Even the little moments ...

I was needing a little Nee Nee time after a stressful week (between work, grad school, and this cough that won't go away, so I spent the evening checking on grandkids.

My first stop was to my mother's house, where she was watching the 4 year old stepgrandson and the 4 month old grandson. The 4 year old is full of pep and vinegar. It's like watching the Tasmanian Devil in action. He was with my 4 year old niece, who doesn't let him boss her around (like he tries).

The 4 month old was rolling around on a blanket on the floor with his G.G. (great-grandma). He is trying to crawl, but hasn't figured out yet that you push up ... He tries to lift his arms and legs at the same time. Once in awhile he rolls over by accident, and his face is like, "Wow! What a paradigm shift!" He is such a sweetie. I found out he's ticklish right below his right ear.

Then Boppa and I drove up to get the 2 and 1 year old and take them to dinner. The 1 year old has been having a bad habit of reaching into his diaper lately, so we've all invested in onesies and overalls. He looks so cute. When we drove up, he immediately headed to his Boppa for a hug, and Granddaughter headed to me for her hug. We packed them up and took them to Cracker Barrel. Granddaughter says, "Cra - er Bawell." They were so good! Granddaughter unrolled her silverware and was thrilled that her Nee Nee let her keep the knife. Grandson had his knife for a minute, but made Boppa nervous because he wanted to tap himself in the face with it. Both of them were very good until the food came. Mostly they colored (or practiced putting the crayons in and out of the box). Granddaughter discovered the little triangle with the pegs (called "pokies" by us). She didn't want to play the game. She wanted to name the colors ... and then she counted. She got all the way up to 12!!! Two were left in the triangle. I tried to introduce her to the concept of addition -- 4 orange and 4 white makes 8 pokies! You never know!

They were so good. They ate their pancakes (at first with forks but as the pancakes got soggy, they went to fingers). AFter the meal, we let them wander around the shop but told them, look but don't touch. At one point, Boppa picked something up and Granddaughter yelled, "No Boppa! Don't touch!!!" All the cashiers laughed! She waved her hands while she did it. Then later I picked up a picture frame to look at and Grandson yells, "Noooooooooo!" So they remembered the rules. After we looked at the goodies, we went outside to rock in the chairs. Of course, they had to play checkers (their version). Grandson thinks pushing the checkers away is the game, then he yells, "I win!!!" and laughs like a maniac! I think he's been watching his mommy and daddy play cards! Another little girl came out and started rocking, so Granddaughter decided to make friends and sat next to her. Then Grandson plopped down. They were rocking fast and furious until a plane came in for a landing (small airport behind the CB). Boy, that was fascinating to them. When we left, Granddaughter cried, "I like Cracker Barrel! I want to stay." I finally calmed her down by telling her Daddy would bring her back for pancakes. 'Yes!" she exclaimed.

The next sad moment was when she figured out she wasn't coming to our house for the night, but going home. "I go home?" she asked incredulously. Then she put her hands to her eyes and started crying very quietly. I broke my heart. I told her she had to go home so she could go visit her Great Aunts and Uncle tomorrow. Pretty soon we got off on that topic. I was almost ready to see if her daddy would let her come stay by herself with Nee Nee. But I've got a commitment in the morning so I really don't have time.

But anyway, I had a little Nee Nee time and could really see how fast they are growing. And that makes me a little sad.