Will You Still Need Me...

Ah, yes. Who will ever forget the Beatles' lyrics, "Will you still need me, will you still feed me when I'm 64?" Back then, 64 sounded so old, didn't it?? But now we know that 64 isn't old, it's the prime of life; we're still active, we're still engaged, we're...

OLD!!! I never realized it until I tried to keep up with my granddaughter. Babysitting a seven-month-old child is exhausting. It takes both Tom and me to keep up with the feeding, burping, changing, bathing, playing, strolling, walking, consoling, cajoling and napping. When she naps, I nap. I'm not letting this little one get ahead of me; she seems to start out with so much more energy than I. Just this evening before dinner, Tom looked at me and said, "I'm tired. It's really amazing how much energy all of this takes."

I think part of it is the getting up and down. Not from a chair, but from the ground. That's where babies play, you know, on the floor or on the ground. Sometimes on a mat. But way down there. And I'm just not as agile as I once was. Plus my left hip bothers me if I'm sitting on a hard surface, and actually my knees don't bend like they once did, and I'm not even going to talk about my lower back. I can't believe that at home I go to the gym and play tennis several times a week. For Heaven's sake, I'm ancient!!

I think another part of it is the emotional energy it requires: you're never able to let down your guard. Babies are just itching to stick their little fingers in electric sockets, or crawl to the top of the stairs, or taste the cleaning solution under the kitchen sink, or drink from the toilet bowl. Well, that last one pertains more to dogs, but I bet babies would too, especially if they saw their dog doing it.

Despite all these difficulties and despite how old we might be feeling, we've decided that being a grandparent is one of the best jobs possible. Nothing else compares to seeing your grandchild's face light up when she sees you. Her smile can melt your heart and her tears can break your heart. And when she grabs your hand or falls asleep in your arms, then you forget about being old or achy, and only think about the power of love and the great blessing of time spent with the child of your child.

An Up and Down Day

No, the title isn't a play on words, with Juliet enjoying her first carousel ride today. She really had an up and down day...starting with down this morning. She just wasn't feeling well and was very fussy. I wonder if she's starting to teethe and getting some very real pains in her mouth. Or, it could be an illness, since her cough seems to be making a reappearance. She's such a trouper, though, that we ended up having a lovely day.

She was alternately fussy and napping this morning, so after she finished her lunch about 11:30, we decided to take off for the Cineaqua (Aquarium). We figured she could be fussy at the Aquarium just as easily as at home. Tom and I enjoyed the Aquarium much more than she did, although there were plenty of fish to be seen at kids' eye level, and plenty of kids there to see them. Truthfully, Juliet liked seeing the other kids more than she liked seeing the fish, sharks, corals, etc. We spent about an hour there, during which time Juliet probably slept a half hour. And sleep is good, whether your fussiness comes from teething or illness!

Back outside, we found that what was supposed to be a rainy day had turned brightly sunny and hot! After a quick visit to the carousel at Trocadero (Juliet loved her first carousel ride, but the pose on the horse is just that--a pose. She and Tom rode in a carriage.) we stopped at our hotel for some sunscreen and a change of clothes. Then we headed to the park in Levallois, Parc de la Planchette. It was another glorious afternoon amid flowers, happy kids running and screaming, couples stretched out on blankets in the shade, and lots of strollers parked with sleeping babies inside. Our stroller was no exception. Juliet had a lovely long nap in the shade, while Tom and I talked about moving to Levallois, permanently, to babysit.

After stopping at the market and the butcher shop, it was 5:00 before we were back at the apartment and Juliet could have her afternoon bottle. She was fussy again after that, and although obviously exhausted, she wouldn't sleep. When Jeanne got home, we gave Juliet a bath, and of course she fell asleep then, when she should have been eating dinner. Jeanne finally had to wake her for dinner as she was afraid Juliet might sleep half the night before getting hungry enough to wake up. Poor little thing really did have an up and down day, but as usual she smiled through most of it, even eating her spinach with a grin on her face. Tom and I hope Juliet feels better tomorrow; we always have big plans for her day!

Secrets

See these supposedly upstanding grandparents? They look innocent enough, the grandmother "strolling" the child, the grandfather giving "horsey rides". But what are their true colors? What do they let the grandchild get away with, when the parents aren't around?

I never realized this until now, but grandparents, to a certain degree, do delight in seeing their grandchildren do things the parents might not approve of.

I'm saying this tongue in cheek, of course, although we did have a lot of fun with Juliet today, when we thought we were letting her get away with things. We were sitting at the dining room table when she crawled off of her blue pad (where she's supposed to play) and onto the hardwood floor (which is impossible to keep immaculately clean, and might also have splinters). Passing under the dining room table, she looked up at us and grinned a conspiratorial grin. And she was off to the races, making it to the kitchen door before turning around to grin at us triumphantly. We picked her up there, and put her back on the blue pad. Why hadn't we stopped her earlier? We were darn proud of her! "Look at what she can do!" "Look at how fast she goes!" "Isn't she adorable when she smiles?" Somehow her parents' admonitions to keep her off of the dirty, splintery hardwood were forgotten when she wanted to show us just how independent she really is.

We had just returned from a long walk, and Tom and I were drinking water. Juliet saw us drinking from glasses, and she wanted to do that, too. So we helped her drink from a glass, then wondered aloud if she was ready for a sippy cup. Tom read about them online, and we found one in the drawer with her bottles, baby spoons and the like. Online they told you to encourage the child to play with the sippy cup, get comfortable with it, so that when they started using it, it wouldn't freak them out. Tom thought this was a great idea, so he filled the sippy cup with water and gave it to Juliet. Probably would have been a better idea to allow her to play with it empty. No harm done, just a little water everywhere, and a soaked onesie. Easily rectified, and Tom totally learned his lesson until he gave Juliet her baby spoon filled with pureed peaches. Yes, she wanted to try to feed herself today, too. Hey, what are grandparents for if they don't encourage grandchildren to reach for the stars??

Anyway, we shared all these adventures with Jeanne and Matt, who surprisingly took it all in stride. They're such good parents; they don't freak out about anything, unless Juliet is sick. And I think they know we wouldn't do anything to hurt our darling Juliet. Tonight at the dinner table Jeanne mentioned something that Juliet had done as being "normal". Tom spoke right up, "Normal? She is not normal--she's extraordinary!!" Just one man's opinion...shared by his wife!

B-Day or J-Jour

Instead of B-Day, for Babysitting-Day, why didn't I think of J-Jour, for Juliet-Jour? (J-Jour was the French equivalent of D-Day in World War II.) Anyway, today was B-Day, or J-Jour, whichever you prefer. And it all went rather well; a few very minor slip-ups, but nothing catastrophic. Tom and I had a lot of fun, and I think Juliet did, too.

We arrived at the apartment at 8:35, just as Matthew and Jeanne were ready to leave for work. This was the only really difficult time of the day, as Juliet was fairly inconsolable when both of her parents left, and she had to hang around with Grandma and Grandpa, neither of whom she knew that well. We worked through it, though, and managed to get some good play time in before our morning nap. The next big hurdle was the 11 A.M. feeding. Once again, Juliet was not happy that these strange grandparents were going to feed her her lunch. But with these hurdles behind us, the day began to look up.

We walked to a bakery on the east side of Levallois, to get some bread for lunch and dinner. Many bakeries are closed for August vacation, and many others aren't open on Mondays. A long walk to get the bread will help us work off the calories in the bread and the cheese.

After a brief nap, Juliet was awakened by what Tom called a "poop-a-polooza", which means, essentially, a whole lotta poop. It took many, many wipes and two grandparents to handle this little emergency. After this, we all felt a trip to the park was warranted. Turned out to be a good move; a beautiful day, lovely Parc de la Planchette, great tickle-your-feet grass, and nowhere else we needed to be. We saw some other grandparents with grandchildren at the park. And we saw some grandchildren-less grandparents who smiled at us with obvious understanding, and a little envy.

Which brings me to a defense of the French people. I often hear others saying, "The French are so distant, so cold. They're difficult to get to know." The French are very private people, and they respect others' privacy. But if you really want to know the hearts of French people, just tote a grandchild around with you. You will collect smiles, knowing glances, approving nods and sometimes, kind questions or compliments, or a seat on the Metro, or a garden gate held open.

We stopped at the toy store on the way back to the apartment. Tom casually mentioned to Juliet that he loves stacking toys, and she very appropriately chose a darling little trio of stackable geometric shapes. The two of them played with it quite happily the rest of the afternoon. Poor Juliet! We wore her out! By the time Jeanne got home, Juliet had fallen asleep in my arms. She slept through bath time (we found out bath time is "flexible"), had a late supper and bath, and an early bed time. We had a great day, and we get to do it all over again tomorrow!

B-Day Minus One

Yes, it's Babysitting Day, Minus One. Tomorrow we will have Juliet all to ourselves for a good part of the day. We're looking forward to it; Juliet is a little apprehensive. I was supposed to feed her this afternoon, and she would have none of it! I'm sure it will be better tomorrow, when her mother and father are out of sight. I'm pretty sure it will be better. I hope it will be better. She'll eat when she gets good and hungry, won't she??

Juliet is such a good baby in so many ways; she's really easy to travel with, loves her stroller, riding on the Metro, seeing new things. We will take her a few places this week, after clearing them with her parents. I think she might enjoy the aquarium, and we know she loves to sit on the grass in parks, so we'll visit a few of those. Maybe the Luxembourg Gardens, one of our favorite places in Paris, and do they still have puppet shows there? She's a little young but she's so interested in what is going on around her. I'm sure we'll be out and about a lot! Another idea I just had is, maybe she'll eat better when she's not in her usual milieu. Juliet might think, "I don't usually eat in the park. This 'Grandma' lady doesn't usually feed me. So this might be O.K. I think I'll give it a chance."

True to form, Juliet learned something new overnight. Yesterday, she would dump all the beads out of the container, then try to put them back in, one at a time. The problem was, she would hold the bead over the open container, but couldn't seem to let go of it. Today, she very deliberately let go of each bead, and it fell into the container. You could see her thinking about the process of letting the bead go. It was very cool. She concentrates so thoroughly on these little actions, of picking something up, or turning something over, or letting go, that you can almost see her mind working. What a miracle she is, and how blessed we are to witness her growth. I have no great pictures from today; just this one showing her concentration as she works on a new skill.

Reunion

The very long day of travel to get to you, Juliet, disappears entirely once I see your face! I'm not tired any more, and I don't need anything else, like food or water. I just need to feel your baby skin, hold you, grin at you like an idiot, and marvel at all the new things you have learned since I was here last. Of course, I'm delighted to see your parents, too, but they are old hat compared to you. They're not getting cuter every day, and they're not learning new tricks all the time. Whereas you, dear girl, are doing both!

It was a long day of travel to get here. Aer Lingus is less expensive, but you do have a stopover in Dublin, and today we had a four hour layover. We did sleep on the flight, so at least we were relatively rested. It was beautifully sunny and warm in Paris, and after checking in at our hotel (with a nice surprise gift basket of coffee, water, cookies and chocolate from our son and daughter-in-law), we walked to the apartment. Our hotel is only about 8 blocks away, which will be nice during the week when we need to get to our baby-sitting gig by 8:00 A.M. or so.

Juliet was sleeping when we got there, but we managed to be just noisy enough to wake her. She has changed so much in just two short months! She's lost that "baby" look and has a, I don't know, look of an older baby, I guess. The look of a crawling baby, a grasping baby, a put everything in my mouth baby, an I know what I want and now I know how to go after it baby. She just looks older! Also wiser, prettier, hair a little less red, eyes darker than I remember, and constantly changing from blue to green to gray, a little plumper but not fat, fat, and still the same good-natured little girl.

We tired Juliet out with a nice long walk in a park new to us, Parc de la Planchette, not too far from the apartment. I'm sure we'll spend some time there this week. Then a lovely dinner with Juliet's parents (did I mention them?) as she had an early bed time today. Hope the little one can keep up with her grandparents! It's going to be a fun week, reconnecting with our granddaughter!