Grandkid Happenings

 Just some random things that have happened in the last two months or so.

Back at Easter, DD1 and I both filled a bunch of plastic eggs with candy, mini granola bars, etc., for the grandkids to have an Easter egg hunt with.  We were all still in the immediate aftershock of K2's death a few days before and the uncertainty of what was next (funeral planning, waiting for her parents to arrive, and so on) but wanted to provide as much normal structure as possible for the grandkids so did not cancel our plans to have all our descendants over on the day before Easter for an egg hunt and big group meal.

In all the inconsistent brain power that accompanied that first week of loss, we didn't have an exact count of how many plastic eggs there were sprinkled around the yard to be found when the egg hunt began.  When all the kids gave up looking, we couldn't see any more, and we totaled what had been found--156 eggs-- we figured that was probably all of them.

A week later I went out to the clothes line to hang some laundry, and spied a pink egg in the yard, right in plain sight.  Definitely hadn't been there all week, or after the egg hunt the day of, but it most surely had been unfound by the grandkids.  What it had been found by, and dragged out into the yard in the attempt of opening and eating the contents, was some critter with sharp toenails and very small pointy teeth. 

Maybe a skunk?  I've seen things raccoons have bitten into and their teeth make much larger holes. Whatever it was had been unsuccessful at biting open the egg; there was still a miniature KitKat inside.

In the next couple of weeks DH and I found three more plastic eggs, none of which had teeth or claw marks, all of which still contained candy.  So it looks like our egg hunt had begun with 160 eggs, not 156.  Next year we'll have to keep a better count as we are filling them.

K3 turned 11 years old.  This was less than a month after the death of her mother, while DS1 was still overwhelmed trying to figure out daily life as a working single parent.  DD1 and DD2 both stepped in to plan and orchestrate a birthday party for K3.  The party included inviting a handful of friends for an after school adventure on a Friday (chauffeured and chaperoned by DD2), followed by a hot dog cookout (at DD1's house) where K3's relatives joined in. After the cookout, presents were opened and cake and ice cream was served.

I was asked to make the cake and did my best to concoct what K3 described as her desired birthday cake:

• white cake with a sweet creamy filling between layers (I made homemade custard and used that between layers)
• white frosting (homemade buttercream)
• blue letters

Not the fanciest birthday cake, but given how fast K3's friends gobbled up their pieces, all the guests liked it.

K3's cake with room in the middle for 11 candles

Rascal's birthday was three days later, and while he wasn't having a party with friends (being as he was just turning 4 and until roughly 7 days earlier hadn't been in daycare or preschool, he didn't have much exposure to kids his age to invite), DS1 did throw him party at home with relatives.  When asked if he wanted me to make him a birthday cake, Rascal eagerly responded "YES, just like K3's!"  

So I did, with the exception that I made the lettering a darker blue, so that she wouldn't feel quite like she was being copied by her youngest brother.

Both K3 and Toad are playing summer ball through the local rec league.  Right after K3's death we weren't sure if Toad would be able to play, as the 8U team he'd signed up for was canceled because of lack of a coach.  With some hasty communications with the head of the league (and I'm sure a bit of sympathy for Toad), he was able to be bumped up to the 10U team so he wouldn't miss out on baseball this year (he's played every summer since Kindergarten).  He'll be nine in July anyway, so it's not like he's all that much smaller than the rest of the 10U players.

Faline, Faline, oh Faline.  She continues to amaze the rest of us.  It's hard to say much about Faline without people thinking I'm just full of Grandma bias on how extraordinary my grandkid is.  So, let me say you can carry on a full ten minute adult-type conversation with this kid, and she's only barely two and a half.  She's got the logic skills of a much older child, and the memory of a steel trap.  Her parents are debating whether it would be better for her to stay in day care next school year, or to start her in preschool even though she won't be three years old until mid-November.  She could definitely hold her own in preschool, but then there's the dilemma of what to do with her two years from now--because she will be too young for any school to accept into Kindergarten, but she for sure would be bored (and maybe a lot of trouble) in her third year of preschool. I'm not sure there's a 'gap year' program available between preschool and Kindergarten, LOL.

Buck, like most infants, has grown by leaps and bounds.  He mastered rolling over, and can quickly roll himself to grab any of Faline's toys that his eyes fall upon.  This has caused a surge of sibling rivalry, although most of the time she loves her brother.

He can sit upright for several minutes if you sit him up, and he's getting better at catching himself before he goes beyond the tipping point, but he has yet to master going from lying to sitting by himself.  He also loves to stand, with help (as seen in the photo below) and I'm sure once he figures out how to get into a sitting position on his own, he'll be pulling up and furniture walking in no time.

  

Now that it's summer break from school, DD2 has agreed to become K3, Toad, and Rascal's nanny. Partly because her other hopes for summer employment fell through, and partly because DS1 couldn't find a reliable child care person available at 5:30 in the morning for three kids.  Since neither DD1 nor DD2 are teaching summer school, it sounds like there will be lots of cousin time spent while the grandkids get together for fun outings and activities at home that my girls have planned.