Our Little Adventure: Grandparents and Guest Bloggers

Nothing much has been said about “Our Little Adventure” as grandparents; aka Gamma and Honey. Well, let me begin . . .

It all began over a year ago when Miss Lola stopped in to see Gamma and Honey, Nana and Papa Jay, on her way home from Colorado. It was “love at first sight” on all counts.
And the adventure began:

Thus far, Gamma and Honey have seen Lola at least one time per month. That just hasn’t been quite enough. Back in early spring, we got a call asking if Honey and I would like to go to Phoenix in early September in order to keep Lola while they went to conference in Las Vegas. I was given the “right of first refusal.” I first had to consult with Honey as I felt this was indeed a big chore and it made me very nervous. What if she started crying for Mama at bedtime every night. What would I do? I really thought Honey would be more skeptical about the adventure than I, but when I asked him he replied, “Sure, we can do that!” Then I told him Mama and Daddy wouldn’t be there and he said, “That’s even better!”

We went two days early so we could practice and get the routine down pat. Actually, her routine was fairly simple, but getting her in and out of that car seat wasn’t. We only took her out in the car twice and then abandoned the practice. Lola and I would take walks in the stroller and leave Honey to run errands with the car. Gramma flunked the car seat test.

We quickly found that when changing her diaper, you better be quick as she gives you about 10 seconds before she’s wiggling way beyond control. Perhaps that’s the reason Gamma gave her a diaper wedgie one night before bed and the poop came out everywhere. In the middle of the night when she started crying, I picked her up and thought she was simply wet. Well, was I ever surprised when I turned on the light and found what I found. It is no easy task trying to get one piece pj’s over a wiggly baby’s head when there is poop all over them. At 4 a.m.

I believe Lola’s big bff, Katie, has correctly nicknamed Lola . . . Porker. Boy can that kid eat. It was unbelievable. She was supposed to have 3 meals and 2 snacks per day. Well, that was definitely 5 meals, in addition to whatever snacks she found. And she absolutely seems to like everything. I think she got Gamma’s appetite. For whatever reason we weighed her before they left and she weighed just over 19 lbs. When they returned home, she had gained over 1 lb. I believe her favorite snack would have been cat or dog food, as she’d get over it on the floor and just stare at it. I let her, staying close enough to stop her if she got a handfull. Well, she’d contemplate taking a bit, then she’d look at me and just shake her head “no.” She really wanted it tho’, you could tell. I suspect she and Mama had been through this before and she had had a lesson in not eating the animal food.

It was just the best week of our lives. However, I quickly found out that I am too old to be chasing a baby full time. God knew what he did when he gave the young ones children and then made grandparents to spoil and help. There was actually no spoiling Lola tho’, as she was just such a happy baby and demanded nothing except to be fed. My back is still recovering from leaning over to pick up that 20 lbs. of pure joy. There is no way to describe the way our hearts have been filled with the love of this little girl. She is such a blessing and we thank God every day for her.

And now for the rest of the story. We had such a great time that we came home and have been preparing to move to Arizona. We just don’t want to miss one minute of that baby girl. She is sooooo special.