May 2, 2017

I'm Back!

Did You Miss Me?

May 2, 2017

 

The last 6 weeks have been filled with activities and the majority of them were fun, relaxing, and a break from my normal routine.  There is no way I can cover all of that time in one blog, so I will try to catch up a little and then share some other portions as I go along.  At home and at the office, I have a lot to catch up on as far as work, cleaning, and grocery shopping.

Our youngest son and his wife had a precious son in early February.  He started off just a little on the small size and it took him a week or so to get the hang of gaining weight.  Ron and I went to see him on my birthday weekend.  Then we got to see him again in early March when we went to take some classes for our state license (for our business).  Those were great chances to see our grandson, but you just can't get to know them in such a short time.

Adorable booties that he sometimes wore

 

Our daughter-in-law is a teacher and she went back to the classroom when the baby was 7 weeks old.  I had the wonderful opportunity to take care of him for a month during the days while she and our son were at their jobs.  What a special time that I will treasure forever.  When our son first mentioned the possibility of such an arrangement, I said that there was nothing I would rather do than sit on the couch and hold our grandson for a month, and that is just about what I did.

He needed to be fed on a regular schedule to keep him gaining.  I must admit though, he really has the hang of that now and he is growing rapidly.  Most days, our son woke me between 7:30 and 8:00 (since I don't sleep with my sound processor for the Cochlear implant on, I can't hear anything).  Usually I would feed our grandson while our son got ready for work.  His wife usually left before I got up.

Dessert flowers blooming 

 

The rest of the day was feeding our grandson, doing a few dishes, rocking him to sleep, folding his laundry, and preparing his next feeding.  He has sleeping  down to a science.  He enjoys the warmth of sleeping in the loving arms of a family member.  He changed so much in the month that I was there.  I told my husband that I really had more time to focus my full attention on this precious little guy than when our children were babies.  There were always things that needed to be done and with this baby, I just sat and enjoyed him. 

One day recently he discovered my shirts.  The first was a bright red shirt with sparkly accents on it.  The day he noticed that, his eyes got big, he looked at me, and then he started trying to reach and touch the design.  The next day my shirt had bright flowers on it and there was one color he liked best.  Previously he would respond to my facial expressions, but suddenly he was interested in patterns and designs, and wanted to feel them.

Every day was like that - a new item or sound would catch his attention.  I can't thank my son and his wife enough for allowing me the gift of that special time with their son.  They kept thanking me, and I owed them a lot more thanks than they owed me.  I will admit, I was reminded why God gives babies to the young parents.  There were days I was exhausted, but it was a good exhaustion - one from doing something pleasurable.

American Coot

 

A concern had been whether I would be able to hear the baby from the other end of the house.  The house is not real large, but the way it is laid out, it was a long way from his bed to the kitchen, where I often was when he was sleeping in his bed.  Between the great monitor they had and my wireless mic, I managed just fine.  Every few minutes, he would let out a whimper and by the time I got to his room to check on him, he was almost always back to sleep.

During the time I was there,  I wanted to give them time in the evenings and on the weekends to have their private time with their son, so I often went shopping in the evenings or read in the room they had prepared for me.  Two weekends, I left town.  On Easter weekend since our daughter-in-law was off Friday through Monday, I flew to Albuquerque to spend time with our oldest son and his wife.  I had an early morning flight out of Dallas Friday and got back late Monday night.

So many beautiful plants were in bloom in Albuquerque.

 

Then the following weekend, I flew to North Carolina for a niece's wedding.  When we first talked about me going to help out for April, I told them the only thing on my calendar was that wedding and I had already bought my ticket last fall.  That was a little hard on them since my son had to take off a day and a half to take care of the baby, but he enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed the other days.

More later about those trips, but I wanted you to know I am back and will try to share some events with you in the days to come.  By the statistics I get on this blog site, I see that many have been reading older posts while I have been away and I expect they are new to the blog.  Welcome to any new readers from all over the world.

Mom with her three daughters in North Carolina following the wedding we attended.

My sister Debbie, Mom, my sister Janet (mother of the bride) and me.