calherewecome

Yesterday, we were watching our grandson Jonathan all day while Mike and Theresa went to a conference on home-schooling. So Jonathan arrived early and left late. He has become quite used to our place and our presence. He fussed just for a few seconds when they left. But that ended quite promptly after they left. Jonathan has a generous set of toys at our place. He knows where they are and that they are his toys.

In previous posts, I have talked about our journey to Los Angeles. If Mike, Theresa and their family were living in the Boston area, we probably wouldn’t have made the decision to pull up stakes and move across the country. We would probably have moved Mary either to assisted living or a nursing home or moved her back east. Mary was one of the reasons we moved here, Jonathan is the reason that we are staying here and enjoying life here out west.

So yesterday morning we decided to go for a walk around our condo walkway. Jonathan is still learning to speak, but he clearly understands us. When we said “Let’s go for a walk”, he went to our front door and got his shoes. (We have adopted a Chinese custom of removing one’s shoes inside.) So off we go,the three adults walking and Jonathan running as fast as his little feet can carry him. He stops to look at the shadows cast from the trees and railings. He looks at the flowers. This is a nice place to walk. It is flat and protected. No danger of running out into traffic. We can let him run to his heart’s content. Here are a couple of pictures:

Jonathan is clearly picking up language. Sometimes we can’t tell whether the word is childish gibberish or Chinese. His word for a dog is “gogu”. Many times Jonathan will point to something that he wants (usually to eat). So now we tell him , “Use the word”. We usually know what he wants but we are encouraging him to use words for whatever he wants. Usually pretzel goldfish, potato chips, crackers, etc. All of the things that he knows that grandparents will have on hand for him.

Yesterday we were fixing lunch and he comes in to help speed things up. He has discovered the ice dispenser and water dispenser on our refrigerator. So he pushes the lever and out comes half a dozen ice cubes. So Jonathan says in the cutest possible way, “OH-OH”. So Paula tells him to pick up the ice and put it into the sink, which he does. So today’s word is “Oh-Oh”. Precious.

By 2PM, everyone is ready for a nap. Jonathan is no exception. He lays down on our bed and sleeps for 1.5 hours. Sometime a little longer.

After nap, we decide we can do a little TV. We bring up our Netflix account and start “Curious George”. There is lots of kids programming on Netflix. Sometimes we watch on the TV, sometimes on the iPad. After Curious George, it’s time for Red Sox Baseball on MLB.TV. You can’t start a child too early on watching Red Sox Baseball. By the time he is five, I expect him to know who “Big Papi” is and how to read a baseball score sheet.

So today is Saturday and much quieter around her.

Later…