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Today is the anniversary of my grandfather's passing (my mother's father). I was lucky to have met all 4 of my grandparents and even 1 great grandmother. My grandfather was kind of crazy even before the Alzheimer's set in. He was always goofy with us kids, singing silly little rhymes (that were probably inappropriate for kids to hear - "I love to go swimming with bold-legged women and dive between their legs"), making jokes and funny faces. He was ALWAYS in a good mood even when he knew that something wasn't right about himself and he was deteriorating before our eyes. I never saw him angry and he never raised his voice. He played solitaire everyday and cheated most of the time but would never cop to it. We thought it was so funny.He was in the Army, the Navy, he was in 2 wars, he was a firefighter, a security guard, a baseball coach, he never danced, he wasn't all that handy around the house, he would talk to anybody and everybody he ever met, he always washed the dishes for my grandmother, and he took the best care of her he knew how. He was one of 16 children, had 5 children of his own, had 14 grandchildren, and 12 great grandchildren. He loved loved LOVED kids and they all loved him. Kids (and animals) were drawn to him. He could sit in his LazyBoy rocker chair with a baby all day long. He never got tired of playing with us kids either. He took us everywhere with him and in the car, he let us put in our latest tapes that I know he didn't want to hear again for the 800th time.Over the years, he'd had more than 7 heart attacks, 2 strokes, and he had Alzheimers. He would tell us the same story over and over but each time he told it with the same affection and passion as he did just 5 minutes before. He couldn't remember who we were or where he was or how to do this or that (although sometimes I think he faked not knowing how to do things he didn't want to do or not remembering something he didn't care to remember - this made me giggle and I'm sure that's why he did it). He would get frustrated by things that should come so easy to him but wouldn't come at all anymore. Through all the trips to the hospital and the stay in the nursing home the thing I carry with me most is that he never lost his smile, he never lost his spunk, and he never lost that sparkle about him that made him who he was. My only regret is that he wasn't able to meet my son before he moved on. I know he would have loved it and my son would have benefitted from it. He was my Pap. He was everybody's Pap.
BabyGolightly is slightly over 7 months now. In the past month or so so much has changed. He can now sit up unassisted for super long periods of time, he's crawling, he's pulling up and can stand in place for a couple seconds, and he can take a few steps behind his push toy. Of course he eats like a champ and he's long long long. He babbles on and on and on Dadadadadadaaaaaaaad. Still no Mama. = ( He's sleeping better, only getting up once maybe twice a night. He's overall the best baby ever. Our only problem - he will not sit still to get his diaper changed, get his clothes put on, put his coat on, or get strapped into his car seat - at all. It's a battle where we both come out pretty exhausted and battered by the time it's been accomplished. He's bawling and sweating and screaming and I'm about to do all those things myself. From what I hear this isn't a phase that will pass anytime soon. So, if you see a naked baby on the streets of North Beach, that's my son. Just say hi and remember to wave because we're trying to teach that to him now.
To BabyGolightly...he is 6 months today. It really seems like yesterday he was still making my belly massive, making it impossible to sleep, impossible to walk, sit, stand, on and on. (He's still making it impossible to sleep & my belly is still bigger than it was before I got pregnant) At 6 months, he has one tooth sticking up from his bottom gums. The 2nd tooth - right beside it - is breaking thru, he can roll over from front to back and back to front, he stands with support for what seems like hours on end, he loves to jump in his jumper thing, he loves to run circles in his walker thing, he eats about 45 ounces of formula a day (we go thru a can of powdered formula ever 4 to 5 days) he eats 3 servings of cereal, fruit and/or vegetables a day, he loves to take a bath and has figured out it's cool to splash in the water and get Mommy all wet, he loves to go out anywhere but especially for walks outside. He loves flirting with all the ladies by flashing his big smile and showing that 1 dimple, he's a drooling machine and will put basically anything that doesn't run away from him in his mouth, he's wearing 18 month old size clothes, size 3 diapers (but we're stretching that, it's time to move up to 4), he's just started banging on his highchair tray, he laughs and laughs until he gets the hiccups, he still squeals when he's excited, he lets out a constant AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH when riding in the car (I guess that's to listen to how the bumps affect the sound), he wakes up in the morning and starts to talking - Dadaaaaddddaaadadeeedeee (I keep trying to encourage ummmmMommaaaa) and has figured out his voice can go from high to low and back again and fancies himself a pretty good singer. He loves it when Mommy dances around like a fool and he's the only person on the face of the Earth that actually enjoys Mommy's singing. He's a good boy, hardly ever a problem except on those few days recently that his teeth are really bothering him. We've been blessed with such a beautiful little piece of heaven but I can't believe how big he's getting, how fast he's growing, and how quickly the time if flying by.
If anyone saw the Cowboys/Eagles game last night and was punished enough to catch the National Anthem, please tell me why they can't just sing the damn song!!!!! Why do these performers (not all but a lot of them) insist on adding all these runs - drawing out a 2 syllable word in a song to like 8 or 50 syllables? The only person that has done this successfully (albeit still annoying) is Christina Aguilera. Mariah Carey does this too and it grates my nerves. This poor little girl who thought that's what singers are supposed to do, failed miserably while singing at the game last night. She did so bad, I was cringing, feeling sorry for her, and the fans booed her off the field. = ( I wish performers would just sing the song the way it was supposed be sung and be done with it. Anyway, it felt bad for the chick, but maybe it taught her something and she'll just stick to the script next time.
If you were literally starving, would it be better to eat dirt or eat nothing? Now discuss....
BabyGolightly and I went to Texas last Friday to visit my parents, my sister, and her newborn little girl. It was a great trip - too short, as always. For his first plane ride, BabyGolightly did exceptionally well - as everybody told us. He was all the rave at the airport, on the plane, in baggage claim, in the parking garage - everywhere he went, everyone was in love. He did great on take off and landing even with the change in cabin pressure, his little ears were fine. He slept thru most all of the flights except the last one where he got a little restless. Luckily there was a little boy across the aisle that kept making faxed at him, keeping him entertained. I had to change his diaper and clothes in the airplane bathroom which is not easy with a squirming 20 pound bundle of energy on your hands but we got it done. Of course he flirted with a few of the flight attendants which got us an offer to move up to first class - he's already learned how to use his good looks, I'm going to have to watch that. A lady in the airport even took his picture. We met up with my Mom, sister, her boyfriend/fiance'/cohabitant/babby daddy/one day to be husband/whatever you call him, and my new little niece at the airport, got the bags, and headed to the roaring town of Lytle. My Dad came home a little while later and we all just hung out. My niece is wonderful - so small. I can't believe mine was ever that little but he was. My sister is feeling the exhaustion of having a newborn and trying to recover from a C-section (I remember how that feels and glad I'm used to it by now) so she's a little miserable but it was still good to see her. We didn't get to hang out and act goofy like we always do and I missed that but it's ok, we'll be able to do that about 18 years from now when our kids are grown.It was a great time, I wish we could have stayed longer. By the end BabyGolightly and I were both so exhausted and we conked out as soon as we laid down for a nap yesterday. MrGolightly was glad to have us back - he really missed his little boy and today's his birthday so what better gift than to get his son back in his arms.
7 hours seems like such a long time when you're talking about some things but not long enough when it comes to others. 7 hours is an extremely long time when it comes to the parent of a newborn baby sleeping during the night. BabyGolightly slept 8 hours straight last night which meant I got to sleep 7 hours straight. I went to bet at 10:30 and when he woke up at 5:30 to be fed, I looked at the clock and was stunned. I was sure this couldn't be the first time he got up during the night so I inspected the room for half empty bottles - evidence that he'd been up at least once already. There weren't any, just the 2 mixed bottles of formula powder I'd left on the night stand before going to sleep. Shit, I can't believe he slept that long. And Holy shit I can't belive I slept that long. That's the longest night of sleep I've gotten since he's been born. You have to count 7 hours on two hands. We'll see if it parlays into tonight. Somehow, I'm not holding my breath.
