Warning: more Cheerio eating! ha ha

Please bear with me as I share more moments of my visit with Owen......

What's a Grammie to do??? : )

'CheeriO'WEN

Mixed vegetables all over the place and a Cheerio stuck on his "sippy cup"....Ahhhh, mealtime!

You think this is messy? You should see what is on the floor!

OK, I'm done!

Is someone going to clean up this mess?

where to begin....

There is something so uniquely special about being a grandmother and that makes it so hard to put into the proper words. Actually, I am not sure that there are adequate words...

Maybe it is the fact that you are seeing "your baby's baby" and that just gets to you right in your heart..or possibly it is just the fact that this new little creature is now a part of your growing family...

Whatever it is...it has affected me in such a profound way. I am sure that any of my blogger friends out there that are grandparent's can relate.

I found myself just staring at him as he attempted to make his way around his environment on his own. At mealtime, just watching his little fingers pick up the soggy Cheerio's one morning was enough entertainment for a good half hour. As he "gummed" them and made his cute little noises I found myself transformed into another time when I, too, was a new mom watching my own babies. He ended up with Cheerio's stuck everywhere...but this didn't seem to bother him at all as he just kept searching for more of these little circular treasures on his high chair tray.

I relished watching him drink from his little "sippy cup" on his own. Many times he would enthusiastically shake it up and down and drench himself in the contents of the cup. Of course, this all tickled him to no end!

Owen laughs so much now and that is so contagious. It isn't just a little giggle...it is a hearty expression of pure joy! How can one feel out of sorts when this is going on around you??? I just wish that I could have bottled it and taken it home with me.

: )

What a happy baby as Grammie tries to keep the food from getting up in his nose!

... peek a boo...

How do I ever describe the joy that you bring into my life, dear Owen?

missing you already....

Home again.....

Wonderful doesn't even begin to describe my Minnesota visit....

Too tired to unpack last night and feeling very emotional (found out Dad had to go to the hospital for tests as he was having some issues with some fluid build up ---while he sounded okay when I spoke to him last night---it is always hard to hear this kind of news when I am not there with him) ...so I am going to get a few things done around here...and then put more pictures and thoughts down later...I shall return.

: )

Oh Owen....

Earlier, as I was holding Owen in my arms, he wrapped his little fingers around mine as he drank from his bottle. Then from time to time he would look up at me as he studied my face for familiarity. I guess that he probably decided that as long as I was feeding him...he was okay with whomever I was. : )

Two of his "feedings" were baby food and this was where things got interesting...and, messy! He started out with some Cheerios this morning and before all was said and done they were everywhere...mashed and soggy...we found more of them between the high chair tray and his little belly than made it to his mouth.

This little angelic grandson of mine has just stolen my heart forever. I find myself just happy to sit and watch him as he discovers new things....

My favorite thing that he does is when he is drinking from his bottle he takes his little hands and rubs the top of his head...and then very lowers his hands to the front of his face. He then spends several minutes studying his fingers-one by one. After this he starts all over again from the top of his head to the front of his face, seemingly mesmerized by his fingers. Ah, the wonder of it all!

Grammie, the Babysitter

Tonight I sent my son and my daughter-in-law out to see a movie while I handled things on the homefront.

I had my list of instructions and I was ready and confident as they drove away.

I fed Owen his oatmeal and fruit first and this went pretty well. But, then there was bottle number one that I needed to make sure that he finished.

After a couple of minutes, he seemed to be uninterested in taking in any more...but, I kept looking at my list of instructions that said:"Make sure and get him to finish the bottle!".

Eventually I stopped trying to give him the bottle and decided to let him play a bit. This was so wonderful as he straddled my lap and giggled and bounced as we played "horsie" for several minutes. Owen's laugh is so contagious and we were both having a great time....UNTIL...

There was an odor that began to be apparent and I hurriedly took him into the bedroom and changed that diaper. whew...no wonder he didn't want any more to drink...

So, I put him down to play for a bit more (he is crawling all over the place!) and then decided to try to get him to finish the bottle..As I lifted him up in the air my fingers felt something that shouldn't have been there...and I realized that the kid had pooped again...and it was pretty much covering him from head to toe!

I quickly undressed him and decided this might be an appropos time for a bath! Fortunately, he enjoys being bathed... so that was good. Unfortunately, he doesn't like being taken out of the tub so he cried quite a bit. But, eventually I got him dried off and happy again...and into his pj's.

At this point I was exhausted and was remembering why we have babies when we are young!

Back to the second bottle...he relaxed and began to doze off to dreamland when Oscar, the dog, spotted another animal outside and began to loudly bark. At this point my serene Owen began hysterically crying!

I checked my watch to see when the kids would be due home...but realized that I was definitely on my own here.

Anyway, the bottom line is that I put the dog outside for a bit...and got Owen and Oscar calmed down once again.

Just as I got him burped and into his crib for the night, Adam and Jenny pulled up into the garage.

"How was it, Mom?" they inquired.

With a big grin on my face I answered, "A piece of cake..." : )

Heaven right here in Minnesota

Owen is taking a little nap so I thought that I would steal away and write a quickie post this morning.

I am so enthralled with this little precious bundle of energy. He has grown so much since I last saw him and he is so responsive and adorable.

Do I sound like a Grammie, or what?

oops...I hear him getting up.

Later. : )

"Tomorrow, Tomorrow..."

At 6:40 A.M. tomorrow, one happy Grammie will be on her way to Minneapolis!

I have a full day of organizing and packing ahead...and, preparing myself for Gizmo's sulking as she sees me getting out the dreaded red suitcase again.

Upon arrival, I am going to head straight for Owen's Day Care where I will get to spend time with him until his mom and dad get off work at noon. I will be armed with some new children's books as well as some home-baked cookies as my way of saying "thank you" to his wonderful day care teachers. I can't wait to get re-acquainted with my grandson... : )

On another note, I thought that the Idol Show was very entertaining last night. Jordin came out the expected winner and belted out that syrupy finale song beautifully.

I loved seeing the past Idol winners, especially our two Birmingham boys: Reuben and Taylor. While I have always been a fan of Kelly Clarkson's, I didn't love the "gritty rock song" that she angrily belted out at the beginning of the show. But, the gentle singing of Carrie Underwood relaxed things again for me. All in all, it was an enjoyable show and I will miss my Tuesday and Wednesday night fix of American Idol...

I'm off to get my day started, but will end by posting a couple of pictures of Aunt Janet, Uncle Jeffrey and sweet Owen from their last visit two weeks ago. I, of course, will be taking millions of new pictures (what a surprise!?!) once I arrive in MN.....so, stay tuned. I will be heading back to Bham on Tuesday afternoon...

Have a nice holiday weekend everyone...and be safe.

xoxo Grammie

Who Will It Be?

In between doing laundry and packing for my departure Friday morning for Minnesota (pronounced "Min-a-SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-ta"!) I, of course, will be watching the American Idol finals tonight.

I have really liked Jordin all along and was glad to see that she made the finals....however, I felt that last night's show was a bit unfair to Blake. It seems to me that they should find finale songs that fit each contestant's style of singing.

While the winning song was perfectly suited for Jordin (and she belted it out!), poor Blake was having to struggle to sing this ballad...not because he isn't incredibly talented, but because it was not his style of song at all. For their final performance I found this quite unfair.

This "singing competition" may need to be tweaked a little next season to allow for the great variety of singing genres. To me, it seems as if each contestant should be allowed to sing the songs that will showcase their particular voice and style of singing. Forcing a country singer to belt out a rock song or having a ballad singer do B-bop doesn't really prove anything to me. If and when these individual's have their chance at making CD's....I am sure that they will stick to their unique style...so why not make this competition more realistic?

Does anyone else agree?

Owen is fascinated by the bubbles at his gym class....

and decides to try and eat some of them!

The countdown begins....

I am trying to stay calm.

But, in four days I will be with my grandbaby and Adam and Jenny.

YESSSS !!!

It sounds like I will be getting there just in the nick of time in that Owen has started to crawl all over the place (as you can see in this video from Adam).

He needs his Grammie there to make sure that he stays out of trouble now that he can get around.

It's a tough job, but someone's got to do it. : )

And, I'm ready to volunteer!!

It has been 4 months since I saw him last and that is like a hundred in baby years. I will have to reintroduce myself to him in that he only knows me as the face on the computer screen from our webcam moments.

I hope that I seem familiar to him after a while...

3 more l-o-n-g days until I leave for Minnesota.....

Hang on, Owen, Grammie is coming! : )

Something's FISHY here!

Saturday morning, the "group" headed to the Georgia Aquarium.

What an incredible facility where the different species of underwater life are displayed so beautifully!

First we had to go through security where we were scanned for metal objects...and then had our belongings searched. A sign of the times for sure...I had to laugh in that the only items that they were really confiscating were packs of gum. No dangerous weapons...just everything from bubble gum to Doublemint. I guess that they didn't want any of the fish blowing real bubbles! : 0

With my camera in hand, I snapped some beautiful photos. They didn't mind as long as you didn't use your flash.

Look what I "spotted"...

Who are all of these people and why are they taking my picture????

Judy and Jack are preparing to go underwater while Steve and Johnny are trying to pretend not to know them.... : )

Petting the stingrays...

The exhibits were not only visible but touchable! We got to feel sea anenomes, stingrays, starfish and even a shark or two.

It was a great day for all...

The Varsity

All of that fish watching made us all hungry so we headed to an Atlanta landmark, The Varsity.

This drive-in "greasy spoon" restaurant has been around since 1928 and is one of those "must go to" places while visiting the city.

The menu is filled with such culinary delights (!?!) as chili cheese dogs, bar-b-que pork, a variety of hamburgers, french fries and big ole onion rings.

For the health conscious (me) they now offer grilled chicken sandwiches amongst other things. But I didn't get away without ordering some of their yummy french fries that I doused in ketchup while enjoying every greasy bite!

I picked up some of the Varsity hats for the group and, we, of course took some pictures...

Steve, Judy, Johnny, Lisa, Jack and Dave's arm!

Steve's eye, Judy, Johnny, Lisa's half of a face, Jack and me.

"Hot"lanta

Home again after a lovely weekend in Atlanta!

The mini-reunion was so nice....and it was great seeing everyone again!

We couldn't have ordered better weather...it was delightfully cool with low humidity...perfect!

Here's the 'group' the first night:

(Jack, Judy, Dave, me, Lisa, Johnny and Steve)

Dinner on Friday was delicious thanks to Johnny and Lisa...shrimp, crab, cheese and dips were the appetizers as we all toasted being together again...and then they had tenderloin of beef, cheese grits (this is the South, ya know!) and a green bean casserole for the main course. I had baked prior to going there and brought some homemade chocolate chip and oatmeal cookies, lemon bars and brownies for dessert. It was all yummy.

Johnny brought out some old yearbooks which were good for a laugh. Did we really look like that back then?!?

We all decided that there really isn't anything like your old high school friends...it is a connection that stays with you for a lifetime. Those are such formative years and the bonds that we make then take on an even greater significance as we get older. Reminiscing followed dinner late into the night....

The next day we headed to the Georgia Aquarium.....so awesome....but, I have laundry to do....so more tomorrow! : )

Johnny and Steve make a toast to friendship!

Dave at the Friday night dinner...