Smile Big

It is amazing how small children pick up technology. The things that a six year old knows  were skills I learned in college. My granddaughter, who is two years old, loves to use her Leap Pad and iTouch. She also loves taking pictures on her mother's iPhone. Over the last few days, I watched her as she took the phone, opened the app and started clicking away. She told the family how to pose and even handed us props. As she focused on each person she said, "Smile big". She knew that smiling and pictures go together. Her pictures were perfectly centered and focused. She did better than I did. When I got home last night, my daughter in law sent me a beautiful picture of her and my son. It was taken on the shoreline. After a second, I realized that the baby was not in the photo. Then it dawned on me. The baby was the one taking the photo.

Best Visit

We had the best visit with our granddaughter. She is old enough to know who we are and that made all the difference. Soon we will have breakfast and get on the road. My granddaughter is at the age where she is aware of her family. Everywhere we went , she took a head count, Where's mommy, daddy, grandma, poppy, sithu and vu? If someone left the room, she kept her eye on the door waiting for their return. Yesterday I mentioned that I was going home today and she looked upset. She kept asking, "Are you going now"? This will be the first time that I say goodbye and she is actually aware of us departing. I hope she is not too upset and does not look for us the rest of the day.

Living Doll

After a six hour drive in pouring rain, we arrived on the Cape. We were welcomed by the prettiest girl there, my granddaughter. She came right to me with a big hug and a kiss. In the four months since I last saw her she has changed from a toddler into a little girl. She is as cute as can be and talks up a storm. She has independent thoughts and brings up sensible topics of conversation. She is like a living porcelain doll. I spent the evening staring at her and smiling. We discussed our painted toe nails and what she wanted to do the next day. I was so impressed as she ordered her own meal at the restaurant. She told the waitress what she wanted in a clear voice. I never remember my children doing that. This morning we are going to see Sleeping Beauty. I will be sitting next to an awake beauty.

On The Road

It is raining out. In fact, it is pouring. In about one hour, we will be on the road for a five hour trip to Cape Cod. Of course it is always nicer to take a long drive in beautiful weather but I would rather it rain now and be nice tomorrow. My son has been at the Cape for a few days now and the weather was perfect. My husband always has a theory that when he travels, the sun shines. I guess there is a flaw in that theory.

Charting the Course

Tomorrow we are going to New England to visit our children. My son started to chart the weather ten days ago and was thinking of cancelling the vacation as it looked like a rainy week. We decided to go anyway and for the most part the weather looks fine except for tomorrow. It looks like thunderstorms all day. I will be driving for at least 4 1/2 hours and the ride seems longer in bad weather. Maybe by tomorrow the clouds will shift and the sun will shine.

Another Opinion

My grandson is now at the age where he has his own thoughts and can share them. Last night we went to dinner where he acted like a perfect gentleman. We then went to Walmart to get a few items. After that we got in the car to go home, when a tiny voice said, "Ices". We looked at him and asked him to repeat what he just said. Again he said, "I want ices". He knows that many times after dinner we go to the ices store for dessert so since we did not mention it, he would. We all agreed that getting ices sounded good so we drove to the ices store. As we approached the block, he spotted the sign and began pointing to it to show us the way. It was nice to see that he is now a new voice in the family.

Brotherhood of Fruit

Last week I was in the supermarket buying fruit. I put a pound of cherries in my cart and moved on to the potato area. Suddenly there was a person standing right next to me. He was about 30 years old and looked like a weight lifter. He bent over and whispered in my ear. "Don't buy the cherries". I turned to him, looking a bit stunned. I did not expect to have a stranger talk to me. I replied "Why"? He said that they were not sweet. He tested a few and they were not good so he wanted me to know. I thanked him for the tip but said that the cherries were for my husband so I did not care how they tasted. We both laughed. He said that since they were for a man, now a brotherhood was involved so I had to put them back. He was looking out for his "team". I put them back. When my husband asked where his cherries were, I told him a member of his team wouldn't let me get them.