Most grandparents admittedly seem to be in a private club whose entry is exclusive and unspoken. Until you have a grandchild, and become a member, your inward mockery of these blathering grammy's and grampy's is obvious. You quietly listen to their stories and then fake smile. I know because I used to do it.
That was Pre-E, of course, before 2001 when my world rocked and rolled and threatened to tip upside down with the waves and stormy weather. On the horizon there was a little fish named Eliot who emerged oh- so- quietly, swimming into view. As he grew , then was joined by brothers and sisters and cousins, my world finally settled down and my boat righted itself and the inevitable capsizing never happened.
Today I spent another Sunday with the seventh wonder of my world, Ethan. I pick him up around 9:15 am , load him into his carseat and off we drive to "Grammy's Church". Other people might think of it as Heritage Presbyterian, but I think Ethan will always call it Grammy's Church. In fact, I am pretty sure that soon it will be referred to as "OUR Church".
I hadn't babysat him in a couple of weeks, and the difference in his vocabulary was astounding.
" Where you going, mommy?" he yelled out the window as we drove off..."to work at the store?" " daddy's at work at the bank", he continued, " the one with the big orange lion."
Each Sunday as we drive through Wilmington, and past the ING Building , I point out this same orange lion and he waves to daddy as we sail by, then on the return trip we wave once again. Our traditions are becoming facts of his young life.
Today was a verbal, filled with wonder kind of day and I was smart enough to stop and smell the roses, so to speak. Especially as he decided to water my roses , and this amused him for at least half of an hour. "More water, Grammy" he would say as the water trickled out, controlled by my frugal need to conserve.
"Do you hear that owl?" he wondered out loud, listening intently. Sure enough, there in the distance were the gentle cooing noises of mourning doves, the very similar sounding birds to his noted owl friends. I have a feeling his Mom-Mom might have been teaching early bird sounds on her times with him, or perhaps mommy remembered how fun it is to listen and identify birds?!
Naptime was certainly one of the more hilarious moments of our day, not as stressful as I recall my own children's naptimes being. Maybe because with age comes prioritizing, and the urgency and need for those same naps takes a back seat to the urgency and need to spend time with my precious ones. I thought laying him down was rather easy, and this was made clear 5 minutes later when a little person crawled down the stairs and into the livingroom where I sat reading!
His lunch activity included buttering his own piece of bread, and to my delight , he seemed to know exactly what to do, even licking the knife!
After lunch, Ethan picked up a small wooden birdhouse I have around for activities with the grands for painting and crafting. There was a small opening for the little bird to go in. "oh" he pondered, "can my Raffie fit in this hole?" referring to our ever present Giraffe without whom sleep is not possible. "Nope" says I. "Well, then can a baby elephant?" Oh my. "Yes" I said unhesitatingly, after looking into the sweetest little eyes on this planet.
Speaking of eyes, are you rolling yours yet?? Oh wait, there is more.
Last week I was at the park for a Memorial Day picnic with some of my other grands. Their parents felt the need to drive them there or it would have been just them and me. Evelyn and Aidan wanted to ride a bike on a surface besides their own 3' x 10' patio, so the highlight of their day was going to be the ride. This came immediately after the fishing experience and before the watermelon eating.
As we drove by the horses grazing I mentioned to Evie how they were eating some nice hay. Without a moment's hesitation she retorted lovingly, "Oh, just like baby Jesus!"
Last week Evie fell off her livingroom couch, according to mom Becca, as she and Aidan were bouncing. There is no judgement here when I ask, at this juncture, "what the heck are 2 year olds bouncing on a couch for?!!" Did I mention the phone call regarding The 'bounce and fall' was at 7:30 am?? Ok, to their mom's credit, I suppose, they had been up since 6:00 am and apparently acivities were running low....
Where was I? Oh, Evie and I spoke on the phone and I told her of course Grammy would be sending a band-aid in the mail immediately."OK" she sniffled. That night[and every night since] as she said her good night prayers with her parents , she was heard to say, " and bless the band-aid Grammy is sending me."
When God promises to bless His people and their future generations, I never imagined He meant that part of the blessing is the complete JOY they would bring us as we teach them and love them and walk with them on this earth for a time.
Thank you, Oh Sovereign and Wonderful God, for Eliot,Simon,Jesse,Nora,Isabel,Ava, Ethan,Bianca,Aidan and Evelyn and little boy, grandchild #11 coming in 6 weeks!!
They are the reason that my month of May was one of the best ones yet!
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