Dearest Owen,

One day when you are old enough, I hope that you will have a chance to read through some of the letters that I have written to you in my blog. Since your birth was the inspiration for my starting this blog, it only seems fitting that I should save these posts for you.

Spending the weekend up in Minnesota with you was almost beyond words.(...but, you know your Grammie....I always seem to be able to come up with some words to express my joy and delight! : ) ha! )

The love that surrounded you last weekend was so palpable. There wasn't a thing that you did that didn't give us all a tremendous amount of pleasure.

I am quite sure that your mommy and daddy are having to undo some of the spoiling that we did...but, I guess that is what grandparent's are for, right?

If you put the spoon of food in your mouth by yourself we were amazed at this grand feat...even your hiccups were enchanting....and when you threw that ball to us...OH! that was an achievement of Olympic proportions. If you fit the square toy into the correct hole, you were an absolute genius deserving of a hearty round of applause!! (We have your application for MENSA ready to go!)

I watched as all of us drifted back to a time when getting on our hands and knees crawling around after you was a possibility without the moans and groans that normally accompany such tasks at our age. We began to interact with you while taking on your language of indistinguishable sounds because it caused you to happily react back to us. And, no matter how many times you dropped that sippy cup on the floor, we were there to retrieve it and put it back on the high chair tray.

Taking you to the playground at the park we playfully climbed up the equipment, went down slide and joined you on the swings as we shared your joy of adventure. (Thankfully, a couple of Advil would help our joint pain later on that evening!)

We recalled a time when blowing bubbles and trying to pop them was magical....when a simple blade of grass could hold our interest for a while....and when watching someone's tongue move about in their mouth was captivating.

We saw a reflection of our own youth in your sweet eyes and heartwarming smile. You allowed us to be young again...and it was incredible.

So, my dear Owen, thank you for bringing out the kid in all of us again.

Watching you grow is a miraculous pleasure that renews itself every time that I am with you.

Until the next visit...

I love you so very much and miss you already,

Your Grammie