Austin

            ‘They’re here!” Art called to me after waiting all afternoon for Austin to arrive.  We rushed outside to the red Mini Cooper in the driveway with roof rack and shell just as Hayden was climbing out.  Jessica reached back to unbuckle Austin from the car seat after the 9-hour trip and handed him to me.  “Here he is,” she said with a warm smile. I took him and felt his warm body cuddle against mine. Looking over my shoulder he surveyed this new place he’d come to for the first time. “Welcome to Asheville and Grandma’s house, ”I told him.  Now 11 weeks old, this was the longest trip of his life.

            “He did great,” Hayden told us.  “Didn’t cry once and slept the whole way from Washington.”  Art and I were not surprised because after all, he has those family “travel” genes. (As a baby I crossed the Equator at least twice by the time I was a year old and so did Hayden.  While still in the womb Jessica carried Austin to Senegal and Ivory Coast and even to Seoul, Korea on her business trips.)

            When I took Austin into the house and put him down I could see how much he’d changed in nine weeks.  His eyes really are a clear medium blue that now look deeply into mine as he’s learned to focus on what is around him.  He has a sweet chubby face with double chins and fat strong thighs and skin that feels smoother than the most delicate soft velvet. The wisps of light reddish brown hair on his head are the subject of much speculation.  Jessica sweeps them up with her fingers to a point on his head in a punk rock style.  “This drives my mother crazy,” she told me.  It must be a generational thing because I agree with her mother. The ongoing discussion centers around whether Austin will have curls and what color his hair will eventually be. His little fists punch the air and when I put my index finger into his fist he grasps it strongly with long delicate fingers. No question he is the picture of health and the product of doting parents.

            Our weekend with Hayden and Jessica centered on Austin who is a perfect baby.  He is calm, quiet, and almost serene as he studies the world around him.  He never cries - only when he’s hungry.  Then, Jessica is ready in an instant to feed him before he can get going with any more distress signals.  Once fed, I burped him and then he wanted to exercise.  He fussed a bit until I put him down on his back preferably on his gym mat so that he could kick and stretch and punch with his fists.  He has this need to move now as if that is stimulating his growth and he’s strong.  Amazingly he is practicing for the day when he will roll himself over because he almost did it one morning on our living room floor.   When he tired of his exercise regime we would put him in his bouncy chair that vibrates and his eyelids would begin to droop. Before long he was taking a peaceful nap.

            Each day Hayden and family were here we took Austin to visit his Great grandmother Virginia.  Walking into Mom’s room at the nursing home she was resting in her blue recliner chair. Jessica walked right over and deposited Austin in the crook of her arm.  I watched Mom’s eyes light up like I hadn’t seen them in weeks as she gazed at him in awe lying quietly in her lap.  We rushed around taking dozens of photos as if we could save this special moment.   We can’t.  But after Austin had left to go home, I took the best photo of Mom holding Austin and put it in a frame right by her chair.  When she looks at it a smile creeps across her face and that glimmer of life comes into her eyes.  I know she remembers it all perfectly.

              Over the weekend I found myself memorizing Austin every minute he was awake or asleep.  I never tired of his facial expressions and movements and pictured telling him someday, “I can remember when you were a tiny baby visiting me for the first time and we were trying and get you to smile. But you took your time with that.”  I might tell him that he’s always had an independent streak wanting to do things his own way in his own time.  I might say with encouragement “ That’s a good thing and one of your best traits.” I like to imagine Austin having a special relationship with us and doing things together when he’s older that he will always remember.

            The highlight of the weekend for Art and me was being asked to babysit so that Jessica and Hayden could go out on a “date” on Saturday night, play tennis on Sunday, and even shop at the Discount Shoe Store.  Perhaps this is my inauguration into true "grandmotherhood"  because I was much more excited to stay home with Austin than to go anywhere.  
            As a grandparent, I have the perspective of how quickly children grow up and are gone from home into their own lives as Hayden is now.  Yet when we were new parents I remember feeling at times that raising a child seemed to go on forever.  My mother always said to me “savor each minute because it goes by quickly.”  I’d look at her and think that that is just what mothers say.  But she was right.  I find myself wanting to pass that along to Hayden and Jessica but they will find it out for themselves.

            Austin’s first visit to our house was perfect and made even more special because his great -grandmother is here.  He has no idea how much joy his presence in the world has brought to her.  I will make sure and tell him that someday because as his grandmother I intend to be part of his life for many years to come.

             

           

Noah

            “Under the bridge….the bridge…the bridge! Sings out Noah from the back of the car as we sail along on another outing.  “ Tunnel?  “Go car?”  His chirpy voice announces every time we come to a bridge whether large or small.  It’s almost as if he has some built in radar the way he can find bridges along the way.  Noah is obsessed with trains that go over bridges and in tunnels, as they do on his elaborate train table that sits in the middle of the living room in his Berkeley home.  It is the centerpiece of his life at two and a half and translates into many other things he can get excited about.

            My great nephew Noah taught me a new language last week when he came to visit from California..  Arriving home in Asheville after a long trip, Noah began to explore the house.  It wasn’t long until the heirloom clock that hangs on the wall struck six times for 6 p.m.  Suddenly a little voice went “oh…oh…ohhhhh!” as he pointed excitedly to where the chiming was coming from.  “That’s the clock striking six,” I told him.  “Clock?” he parroted back as he began to jump up and down.  “Ding, ding, ding…?” I knew he was asking when it would chime again.  “Thirty more minutes,” I told him.  And that began a week of  “the five minutes” question.  “Five more minutes,” he’d ask no matter what the time, and we’d say…”no, 30 minutes or 15 minutes…”.  Then he’d come back with “five minutes?”  He never lost his fascination with our chiming clock.  Now when the clock chimes I look for that little boy jumping up and down with excitement.

            Being around a toddler after so many years brought back the ebb and flow of their energy level.  Noah’s cheerful chattering would wake us up by 6 a.m. Making his way downstairs to look for us he’d race over for a morning hug – full of laughter, excitement, and possibility of what the day might bring.  As we went through the day his energy would ebb…and he would suddenly get quiet, stick his thumb in his mouth and ask for “blankie” to hold  - a moment of rest.  Then if we proposed an outing to the playground, he’d sit up, take his thumb out of his mouth, thrust “blankie”  aside and be raring to go.  As we’d get ready I’d hear his high voice “have, paish?” parroting the many times his parents and nanny have reminded him to be patient when something isn’t happening instantly. 

            Megan is a smart Mom (after all, she is a child psychologist by profession). I watched her establish the routine and boundaries for Noah for the week the minute she arrived at our house.  It worked beautifully.  Forget about Eastern vs. Pacific time zones, the stage was set for bedtime at 7 p.m. every night and daily naptime immediately after lunch.  I learned to have Noah’s favorite foods ready and waiting in the fridge. Mealtimes we got him to the table with a plateful of his favorite rotini pasta with red sauce, cut up chunks of tofu, and a pile of grapes or strawberries.  “More pasta?” he’d ask sometimes for a second or even a third helping.  “More milk?”  Everything is a question but his enthusiasm for tackling a plate of pasta with a fork by himself is a marvel to watch…followed by the more difficult feat of stabbing grapes to eat them one by one despite our pleas to “use fingers?”  When he finally would wind down from eating his Mom would ask if he wanted more pasta or more Tofu.  His answer was loud and clear…”Nope!”

            Megan and Noah’s visit opened up our world to the kid friendly activities available in Asheville…and there are many.  We’d set off each morning with directions to explore something new – from the Western North Carolina Nature Center which is like a small zoo, to the “Hands On” kids museum on Main St. in Hendersonville, to the Play Lodge in Arden, and even the famous Easter egg hunt on the lawn of the Biltmore Estate.  But perhaps we needn’t have ventured as far as any of those places since THE PLAYGROUND was Noah’s favorite and it’s right in the heart of Biltmore Lake where we live.  If we even uttered the word, Noah would perk up “go playground?” or “go down slide?”.  He learned to go down the big slide by himself  and then ,of course, did it over and over again turning his back on the swing set and everything else.

            The stack of library books I had fun selecting at my branch library worked and Noah was particularly attached to “Train Man” and “Train Song” – no surprise.  “Do gain?” he’d say when you read it to him once…”do gain?  And we’d read it a second or a third time.  It is now on his birthday list when the time comes.  Bedtime, he’d make his way down our steep stairs with “blankie” in hand in his jammies ready for the good night hug.  Then back up to bed and not another peep out of him.

            I can still hear the patter of his feet running back and forth down the hallway  and his sing song voice first thing in the morning.  I don’t drive over a bridge without hearing “bridge!!!” from the back car seat.  I treasure his lovely “tank you’s” even though prompted by Mom…but most of all it’s the hugs I miss.  Lovely to be Aunt Kris…and ready and waiting to “do gain” when  Noah comes to visit again!