Sunday, June 22, 2008

A 3 year old's sense of humor



This is Boppa with the 3 year old grandson. Grandson was the first baby Boppa ever held on the day of his birth, so they have a special connection. He used to have grandson do baby exercises when he was just an infant to strengthen his arms and legs and make him flexible. Well, it has really paid off -- Grandson is a natural in gymnastics. And being MY grandson, he has come to love books. One of his recent favorites is called "Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus."

Boppa has been retired for 2 years, basically helping out with babysitting the various grandkids various days of the week. In January, the last grandchild was put in day care. For awhile he was picking this guy up with Granddaughter and taking them to gymnastics, but finally passed the torch to Mommy. So he's been at loose ends.

Boppa decided a couple weeks ago to pursue a job, which he got about 10 days ago. We announced to the family that Boppa was going to drive a school bus! After saying something to his father, Grandson came up to me, pulled on my shirt, and said with a grin, "Don't let the pigeon drive the bus!"

Pretty clever for a three year old!

Sunday, June 15, 2008

Father's Day




One photo is of my grandkids making cookies to give to my son today. He also got an enlargement of the kids' photo from his wife. (The same one I used to make a photo card). Granddaughter actually signed her name. Grandson signed two of the letters of his name.

The other photo is one I took on Mother's Day of my father reading to 1 year old grandson. It has been enlarged, framed, and will be transported to Tallahassee to be on display (with 29 others) at the Goldstein Library which is located at the College of Information's building at Florida State University.

Happy Father's Day!

Saturday, June 14, 2008

Thunderstorms



The photo has nothing to do with this blog, except to show you how cute they are!

Thursday, we set up an inflatable pool in the back for Granddaughter and Grandson#1 to play in. They were having a good time, until I heard a clap of thunder off in the distance. I said, "Everyone out!" They didn't hesistate, but as they were climbing out, Granddaughter asked me why. I tried to think of a quick way to explain eloctroution to her that she would understand, so I said, "The thunder can turn you into a fried egg!"

As the storm got worse, we heard hail. Boppa decided to check on the car out front to see if it was being damaged. Granddaughter shrieked when he opened the door, "Boppa! Don't! You'll turn into a frotten egg!" She had combined the "fried" with "rotten" [which she must have heard at some other time.] So now when we talk about thunder, we'll have to say, "Don't turn into a frotten egg!"

Monday, June 09, 2008

Little Miss Housekeeper



The other day my family was at my mother's to visit with an aunt and uncle who had come to visit from Ohio. My mother keeps her garbage at the end of the kitchen counter, but she also has a recycle bin in the garage. Someone had thrown a plastic bottle into the trash, and Mom had retrieved it and set it next to the garbage sack.

A little while later, Granddaughter came around the corner and stopped in her tracks. She reached down and picked up the bottle, then took a few steps towards us, and with a loud "Ahem!" started thumping the bottle against her hip in an accusatory way. Her aunt and I just cracked up! She looked so grown up, copying what we do when we catch someone doing something we've told them a million times not to do.

We had her put the bottle on the counter (to ease her mind), and she went on her merry way.

Missing Them!



These two little ones (and the 10 month old) are gone on vacation for a few days. I didn't get a chance to see these two before they left, being swept up in my job (grading papers) and trying to meet the deadlines for my Master's program. They drove up with Momma and big brother to Alpharetta, GA to see their other grandfather. They will be back on Wed., and I will be sure to go get them sometime Thurs. or Friday.

In the meantime, i've been gathering stuff to take with us on vacation. We are bringing these two with us on the autotrain and then driving back. (Ugh, I don't want to see the gas bill). We are attending a family wedding, and hoping to get to Busch Gardens at Williamsburg, Williamsburg itself, Jamestown, and Yorktown. Then we will be headed down the Outer Banks with a stop at Ocracoke, NC. and then home.

He said it!



This is a photo of the 22 month old grandson and my father. I had to do a photo project for school, and this is the pose I used (although a different effect). The little one certainly loves his books. In fact, I took him to the mall the other day and he put a death grip on The Very Hungry Caterpillar; didn't even want to let the clerk scan it so I could buy it. He screamed like I was giving him a shot! Luckily it only took a few seconds, but it wore him out. He fell asleep in the car, gripping it tightly. When I tried to take him out of the car, I had to take the book out of his hand to undo the seatbelt, and that work him up and he hollered some more. When we got into the house, his big brother wanted to look at it, and THAT made him unhappy. But then Big Brother started to read it, so it was okay.

By the way, he said "Nee Nee" for the first time on June 7! I was so thrilled!

Sunday, June 01, 2008

My Friday night date with "Tank"




I had the pleasure of my youngest grandson's company this past Friday night. I called him my date because my husband had gone out of town and I had made plans to help with my school's senior party that night for about 90 minutes. "Tank" came over a little after 5:00 and after the usual hour or so of getting reacquainted (playing with toys, rolling on the floor, singing and having baby conversations), I loaded him into the car and we headed off to a barbecue place not far from home. I usually don't go out to eat alone, so it was nice to have a baby to chat with. While I waited for my food, I fed him some turkey and carrots (baby food) but he was not interested in those once MY food arrived. So we shared some of the starches (I wasn't aware that he could eat the meat yet ... I was mistaken, as Momma informed me later). Then we headed over to the school for the senior party (see photo). He had a great time, and all the girls oooohed and aaaaahed over him. So did the parents there. He made a great friend in Ms. Crystal, who has a son 1 week older. She got him to giggle with the "attack of the teddy bear." As we were leaving, I passed by one of my athletic students and asked him if he'd like to do some weight lifting. So he picked up the "Tank" who promptly stole this student's "prize" -- a large water bottle! My student laughed and said he could keep it. He had a picture taken by one of his friends, and then we were off to go home. We watched a little "Baby Einstein Lullabye" and then he fell asleep in my big old king-sized bed and slept until -- AHA-- 5:30.

I think he would've rolled back over and gone to sleep, except he realized HE WAS NOT AT HOME. He lifted his head up with a jerk, looked over at me and said something akin to "Hi". (It was more a yelp). So we got up. After changing him, we headed to McDonald's so I could get coffee (my husband always makes it, and I was too lazy to try to do it). We got home and shared some of my McGriddle, plus I made him a waffle, which he scarfed down. Then I put him in his exersaucer. Whoa, Nelly! This device is supposed to anchor them in one place, and they walk around in circles while playing with the little toys attached. 'TANK' was having none of that! This MONSTER baby dragged that thing around like it was a walker on my tile floor! I couldn't believe it. And he loved the freedom! He went exploring -- trying to reach Boppa's mail table, Nee Nee's study table (with very tempting knobs and drawers), and even tried to get into my room (thank goodness for rug!). I let him go at it for awhile, then pulled him out and put him on the floor (rug) to watch him attempt to crawl. First thing he went for were the wires that plug my TV and lamp in! So I moved him, then covered the wires with pillows and baskets of clothes. He was pretty content to play with the bedspread. Finally I put him in the stroller and went for a walk (he was clutching a piece of paper as we left). About 3/4 of the way, I noticed his head sag and when I stopped to check, sure enough, he was sound asleep. So I carefully walked him home (cursing the motorcycle that passed us). I left him in the stroller and did some housework. He woke up about 1/2 hour later and so I packed him up, and took him home. Dear Diary: I even kissed him!