On being a Grandmother . . .

• I haven't blogged lately because I spent the entire month of December with my beautiful granddaughter, Rosalyn and her parents, my son, Bill, and his wife, Sierra.
• I was present for Rosalyn's birth on June 28, 2007. Holding her for the first time made my heart hurt in a most exquisite way. I stood with my son, holding his newborn daughter. Tears were flowing without shame from my Sailor/firefighter/paramedic son's eyes.
• When a parent is as lucky as I am to have her grown son fall in love and marry a woman who becomes her friend as well as daughter-in-law it is a blessing. Having a grandbaby result from that union is akin to feeling love coming full circle.
• From the beginning it became habit for me, Nana, to get up with Rosalyn for her first diaper change and feeding of the day. That is our time. Nana and Rosalyn with everyone else asleep. Eighteen months later that habit still exists whenever I'm fortunate enough to be with her. You see. Rosalyn and her parents live in Chesapeake, Virginia. I live in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Over a thousand miles separate us. It's simply too much.
• Rosalyn has always been curious and into things as she develops the skills to do so. Everything intrigues her. She gets frustrated when she isn't able to figure something out. She loves life. The photo of her on the right I titled, "Wow." It was taken on her first birthday. Nobody knows what she saw that day to impress her so much.
• She loves animals. Rosalyn lives with two dogs. A daschund named Chloe, who is sill extremely jealous of her and a very laid back basset hound named Hunter. Roslayn and Hunter play, usually with her climbing all over him. See the photo of Rosalyn talking to Hunter.
  
• When I was there at Christmas we took Rosalyn to a Winter Wonderland and live Nativity. She was in awe of all of the animals. There was a small petting zoo there. She loved the pony. I am a horse lover of unrealistic proportions. I have made it my goal to turn Rosalyn into a horse lover. I made sure she got to pet a pony.

Keeping up with an 18 month old is almost more than this old girl can handle. She stays busy from the time her feet hit the floor until she is down for a nap or bed. Of course, Nana has to help her dress her doll, roll her little ambulances and fire trucks around, put shapes in the proper hole, and read books.

I love that she is so interested in books. We must read a dozen a day. Sometimes she will get a book from her shelf and sit on the floor turning the pages and "read" it. She can't say many words yet, but her babbling contains voice inflections appropriate for the story. I pray that her love of books continues throughout her life. That is a goal of mine and her parents. Make learning fun and never be ashamed of her intelligence as she gets older.

She is learning sign language. She is most familiar with the sign for food and more. The following photo shows signing more. There is a growing trend nowadays for parents to teach their babies sign language. I think it's great. Signing is much like a second language and it could prove helpful as she gets older.

Runny nose and all I love this baby girl. All my adult life I heard others speak about the joys of having grandchildren. I wanted to be one. I wanted to be a Nana. I am now a member of the grandparent's club.

Christmas was great! Seeing the look of awe in the eyes of a baby when we passed homes decorated with lights and yard ornaments made me laugh and ooh and ahh with her. She had a problem keeping away from the Christmas tree and the wrapped gifts. No became the word of the day.

When the time came to open gifts on Christmas morning she had to be shown how to open the them, she's a fast learner like her Nana and she was tearing into the gifts like a pro in no time. She thought all of the gifts were for her and became a bit frustrated when she couldn't open them all.

My words aren't sufficent to relay the joy and love this baby brings into my life, but I hope those of you reading my blog will enjoy seeing the baby who changed my life in many ways.

God is good, isn't he?

Happy New Year to all.

P.S. Someone tell me how to get rid of all the dead space between the end of the post and the bottom of the page for comments?