a smooth-talker

admonishment

infant; toddler

wasted effort

flowering crab apple; beautiful woman

toddler

Any skill worth learning takes time and patience

The Beginning; creation

early summer breeze

thoughts; consciousness

the highest echelon of government

pregnancy

puppet; marionette

a puppet government; a government that is slave to the whims of another country

shark-skin glaze

weigh anchor; raise anchor

deviation; divergence

Speak no evil