Esther, John Ben, Misha, and Vera have left for another semester of school. It’s been a great summer for seeing my grandkids grow. As always, I’ll miss the four of them, while cherishing the peace and quiet left behind. The living room is spotless. There are no little cars or baby toys scattered about, though when I move the furniture for my annual baklava party, there’s no telling what funny things will appear. The living room is empty. Esther and John Ben aren’t discussing deep philosophical or theological issues, planning their next papers, or deciding what sounds good to eat. All the teenagers in the house are hiding in their lairs…I mean rooms.
Vera grew so much from when I saw her being born in February. I always wanted plump babies, but my six were all so skinny. Vera is the vision of health with massive thighs that fit into twelve-month pants, though she just turned six months. She’s the kind of baby that is wonderful to squeeze! She has so much to say with her coos and squeals. Her smiles and giggles warm my heart, and nothing makes her laugh harder than watching her big brother Misha do big brother things like sliding down the colorful slide in the back courtyard. She also loved sitting in her bouncy seat in the shade under a tree with the leaves waving above her. Her favorite snack right before she left was her left big toe. Days before they left, she flipped herself over! Upon arriving home, Vera started sitting up. By Christmas she will probably be crawling all over the place and cruising.
Misha turned two in April. His parents woke him up saying, “You’re two years!”
Confused about what they were saying, he repeated the words back to them.
“Yes!” they yelled, “Two years!”
They went back and forth until the words came together for him. He smiled brightly, pulled his earlobes, and yelled, “Two ears!”
Over the summer I pulled out all my favorite children’s books and bought new copies of the books my kids had read into oblivion. Some of the titles include Go Dog Go, Are You My Mother, Dr. Seuss ABC, and Hop Toad. Hop Toad is a delightful tale about a toad who is almost run over by a truck when he crosses the road and stops at just the wrong time. It’s intense but has a happy ending. The book has beautiful illustrations and about thirty words. In the early weeks of July, a big, fat toad showed up in our courtyard. When Misha saw it, he immediately ran back in the house with a matchbox car. A funny reenactment of the book with the toad ten times bigger than the truck was about to happen when Mr. Toad hopped away.
Sophia and I also had fun taking Misha on summer outings. Early in the summer I took him to the zoo and found both the zebras and vultures memorable.
I held Misha up to see the zebras over the adobe wall separating us and narrated what we saw, “Look at the zebra eating his grass. Here comes his friend to say hello. It’s good to have friends like the zebras.”
Even when this example of love and kindness in the animal kingdom turned dark, I felt the need to keep going, “Oh dear. Biting is bad. Don’t bite your friends like the naughty zebra.”
The vulture section was hidden away. The entrance was a tunnel bridge through the exhibit. I pushed the stroller ahead of me, looking side to side and spotted a huge bird down below us to the right.
“Look, bird!” I yelled, pointing.
Misha turned in his stroller to look at me, pointed at my head, and said, “Bird.”
“Look down there. Bird.”
He persisted in staring at me and repeating, “Bird.”
I went around to him and physically turned his head in my bird’s direction, and felt triumphant for a wonderful moment when he pointed down and said, “bird.”
Then he turned back around and pointed above the tunnel right over where I had been standing where and even bigger bird was perched above us. I gave in with a smile, pointed at his vulture, and said, “Bird!”
Maybe Misha’s best outing was when Sophia took him, Xenia, and Xenia’s friend Tara to Meow Wolf in Santa Fe. He ran from room to room through all the secret passages, which were easily accessible for a two-year-old, and greeted each new crazy place with a gasp and a “Whuuuut?” I came with Sophia and Misha a few weeks later and got to see his wonder firsthand. He went down the neon blue sparkle slide hidden in the dryer over and over again.
Maybe he won’t remember these early experiences, but he’s going to remember that it’s fun to visit Nana. My world revolves around Esther, John Ben, Misa and Vera when they are here, and my usual outings with friends are pushed aside till school starts again. Though it’s good to be back into the swing of things, I do miss sweet baby cuddles and great big toddler hugs. I miss Vera’s chirps and cooing. I miss Misha’s one-sentence jokes and the way he cracks himself up. I miss hearing John Ben sing songs to Misha to tell him about his day, especially the church song, which enumerates all the benefits of being good and the downfalls of being bad in church, i.e., no paci and no daddy when Esther takes him out. I miss the way that Esther gets what I’m trying and failing to say when my words get jumbled. So many details are fading already, but I know that life is fun when my kids and grandkids come home. I’m already looking forward to Christmas.
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