Baby Henry

Lizzy Is Growing

I haven't posted any pictures of Lizzy since she was brand new.  This is from about 3 weeks ago.  Like her momma, she wants to STAND at a ridiculously young age.  Rachel had to put a book under the baby's feet so that she could use her walker.  But now she's grown big enough to reach the floor!

New Grandbaby

Baby Elizabeth arrived a few days ago.  She is so little and so pretty and it's wonderful to hold her!

Potatoes Are Done

The centipedes will gobble up Yukon Gold that sit in the ground too long.  So when we saw the potato vines beginning to yellow, we decided to get out there and dig 'em up before we lost 'em.

Somebody was having a grand time helping move potatoes from the bucket back to the dirt, or from the bucket into the wash-water, or from the muddy water back into the bowl of dirty potatoes.  Somebody else decided to help Nanna scrub potatoes. 

Grand to have such helpers!!

A Granddaughter

I was so proud whenever my grandma would introduce me to people as "My Only Granddaughter."

That's really just stupid.  Why be proud of that? 
And yet, I was.

When my sister was born, that was nifty enough that I didn't pine over the loss of my "Only" status.   But even today, I remember the way Nanna would stand tall and throw her shoulders back a bit and smile over the words, "My only granddaughter."

Rachel called today after her ultrasound.  I have another granddaughter.  Woo hoo!  It thrills the heart.  (Although, as Rachel and Matt said, we'd be just as thrilled to hear that it's a boy.)

Somehow that made me think of Nanna.  And it made me realize that Matthias is "My Only Grandson."  At least for a while.

Twelve Minutes

Grandkids were dropped off here on Monday morning.  Katie told me what she'd brought for food and gave me a list of phone numbers. 

No sooner had Mommy and Daddy left than Alia (6 yrs old) tells me that she NeeEEEeeeds a peanut-butter-&-Nutella sandwich.  "It's been TWELVE minutes since I ate breakfast, Nanna.  I am SOooooo hungry!" 

"Twelve minutes?!  Oh my.  Really?!"

"Yes, Nanna.  Twellllve minutes.  I neeeEEEeeed a sandwich!!"   This is, of course, accompanied by elaborate gestures and vocalizations of one nigh onto dying of starvation.

After a bit of this [ahem] bantering, I leave for a minute or so to help Zoe with something.  I come back to the kitchen, and Alia dives in again.  "It's been TWELVE minutes since I ate.  I neeEEEeeed food, Nanna!  I neeEEEEeeed a Nutella sandwich!" 

Please understand that it takes about 7 minutes to drive from their home to ours.  They'd been here for a few minutes already.  Doing a fairly good job of hiding my desire to laugh, I told Alia, "You know, sweetie, twelve minutes ago, I think your parents were already locking the door of your apartment and you were headed down the stairs and out to the car.  I'm not so sure of your timetable on all this." 

A moment of regrouping.

"Nanna, it's been THIRrrrrTEEeeN minutes since I ate.  I'm starving!!  I neeEEEeeed a peanut-butter-&-Nutella sandwich."

Miscarriage

"Jesus wept."

Lora remembers her children in heaven and talks about the comfort of Jesus' tears and the comfort of the resurrection of the body. 

Lord, have mercy upon us.

Zoe Said Her Catechism Verse

At church, there's a star-chart in the hallway.  Kids' names, listed by grade, with slots for having learned the main Bible stories and the Six Chief Parts.  When you say the Bible verse from one of the chief parts, you get a colored star.  When you speak the entire section, the date is listed. 

Today 3-yr-old Zoe recited fully and correctly to Pastor for the first time.  (Earlier this year, she told him the Lord's Prayer almost by herself without prompts.)  This morning she whispered told him the verse from John 20.  He gave her a high-five, then she walked away, dragging me with her.  Down the hall.  Directly to the star chart.  It was all of about 15-20 seconds after finishing her recitation. 

Disappointed little girl.  Her star had not appeared on the chart yet!

(I told Pastor about her expectation.  I suspect the star will appear soon.)

Learning the Letter Sounds

Three-year-old says:
"Q" is for "'kwuh."  Kwuh, kwuh, KWOSED!


 (You know.  "Kwosed" -- the opposite of open.)

Stealing Katie's stories because 

they make me smile.

Your Daughter-in-Law?

Katie came to the bank today with the kids.  The girls accepted stickers and colored.  Matthias crawled around, causing Alia to worry that he would get into the garbage or something.  Our newest employee did Katie's transactions while I flirted with the grandkids. 

After my family left, the new teller asked, "So, that was your daughter-in-law?" 

No.  She's my daughter. 

It happens over and over.  When there's a substitute or a new employee, upon meeting Katie, they always assume she is my daughter-in-law, and they seem surprised that she's my daughter.

A) Different last names seems to me to indicate she had my last-name, but no longer does.  But divorce is rampant, and some women don't take their husbands names anyhow.  Still, wouldn't it be nice if people could take it for granted that her different-last-name meant she was my daughter?

B)  Really -- why the pervasive assumption that Katie is married into the family instead of born in?  I don't get it.

Time Flies

 So why is it that grandkids grow up so much faster than your own kids?

Because you're older, and 5 years of kiddo-growth is a proportionately smaller part of your life when you're 50 than when you're 25?

Or because your whole life isn't consumed with tending them, caring for their every need, comforting, teaching, feeding, cleaning, knowing their lingo and their own sinful propensities and their own particular sweetnesses? 

Matthias

Sitting up and crawling.
And loving those entertaining sisters.

The Child's Tale

Plumbing leak in the basement. 
Very much like July's water problem which turned out to be a plugged line.  Probably something flushed that ought not to have been flushed.

After calling the plumber, Maggie and I were discussing the situation in front of the grandkids.  Alia (age 5) began asking questions.  "Would this happen if piggies were in the toilet?"

"Excuse me?  Pigs in the toilet?"

"Toy piggies, Nanna."

"How would toy pigs get into the toilet?"

"Well, one day I was playing in the bathroom.  And I was tossing the toy pigs around.  They flew through the air and landed in the toilet."

"Alia, if anything EVER goes in the toilet, it would be very helpful if you told us, so we could get it out and not pay the plumber a LOT of money to fix it."

"But I had to go potty.  So I did."

"Well, that's good.  But do you know how important it is that toys NOT go down the toilet?  It is SO important that I would stick my hand into the toilet (even with poop or pee in the toilet) to get the toys out.  Because it's very very hard to clean up the mess from a plugged toilet.  And it's very expensive." 

"But I forgot and I flushed."

"I understand.  You didn't know that we shouldn't flush toys.  But now you do."

So I thought that was the explanation for our plumbing problems.  However ...

a little later,
still before the plumber had arrived,

Alia began to explain the mouse problem.

She had noticed the holes in the wall where the plumbing pipes came through.  Apparently, they seemed too big to her, or she had never noticed such a thing before.  Whatever the reason, she was convinced these were mouse holes. 

"Alia, we don't have mice inside.  Those aren't mouse holes.  Those are holes for the pipes."

"No, they are mouse holes.  You do have mice.  I see them sometimes.  When I open the cupboard doors, sometimes there are mice in there, looking back at me.  YOU don't see it, Nanna.  This always happens when you're not there." 

[Suspicious story, eh?]

"Alia, we don't have mice inside."

"Nanna!  They are in the pipes!  That's why you don't see them."

"IN the pipes?  Alia, mice cannot get into the pipes."

[sigh] "Yes, they can, Nanna.  I know these things!  When I see the mice in the cupboards, I look at their faces.  There are mice whose faces are hungry-looking.  And there are mice whose faces are thirsty-looking.  And I can tell the difference!  The ones that are thirsty-looking are the ones who get into your pipes.  They want a drink of water, Nanna.  And then they chew holes in your pipes.  That's why there's water leaking out of your pipes."



Riiiiight.
Too bad I know nothing about mice.

I managed not to laugh at the child.
But as I was telling her mother the story?  Yeah, we both had a good laugh.

Thing is, after the mice story, I don't put much stock in the pigs-in-the-toilet story either.

And from what the plumber said, the pigs-in-the-toilet story sounds pretty unlikely too.  Pigs-in-the-toilet would be a comparatively simple, easy, cheap repair.

Nanna's Hat

Matthias is crazy about this hat.  Some friends at church saw his joyful face on Sunday: "Oh, look how happy he is to see his grandma."

No.  Not really.  He was just happy to see my hat. 

Yes, he likes me, and he will smile and laugh and be happy when he looks me in the eye.  But if he looks me straight in the hat-brim instead, then watch out world! because sparkles will be dancing from baby boy's eyes.

And for those who are wondering how the hair-growth is coming, this is the 3-month picture.  The last bare-headed picture I posted was at 7-weeks growth, so it's come a long ways.  I still don't like it, but I'm no longer mortified by my hair.

And yes, I'm vain.

Strawberry Picking

Katie has done a LOT to tend the garden since I crashed.  When it comes to picking sweet berries, the girls are quite happy to help.  Alia loves it when we find insects or other small critters in the garden for her; she and I have different opinions, however, as to which of those creatures/pests should live or die.

I am SO glad we changed the strawberries last year, transplanting berries into a raised bed and putting grass seed in the former berry plot.  It's made the mowing much easier because we [well, they] are no longer mowing around an odd-shaped plot.  And I can help with picking/tending berries as they're easier to reach, and I can even sit on the boards at the edge of the bed.  Besides, the number of weeds is minimal in a raised bed compared to the ground-level plot.

Those worker-gals (in the photo above) forgot to take their berries home with them yesterday. So instead we are going to hog the benefits of their work.  We will enjoy strawberry shortcake for somebody's "birthday" today.  We'll have to pick some berries and drop them off for Katie's family another day.  Unless one of the other kids beats us to the next pickin' ....

Easter Pictures

Nanna got her hands on the Matthias.

This is just such a happy picture.

Beautiful mama.  And that couldn't possibly be a yawn from baby.   I think he must be singing "Alleluia"; don't you agree?

April Pictures

Zoe (and Alia) -- April 3

Zoe was showing me how she can put her hand by her chin in a certain ponderous pose: "Dis is what finking looks like."

Alia -- April 3

Where's Waldo?

Papa and Matthias -- April 6

Matthias's Baptism

Okay, so it's a six-week-old picture 

that I should've posted a long time 

ago.  I'm behind...

Matthias

Born Tuesday.
Baptism scheduled not this Sunday, but next.
Mother and baby are both doing fabulously.

Happy Things

Pictures taken by our friend Rachel.  (By the way, if anybody around here needs high school graduation pictures, Rachel is superb!)