Small moments

The New York college where my Older daughter is currently teaching is on break, so the facilities department is doing lots of construction work. Unlike his parents, Little Guy is obsessed with big machines. "Dig, dig!" he says excitedly while making a scooping action. Both yesterday and today we walked on campus to watch the mini-excavators, cement mixer and other unknown Cat products. :) He would have stayed for hours!

He was entranced when this mini-excavator picked up the pieces of concrete to drop them in a different area. "Boom!" he said over and over. Older Daughter and I had a long discussion about how children like what they like, independent of their parents' interests. I reminded her of her own father's dislike of ballet/dance and choral music. Yet my late husband was at every concert and recital, full of pride in his daughters' accomplishments. 

Because the weather has been decent, we've gone on several leisurely walks around the area. Yesterday we spotted this family of deer. Son-in-law held up traffic (a Smart car) so that the group could cross the road. Actually, the Smart Car would have fared worse than the deer in any close encounter, don't you think?

Besides playing rough the first day and bloodying my finger, Ziggy has been charming. He's a beauty, isn't he? After starting out shy, Little Guy is back to snuggles, giggles, baby jokes, and sparkle. He talks SO much more and even signs! He knows colors, and the names of most of his daycare classmates(rough pronunciations); he also recognizes and even tries to say most body parts. I was shocked when he showed me his neck and said an approximation of the word. Do you know what I didn't expect, although it's perfectly natural and stage appropriate for 17 months? Tantrums. I would say they're cute, but that would be a lie. ;) Fortunately, most of the time, Grandson is a lovable, funny sweetheart, and I'm incredibly thankful to spend these two weeks with him!  
 

Comments

[DrumMajor]

Glad you're having a good time! Is Grandson learning official sign language? Is that a thing in daycares these days? Must ask if his tantrums are signed? You gotta get him some Tonka toys for Christmas. Heck, I heard they were making them in plastic for fewer injuries. Big, metal ones are cool. They teach boys that dents are permanent, or that you can hammer them out a bit. Linda in Kansas

[Karen]

So happy you're having a good time!

[DougM]

Glad to hear you're enjoying your visit Margaret, and it's always fun to see the magnificent Ziggy! Boy that's some cat! :^)

[Pam Donaldson]

Ah yes, the Terrible Ones - I remember them well, with the girls. By the time the Terrible Twos should have come along, they were fine. And Peter never had tantrums! - I imagine because the girls just indulged him with whatever he wanted.

[Musings]

As a teacher, you must know that your grandson is highly intelligent and advanced for his age. That’s so much fun!

[Joanne Noragon]

How little boys love construction equipment. The road department used to park the front end loader and a dump truck in front of our barn, on the other end of the township, so they could resume a job in the morning without the 45 minute trip of the front end loader. How my grandsons loved it. How the little boys of friends loved it.

[Marie K]

I remember those tantrums! Yes, perfect part of development. Sounds like you're having a great time. How fun for him to see the construction. Once of the things I love with my job is seeing the different books kids are interested in. Such varied interests and I'm glad to say I've seen girls check out books many people would think are boy books. Best part of the job.

[Jay]

We are learning some of the sign language with our grandson, and a bit of Mandarin too. Your grandson sounds very advanced! What fun for you. The mother of ours was heard to say that he didn't want to say goodbye to his #2 after a particularly contentious diaper change.

[Tonya]

I remember Quinn learning some sign language at daycare when he was younger (in San Diego). It was very cool, especially since he didn't talk much then, but had an avenue to express himself. I think he's forgotten it now, though. Isn't it an education to spend time with our grandsons? I was (FINALLY!) able to spend this past weekend with Quinn and it's always such an experience. He cracks me up, he always surprises me with things he says and does, and I love watching his dimple dance when he speaks. His speaking is not especially clear, and he stutters a bit (like his dad did when he was about the same age). But he also "acts things out" with a form of pantomime and facial expressions and hilarity that sink me to my knees in laughter (along with his comedian dad). Man, I haven't laughed that much in a very long time.

You are having the best of times! Ah yes, tantrums. Thankfully I didn't have to deal with many of those, but hoo boy when I did. The one I particularly remember was at the Puyallup Spring Fair with my mom. We'd taken way too much advantage of Nate's good nature (I think he was nearly 3) and suddenly he'd had enough and melted down in the middle of the walkway near the carrousel. Poor guy, it really wasn't his fault. I scooped him off the pavement and took him into the bathroom and held him until he was down to hitching and sniffing. Now his son has periodic mini-tantrums, but thankfully they've simmered down in the past year or so. (He can still definitely be a stinker at times, though!) A fair amount of interesting passive aggression.

Love those grandsons!

I'm so happy you are there and soaking it all in! Love that Ziggy!

[AC]

Small moments are the stuff of life.

[Ed]

In our area we have a saying, it is not a matter of if but when you hit a deer with your vehicle. Vehicles rarely survive an encounter without damage and the deer rarely survive the encounter with their lives. It is nearly a full time job for someone picking up carcasses and many full time jobs repairing damaged vehicles.

[Wendy]

Little boys especially love to see the diggers and equipment working. I agree with DrumMajor, some tonka trucks or diggers should be in his Christmas packages ;-)
We do some sign language here, not a lot, but enough to know when they want "more" or Water etc.
Enjoy every minute there, and I know you will.

[kayak woman]

I LOVE THIS! It brings back memories of my [late] brother playing with his Tonka trucks on our beach. He had quite a collection and I think some of them are still around somewhere. His REAL focus was cars though and by the age of three he could identify any car on the road. He grew up to be an automotive engineer. I loved (and love) my daughters but your post makes me think I may have missed out on something for not trying for a boy, as stupid as I think that kind of thing is. What fun!

[Liora]

Grandson is obviously very bright just like his parents and grandma. I think the "dig-dig!" is very cute.

Ziggy is just beautiful. I can't remember whether you said he's a Maine coon or not. What a sweetie (except for the rough play!).