mother asked the baby's mother if I might hold him for awhile. His mother gladly agreed, and I entertained myself for the rest of the time playing with this darling baby. I didn't want to get on the next train because he was not going where we were going. Even though I was not old enough to baby sit alone, I never missed an opportunity to hold a baby, play with a baby, talk to a baby, or cut out pictures of babies from our copy of Sears catalog. Needless to say, my dolls were my favorite toys!