Granddaughter Duty

BRS and Abuela Happy to be Together Again

Since both the ABFA and my Favorite Son had required attendance events yesterday my wife and I were activated off the retired roles and stuck onto the major league parenting roster. I snuck out of work a couple hours early to journey north with my Favorite Panamanian. The usual hour and a quarter drive took more than two hours since I-495 seems to be getting itself riled up for summer traffic already. That was much easier to take because we had the BRS waiting for us at the end of the frustrating drive.

We’d seen her just this past weekend but I swear she seemed to have grown again. My wife immediately assumed control of the BRS as they continued their bonding exercises. The BRS seems to really enjoy my wife’s distinctive palaver. I was consigned to mostly Riggins duty which wasn’t a bad thing and he seemed to be delighted to have a guest focus on him instead of the BRS. I spent a lot of the evening with his head firmly in my lap.

I Did Get a Little Time with Her

 

I did get an extended time with my granddaughter when my wife relinquished her long enough to eat dinner. I took a page out of my son’s book and started an around the house walk while rocking the BRS. She’d been getting a little fussy but settled down as soon as we started out. I don’t think there’s a better feeling in the world (at least spiritually) than to have a granddaughter looking up into your eyes the way she was. We had a long talk (I handled most of the words involved). At some point and I still don’t understand why I said “Ooo-rah” which she seemed to take particular pleasure in. I was somewhat troubled since “Ooo-rah” is more USMC than Army but I’m sure I’ll be able to sneak in a few “Hoo-ahs” in the future. My time with the BRS was extended when she fell asleep in my arms but I could see that my wife was getting antsy.

Heads Up

And Seemingly Ready to Walk

She re-established primacy as soon as the BRS awoke which was fine with me since it involved a diaper change. The BRS seems to already want to stand and shows remarkable strength in her neck. My wife had her in her lap (of course) with a pillow and the BRS lifted her head up and seemed to take in every aspect of the surrounding room, very alert for a not quite three month old. She followed this up with an epic dinner. The BRS polished off the bottle of milk left for her but my wife was sure she was still hungry so another bottle was sent downrange as well. At least she’s picked up the family trait of eating well.

My Favorite Son returned around this time to handle the bed time chores as we hit the road back to Worcester. I-495 had divested itself of its earlier summer like affliction and the drive was just a little over an hour. We learned this morning that the BRS slept through the night for the first time ever so our visit will have some historical relevance. All new parents remember that blessed first time their child sleeps through the night.

FBR Out with Mommy Last Night

And Daddy Today - At the Zoo!

The FBR was out and about enjoying the summer like weather in New Jersey yesterday. She was dining out last night (I think with her parents) so there wasn’t a FBR-BRS cousin talk possible. Today is the weekly “Daddy-Daughter Day” that has Wingman and the FBR at the zoo. Wingman reports the goats are they biggest hit so far; probably from our promoting of Tom Brady all of her young life.

Happy About That!

I dashed through the latest John Sandford thriller, Twisted Prey, featuring his long time hero (and first member of my literary pantheon of heroes) Lucas Davenport. Sandford’s books are so damned good that I literally cannot put them down. Davenport now working as a federal marshal is pulled into an attempted assassination of a US senator by another senator that Davenport was unable to pin a murder on in an earlier book. He’s confronted by a team of former military special operators who have never been up against as thorough and tough an adversary as Davenport. They then make the serious blunder of going after someone close to Davenport to distract him. Big mistake. An historical body count level for a prey novel ensues. Sandford and Davenport have not lost anything off their fastball despite all the years we share.

Front Lawn ready for Some Seed