Princess "charm the pieces out of Gramma!"

Good morning. I’m not real sure about this, but I think I slept from about 7:30 to 3:30 without waking up, but maybe I just didn’t remember waking up ... I don’t know. Would be too odd to sleep a whole entire 8 hours?? We’ll have to check this out again. But, maybe?? :)

We’re going to write a shorter entry today ... I know, I know ... I have a reputation and all to maintain. Just yesterday, we covered most our main thoughts of late. Now we would like to take some time for some other stuff as well. Mainly we would like to work a little with the Paper Tiger. That was short suited. And, there will most likely be the "Jacob thing" today. We’re thinking he won’t even be up until 10 or 12. He was too busy yesterday to set up some time, so that adjustment will have to be made.

The only real news of the day yesterday was that my Granddaughter was here for a visit. Up front? It was very truly the most wonderful thing. I feel very blessed to have her over.

The first thing I remember was the buzz at the door. We were anticipating it. There is this little game we play where I look over the rail outside the door and she looks up waiting for me so that she can giggle for a moment and play shy. We know though that she’s still at that stage where she’s excited to be here. What a very cool thing!

We had to slow her down for a couple of minutes, because she wants to start up on the fun as soon as she gets in, but there is always a little conversation with her father before he leaves and that’s important too. But, as soon as that gets done, she’s all mine!

Normally, the first thing she wants me to do is turn on the Disney web set. That has all kind of wonderful games to play. But, this time as I mentioned yesterday, we wanted to set up the timer. So we talked about it for 3-4 minutes and she agreed to play by the rules. 50 minutes she would choose freely what the two of us would do, then 10 minutes of each hour, I would decide. Pretty cool stuff. I told her father our intentions and he seemed ok with that, but a little pessimistic it would work. Eh ... needed to check it out.

So, we started. After skipping around a bit, we noticed as her father had suggested that she was a little tired. Not that we would have a nap time, but between rounds she would pick up her little blankey, suck her thumb, and rest laid up against me. These days are numbered, so we soak them up as best we can. There was a little trade back with the new Barbie too. Soon on she decided that we could hold her. Yes, Abbe ... that is the most beautiful dress!

After about 30 minutes and right on cue, she decided that her little tummy was hungry. So, we agreed she could keep playing and I would tend to the vittles. That worked out ... set the timer for that too. When it went off, she came out to the kitchen and lunch was served. She decided to half milk, since that was all we had, except water. We made sure to set the dining room table, so she understood we were going to eat there instead of the coffee table by the TV. Then we preceded to have a very nice conversation. She started off quiet, but I asked her questions And she always notes one of my cloth wall calenders with three Siamese cats. This time she asked if she could count them. Sure, good thinking! After that she counted tails and ears, too!

Next, we went back to the computer, but soon after the timer rang. I told her during my time, I think I would like to read a book. So, I picked up a book on Boris the Bear, and Morris the Moose and sat down in my recliner. She was invited and accepted some time to read together. I was very excited, because reading is a pretty big deal to me. We had a whole lotta fun and she pointed to the pictures I asked about which let me knew she was following along quite well. We even got into the secondary (background) pictures and since this was a book about Morris learning which circus role he would like to play, meant that the "crowd" pictures in the background were secondary. It only took her once to recognize them and figure out the people were happy with Morris’ performance. Cool, we thought. The timer went off early, but she decided she would like to continue reading the book.

After that there was more computer time. We learned a new trick. When a four year old tells you that it is your turn to choose the game, it really means guess what it is that I want to do next. I would point at a game to play, and she would say, no grandma, choose again. We would go through a series of choices, until I guessed her choice and then she would tell me it was ok. Then as soon as we turned to that one, she would say, "Ok, now it is my turn!" Thought, hmmm ... interesting.

After a long while, she was really to zapped to go on much long, so we suggested we look what was on tv. The children shows "per cable" were limited, but I noted that Sponge Bob was on. I’ve heard mixed reviews on the show, but figured we might as well try that one. I asked if it were ok and she said, "yes." In the meantime she decided as per other visits to test out bouncing on my couches. Figure she probably doesn’t get to do this much at home, but since I have such bouncy coaches ... the sky would be the limit.

After a few moments of that, she remembered the game of building forts. She asked frequently for me to do something for her, but I continued to say, no you can do that. She usually picked up on the cue quite nicely after she figured out that we were serious. In like mind, I was very conscientious of not asking her to things for me that I really could do. My couch is one of those that is cushion to cushion and lots of throw pillows so there is plenty of building material, plus she likes to use a sheet as a roof which is fine. We have those too.

After that she settled into watching the show. She had decided that it should be on while she was building. Then, not so much later, she decided she would like to sit with Grandma. Love that part! I think she was a little surprised, because I made it a point to remind her that I was still there every 10-12 minutes, by laughing out loud or commenting on something funny.

As it turned out, we’d turned onto a Marathon of SpongeBob shows. Cool, what better way to figure the show out. We noticed after each show, she would ask what that meant? In a sense, she needed some hint about why the last part was funny, or what it was trying to tell us. Toward the end, she was able to catch the funny part herself. Usually, it was something ironic.

As it turned out, I really did like SpongeBob and his friend. Wasn’t as sure about the other characters, but we felt it a good mix. It seemed like a young/old person’s show at the same time. I liked it that the two main characters we’re constantly playing off each other and they would go yards on any topic and would carry it out, sometimes through silliness, to the best logical conclusion. I felt the authors were very masterful at moving it along, while keepin it simple and interesting. There were obvious values issues presented and I got a lot out of that!

Between the computer and TV, that really took a lot of time. But, there were interactions, particularly between shows or games. She’s a bit of a luvey dove, so that pleased me to bunches. I later told her mother that she didn’t have a single mean bone in her body. Her mother said like, "hmm, ok..."Hehe there is certainly a great value into being a Grandmother. In our case, we decided to spoil her with our attention.

She had noted her parents pulling up before they rang, so there was a little haste on her side of making sure she was fed again. We had a small container of cold pineapples, so we both decided on that. We had to tell her mommy and daddy, sorry not enough to go around, but they, of course, we’re fine with that. Actually, they looked kind of beat. They spread themselves out on the couch and conversation was almost dragged out of them. Little one, hehe was suddenly remembering all that she hadn’t had a chance to do. She also expressed her second tears of the day.

The first time came in a power struggle over who got the recliner. We worked it out in that possession is truly 9/10's of the law. The second time, I had split the pineapples 50/50. She ate hers quickly while I was slow on mine. So, she decided she would like mine too. She asked nicely enough, so I gave her all but, one (4 or 5 pieces). She stated then in a panicked voice, that she wanted that one too. But, grandma said no that she would like that last one. Mama helped her through that one with the logic, they were after all grandmas pineapple. Princess said to her mama, but she hurt my feelings! To which, unfortunately Mama said, "Get over it!" Hehe Oh my ... ya gotta love it!

She had to pretty much be knocked down and drug out of here. She was acting pretty poorly when it was time to go. I think the folks would have postponed the exit too, because they were really wiped out, but I thought I was getting a visitor yet that night AND, they did come home later than expected. In all from start to finish it was six hours on my day. The last thing perfect child asked was for something a little sweet before she left. I thought for a minute, hmm ... pineapple didn’t do it? Then I remembered she’d liked the little wrapped candies I’d left up on the files. That soothed her just fine.

*Giggle* I apologized to the folks saying apparently it wasn’t a real good thing to nap at Grandma’s, but suggesting that I was fairly sure, she’d fall asleep in the car. So, in a very big nut shell, that was about it. Very, very good time. The pure site of her, feel of her is very, very stupendous!