July 16, 2009

• Happy 2nd Birthday, Derek Joseph!

  What a joy you are to all who love you!

  Sunday, Jason, Tiana & Faron and I drove to see Derek and his family for the day.  It’s about a 4 hour drive, and was made much more comfortable by going it J’s & T’s VW Jetta! 

  Derek’s remembering us now, right away, without any real “lag time,” as before.  So that’s great fun. 

  He loves mail now, mostly due to “Blue’s Clues,” and to the fact that when we talk on the phone, he and I sing the “Mail Call,” song together. And ‘Ma Cindy sends mail at least once a week.  So I got the idea that he needs his own mailbox.  And of course, so did Jared, although he doesn’t particularly care…

   

  The “room numbers” are their birthdates, and now I’ll address mail to them using these numbers, and their personal mail person (Amy) will see that the red flags go up to show they got mail.    The panels on the front are polymer clay.  There has been some discussion about where these will live eventually, but for now, Derek likes playing with his.  They have a nifty pony wall surrounding their basement steps which are in the back entryway.  That may become the future “post office.” 

  A few photos of the day…

  

  Derek’s new thing is to shout, “Cheese!!” when he sees you’re about to take his photo.  Thing is, it ends up looking more like a grimace than a smile.  Cracks Joe up. 

  

  It took a few moments for Derek to realize there was already mail in his box, including a pack of stickers, and some other bits and pieces from ‘Ma.

  

  We painted the outsides of the mailboxes with chalkboard paint, just to give them some “play-ability.”  Jason and Tiana got him a package of this really cool 3-D chalk made by Crayola.  Jason discovered that the letters I’d made with polymer clay, especially the oranges and reds, have 3-D properties.  Derek noticed it as soon as he was shown, but I think it kind of freaked him out.  He didn’t put the glasses back on while we were there.

  

  Tiana had really chalked up the mailbox, getting her hands quite chalky in the process.  Here shes checkin’ out her 3-D hands, lookin’ a bit stoned as she does it.  Haha!

  

  Another “Cheese-grimace,” with Daddy trying hard to get him to smile more naturally.  Oh, we all had a try at wearing the 3-D glasses and looking at Derek’s overalls, with their orange & yellow lizards. Those colors work quite well, too. 

  Jared obligingly slept for more than an hour after we arrived, giving us time to lavish all our attention on the birthday boy.  And even when he got awake, he was just as happy to play on the floor with his “gym.” 

  

  Those “boppy” pillows are terrific for getting small babies propped up and comfy on the floor. 

  Somewhere along the way, Derek had to see if he qualified as “mail.”

  

  When he caught me taking a photo, I got another “Cheese!”

  

  He really was having fun! 

  We got a cake (Tiana’s favorite, from Wegman’s, with buttercream frosting and Bavarian cream filling) and brought it along, since Amy’d already baked a very cute train cake while her parents and two of her sisters were there, and would be doing another this weekend for her other sister’s visit. 

  

  He was quite successful at blowing out his candles, although I was at entirely the wrong angle to get a good photo.  I should point out that cake followed a fantastic meal of real Maryland lump crab meat crab cakes, some fancy oven fries and a luscious salad Amy’d found a recipe for.  The crab cakes were beyond delicious, and HUGE!  Nearly filled our whole plates.  We’re still talking about them 4 days later.  Soooo good!  So while there was ice cream, most of us (barring Derek) passed on that and settled for a modest piece of cake. 

  Joe and Derek, like most daddy’s and their sons, have a few rough play things they like to do.  Here is one:

  After all the fun, food and being the center of attention, while I was holding Jared, Derek asked for his “B and balala,” signaling that he needed some downtime.  He crawled under Jared’s little gym thing (which is really just cloth) and fell almost immediately asleep!  I hear he slept for 3 hours, and still slept all night that night.

  Jared then got some undivided attention and a bit more time in front of Grandma’s camera:

  

  Joe was trying to get him to smile for the camera, but he is much more obliging about blowing raspberries. 

  Finally, Joe put him on the floor and they had a “chat.”  That got our wee lad smiling!

  

  Both of the babies just light up when they see their daddy.  Both Amy & Joe are terrific parents, and the boys are happy and healthy and Derek, while having the run of the house, isn’t at all a brat. We’re very proud of them.  And thankful to be their “grandparents.” 

  Oh, Derek has just learned a new word last week, “Silly,” after someone called him, “silly Derek.”  Somehow, and I really have no idea how it could be, as calm and sane and rational as I am, Derek has begun calling me “Silly ‘Ma.”  I’ve spoken with him on the phone 2 times since we were there on Sunday and he seems to be sticking with it.  I knew he’d work out his own ways to designate all the grandmas in his life!  At least he didn’t call me, as my niece Robin called my mother, “Big Gram,” which eventually spread to all of my mother’s grandchildren.  Mom wasn’t all that big, but Robin’s other grandmother was very tiny – not even 5′ tall.  I’ll be happy no matter what he calls me, but “Silly ‘Ma” is definitely better than “Big Gram.”

  All in all we had a wonderful day, and as I said, Derek is such a joy, so much fun, and so bright and learning things faster than we can take note of them.  Every time I talk to him on the phone, he has more and more conversational ability.  And Joe and Amy are shocked constantly with the things he’s learning.  Colors, counting, shapes – it’s all happening at the speed of light, it seems.  Kids are so much fun!

  Things are going well here.  After about 10 days of some of the worst pain I’ve had in years, Dercum’s disease made itself visible in a blob of new tumors on my hip.  I’m very “curvy.”     But at least the nasty pain is gone! (For now.)  Faron & Jason are constantly thinking up new projects to be done with the tractor, much to Tiana’s amusement.  This weekend, they’re widening the front walkway.  Which means they have to remove sod and transport it to some patchy areas down in the field.  With the tractor.  Of course.

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  • 8:36 am
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