Just The Two Of Us

            As you waved your adorable backwards wave the rain began to fall harder as your Mom got in the car on her way to the airport. We sat on the porch for a little longer and listen to the drops hit the pool. You pointed at the rushing water coming down the Japanese chain drain and curiously stared at the sky until my hand began to get numb signifying our need to get back in the house. As we sat on the floor next to the heating vent you played with Laney’s ear, giggled and rocked until you gave me the “its time for breakfast” sigh/whine. The morning started brilliantly but as soon as I tried to put you down for your nap your demeanor began to change. You arched your backed in protest and started to howl. Your sobs were peppered with faint cries of Mumma, Momeee and Muma. That’s when I stared to panic. I tried everything in the book to get you go to bed but you were not having it. Something I had read on the Internet the night before had me jumping to all kinds of conclusions. Doctor’s appointments were made and eventually canceled after I realized you just really didn’t want to go to bed. This theme carried over into the rest of the day, which I attributed to you just really wanting to spend some quality time with your Dad. We read books, stacked blocks, went on a back yard tour, played with Laney and pulled every one of your stuffed animals out of the cabinet. Through all of this you never rubbed your eyes or even gave the slightest yawn, I on the other hand was exhausted. After only one day on my own I had a whole new respect for single parents and stay at home moms. You fought for two hours past your bedtime and eventually gave up….thank you children’s Tylenol. For a few hours I had time to pick up and clean the army of bottle’s, bibs, bowls and utensils that you had used throughout the day. At 3:30 AM after Laney decided to alert us all that there was a Raccoon washing his dinner in the pool you woke up and deiced that you founds Laney’s announcement rather amusing. What seemed like 15 minutes passed before the sky got a little lighter, the birds began to chirp and a little voice called out for……Mommmmm.

            We got into our rhythm on day two of Daddy Daughter weekend. Cries for Mom began to be replaced by calls for Dud, Da and finally Dadeeee. You napped, I napped and it seemed as though we were back on schedule. As dinner rolled around the guys came over with pizza and beer. You flirted and seemed to truly enjoy being the center of attention in a room full of dudes. Then it was time for bed…..you disagreed. After two hours of trying every one of Mom’s tricks I surrendered and brought you out to join the party. You contently watched the Celtics game and relentlessly tried to steal everyone’s beers until eventually you began to slow down. Two hours past your bedtime and you finally went down….lets hope Mommy doesn’t read my posts anymore. I figured after going down so late you would want to sleep in…. I was wrong. I normally don’t wake up with a smile on my face at 6:15 but when I heard your tiny voice say Dada I couldn’t help but laugh as I dragged myself into your room to start our last full day together. We went on a long walk in the park with Laney and you said Dada, Dadeee, and Dad the whole time…….I’ll be honest it almost made me cry. We practiced crawling and you successfully made it all the way down the hall……backwards. We went to Mima’s for dinner and once again you decided that you wanted to stay up and hang out with everyone until you were ready to go bed. Your Mom spent all that time getting you on schedule and I ruined it in two days. I tried to explain when Mom finally got home that your schedule seemed to have ummm “shifted” while she was away. She confidently said it would be fine and went back to put you down at your standard time to which I said, “There is nooooo way she’s gonna go down now.” Once again I was very, very wrong. Sometimes there is just no substitute for Moma….. not even Dada.

Your Great GrandPapa

January was not an easy month for any of us. I wanted to write something heartfelt about your Great Grandpa but only managed to put up a few pictures of the two of you together. I have been struggling with the right words for the last three weeks and I realized today that no words, none that I know, will ever be enough to describe how much your Great Grandpa meant to me. There are very few people in life that can maintain the level of composure and grace that Papa had…..he was the coolest person I have ever met. Some of my earliest memories are spending time on his shoulders as we walked along the path to the beach in Hawaii or through the snow lined trail behind the condo in Incline. He was always smiling and if he ever had a bad day it never affected his ability to make you feel like everything was going to be just fine. When you were with him you felt safe, loved and lucky. He made everyone around him feel comfortable and important. As I got older our relationship matured he became someone I looked to for advice and guidance. Harper your “GGP” was quite the business man. He ran everything from farms to golf courses and car dealerships. Everyone he worked with respected and loved him. After he passed we threw a party in his honor and people that worked with and for him came out to pay their respects. Everyone had something wonderful to say about him and the kind of person he was. As you get older you’ll see that it’s pretty rare for people to say nice things about their boss. Harper you didn’t realize it at the time but you helped us all so much through this difficult period. Whenever the sadness was too much to bear for any of us, we just held, touched, or looked at you. You were the perfect angel throughout the entire party and the only thing, other than some rather funny stories about your GGP, that put a smile on peoples face. You were a constant reminder that life goes on which is exactly what your GGP would have wanted. The last night you saw him we made him dinner after the chaos of Christmas, and you sat on his lap the entire time your mother and I ran around the kitchen.  He wasn’t feeling very good that night but you never would have known it, because just like him you have a way to make people feel like everything is going to be just fine. He loved you very much and all though you didn’t get to spend a great deal of time with him I could tell that you loved him very much too.