Control, Containment and Contentment

(02/02/2012)  Walkin' Wolverine.  One day short of her nine-month birthday, Maesi walks in our kitchen sporting a UM outfit we'd purchased for Miles.  She began taking steps far earlier than any other baby I've known and now, at this writing and not quite ten months old, is nearly running!  Rubber bands have been returned to our lower cupboad knobs as she explores her environment at every opportunity!

     Reporting on the grandbabies is more newsy than just writing about us; at this stage of the game their development is coming in leaps and bounds, and sometimes those leaps end with them bounding on our tired old bones!

     Mae Elizabeth will be 10 months old on March 3.  As the caption above notes, she has been walking for over a month now . . . and with quite a bit of confidence.  Yesterday, we learned she can also climb at least four stairs.  Yikes!  We have to keep a serious eye on her at all times and spend a good share of each day shuffling along behind her, our backs hunched, at the ready to protect against bumps, bruises and other disasters.

     I continue to be warmed by Meg and Josh's decision to name their daughter after my mom and thus I also continue to look for common traits.  So far,  I believe Maesi shares these with her great-grandmother and namesake:  a small head (doctor's measurements prove this true), she loves to eat and her favorite 'sport' is people watching!  Plus, she has a very congenial personality!  Perhaps what she gets from this grandma -- she's always talking!

(02/06/2012)  Bathtub Boy.  At least someone gets some use out of our corner tub!  Just last weekend, I again dusted it!  But Miles liks baths and occasionally requests one in the 'big bathtub'.

   Last week, Miles and I made a one-layer cake for his 'half-birthday' as he turned 3 1/2 going on about 12.  He is quite the energetic little man and smart enough that he keeps us hoppin'.  He knows his ABC's, can count to 20, is nearly as adept at the computer as Grandpa (not a ringing endorsement, necessarily --  sorry, Glenn) and pretty much can name every piece of big equipment he sees.  Last week we were in a parking lot and a rather noisy pickup drove by -- "That truck is loud, Grandma.  It's a Cummins (engine)."  And, he was right!
    Reminscient of Meghan at age three, Miles has a large vocabulary which he uses correctly and he speaks quite clearly.  Two weeks ago while we were at the public library, Miles was talking to his favorite children's librarian, Miss Catherine.  A completely unknown woman came up behind him from another aisle and remarked "I just had to see who was putting out that voice!  He will certainly need to go into broadcasting with that voice!"  For a little guy, his voice is pretty loud and deep.  
    In that regard, I'm trying to work on the skill of not shouting in the house, even though I remember doing the same as a kid.  You know, standing at one end of the house and screaming for mom, dad, grandma, whomever -- rather than walking into the same room with them.  Today (as he was shouting for me while Mae slept):
   ME:  Miles, you don't have to shout.  Just come here near me.
   MILES:  I wasn't shouting, Grandma.  I was just calling you.
   Sigh.  How to argue?
    Perhaps Miles' most significant character trait is his tenacity.  I've never known a kid who can go back again and again and again to get what he wants; it kinda takes nerves of steel to hold out longer than he can at some points.  I keep telling him that if he stays as tenacious about everything he tries in life he can't help but be a success.
   We're still working through the sibling rivalry which accompanied the arrival of Maesi.  While he is protective of her in some senses, likes to hug and kiss her, he's not quite past the idea that she is not his competition.  He still takes toys from her, even the ones he doesn't want to play with and wriggles himself between her and whichever person is giving her attention.  Yet, when he's alone with either of us, he's generally just a well-behaved but curious little boy.  Together, he and Mae keep us moving.  And, no matter how tired we are when they leave in the evening, we look forward to seeing them when we get up the next morning.  Bein' Grandma and Grandpa is just good.

(02/21/2012)  You Can't Control Them; You Can Only Hope to Contain Them.  That's a favorite saying of Glenn's and has referred to many kids over the years.  Here, we managed containment when Miles and Mae worked together to empty the toy chest in our living room and then climbed in together.