Perfect love sometimes does not come until the first grandchild. ~~ Welsh Proverb
I'll never forget the day our grandson Caleb was born. His mother fell into an exhausted sleep from 24 hours of laboring which ended in an unscheduled c-section. With no father around I got to experience the magic of bonding with him in his first moments of life. His head was as conical as Grandpa Simpson from being stuck in the birth canal for so long. One ear was squished into a misshapen purple blob. Some strange tumorish lump covered the entire back of one hand. It appeared that he may only have one testicle. God I just sat there in amazement at his beauty, promising that I would always be there to take care of him and I'd make him special hats to cover his funny head and send him to Christian school where they'd be less likely to make fun of him. Idiot that I was; I didn't realize the first three 'defects' I describe above would just magically disappear by the end of the first week and the boy parts do end up dropping within a year or two. :-) We'd only ever had girls so what did we know? I felt really guilty for the first couple of years...it seemed like I loved him more than I'd loved my own! How horrible, right?! But then I started talking to other grandparents about it and they said, "OH, we all feel the same way!" Some combination of getting older and wiser and it's almost like getting a second chance, only better--you're getting to experience your children's children. It really is magic. I've tried very hard to savor and remember every day, knowing how fast it goes by, yet here he is already eight years old.
The kinda sucky part of having a summer birthday is many of your classmates are either gone or just plain forget that they got invited to your party. But just enough did show up to have a fun time.
The water was warm but when the sun went behind the threatening rain clouds it was maybe 52 degrees. BRRR! The second they got out their lips turned blue!
His face here tells the whole story--"Wow, Mom. This is a really lame excuse for a birthday cake." lol. I just crammed eight candles in one of the cupcakes. And the wind would NOT let us keep them lit, so I think by the time Melissa put it in front of him one candle was still lit. Gosh, I see we didn't even bother to take them out of the box they traveled in . Oh well, there were enough M & M's on them to get him over it real quick. :-)
He got some cool gifts, money which seems to be the norm these days, and a bike from Papa and I. Here he is reading the part in our card that says "We love you SO VERY MUCH"
Awwww. Such a very sweet child.
The next day being Father's Day, the kids went to visit Madison's dad and John and I were left to entertain ourselves. We headed to the wharf and it was gorgeous out. What a difference a day makes!
I asked the waitress, "Would you take our picture? We're not tourists or anything, we just don't get to come out and be adults very often." :-)
Yikes. I should have asked her to take two! Oh well--it is what it is, right?
This week promises to be a super duper mail week if you know what I mean! I should be back soon with pretties to share. Hope you had a great weekend, too.
Congratulations to your new baby.. he is so cute..
Posted by: Web Development | June 30, 2009 at 09:09 PM
What a little cutie.
Posted by: shanna | June 23, 2009 at 11:07 AM
Funny about the picture. So true. We are expecting our first grandchild in October. I keep feeling like a bad grandmother because I'm not really excited. It just doesn't seem real to me.
Posted by: Nanette | June 23, 2009 at 07:30 AM
Still waiting for that first grandchild here, so love to read how wonderful it is! Enjoy every minute of it.
Posted by: Mary on Lake Pulaski | June 22, 2009 at 06:25 PM
Look at his face. I mean really, he's just so joy filled.
And you two are so super cute I could croak. xo
Posted by: pam | June 22, 2009 at 05:53 PM
You SHOULD take pics! Love it and look at that baby. PRECIOUS!
Posted by: CherryTreeLane | June 22, 2009 at 05:20 PM
Whenever you write about Caleb it brings a (happy) tear to my eye. I can SO agree with you about that special love for our grandchildren. I'm blessed to see my 2 yr old granddaughter every day and get such wonderful hugs from her.I do sometimes feel I love her more than I did my own children, and am so glad others feel the same way.
Posted by: Di | June 22, 2009 at 03:34 PM
Oh do I know what you mean, we have all girls, so I knew when my oldest got married and had children, it would be a boy, I was right, he is 3 1/2 months old, and there is now way to explain the love you feel. It is the most special kind of love to see your child have and care for her child. WOW!! 8 years, I will need to remember how quickly it goes! He looks like a sweet guy!
Posted by: Jane | June 22, 2009 at 02:27 PM
Jen, I know what you mean about the first grandchild--there is nothing like it! He looks like a very sweet boy. Hope you have a wonderful week!
Posted by: dotti white | June 22, 2009 at 01:13 PM