When Casey Clare McLaughlin was still in diapers, dad Peter McLaughlin and mom Nancy Hylden learned fast that the best way to keep their baby asleep was to pile quilts on her and let her snooze on their (unheated) Minneapolis front porch. In the winter. "She loves to be outside in the cold; she would wake up and cry if we'd bring her in," Hylden said. McLaughlin, the uber-fit Fourth District Hennepin County commissioner, also walked his baby girl to sleep outside, no matter what the temperature, in her first two years of life. Although many empty-nesters tsk-tsked at McLaughlin for becoming a first-time father at 57, Casey Clare has been attached to his hip, chest or shoulders since birth.
As a result, the 3-year-old is already a seasoned lover of Minnesota's great outdoors, freezing weather and all -- a miniature advocate of her parents' bracing values on fitness. "She's a poster child for Minnesota and its elements," said Hylden, 45, a lawyer at Faegre & Benson, a former elite runner in the 2000 Olympic trials and also a first-time parent.
McLaughlin agrees: "She absolutely loves the water; it's like since birth she sensed that it's a totally different medium. As a baby, you have to have a lot of trust in whoever's with you in the water -- and she took to it just immediately. No fear."
Because her middle name is derived from McLaughlin's Irish heritage, the chatty toddler calls herself "County Clare." In summer, the family swims at Lake Nokomis and Hiawatha Beach; in winter, they toboggan on the big hill at Minnehaha Park. Every Christmas morning, their family tradition is to go sledding after Santa comes. After umpteen trips up and down the hill, it wasn't unusual for Casey Clare to crash, exhausted, on the safety rails of her sled, a smile on her pink-cheeked face.
"I really do think we're instilling in her the importance of being healthy," Hylden says. "And not just because she sees us run and swim and bike. She's a fruit and vegetable girl. She's never seen a Ding Dong, a Ho Ho or a Happy Meal in her life."
Nor a gas-slurping SUV. When she was 48 hours old, Casey Clare rode home from the hospital with her parents on light rail, which McLaughlin championed.
"Parenthood has brought us such immeasurable joy. She's such a little spark of energy, she sparks yours," Hylden says.
"So you go the extra mile, you climb that extra hill, and swim just a little bit longer -- just because she's so thrilled to be alive and do it with you."
