I am learning his language: what grunting and stretching means.
He is so loved in this well organized home of my daughter and son in law.
I got lessons in preparing the bottle of milk using modern gadgets.
I prayed fervently for his safe birth and my daughter did all she could to have a healthy birth. She got all the support she needed from her husband and 8yo #princess2015la. I am so so proud of how easy motherhood is to her and breastfeeding this handsome infant.
I say no to invites to have these precious once in a lifetime moments.
“Oh, I am so spoiled here!” What a best way of recognizing she’s loved and beloved at our place. Then, she set the table and said: “Grandma, take a picture of our brunch.”
#princess2015la shared how she got a letter from Santa Claus and that she will get her Christmas gift wish from him.
She also got an outstanding certificate from Santa Claus and a letter recognizing her as an outstanding student who helps out with feeding her dog and more.
You should have seen her broad smiles and sparkling eyes! Merry Christmas to you all!!
R stands for respectful. E stands for empathetic. K stands for kind, while S stands for safe with my teachers. I am a scholar of my school, and today, I got outstanding marks.”
She added, “I respect those around me. I am kind. I make folks safe around me.”
I told her that I am that way to her, as well as others.
Beautifully taught to her by her school. I was quite happy hearing that plus the school guards whom I have met, C and M, are friendly and caring towards the kids.
The next day, we were talking about the birth of Jam’s sister. Wow, that’s wonderful, isn’t it? She paused. Not much to say. It got her to recall what she does in her upper bunk bed.
“Grandma, I stand like this, at the edge. It is to practice how to safely fall.”
What? I gasped. She looked at my horrified face.
“Grandma, really, you don’t know much about happiness.”
I laughed. I suppose jumping, conquering heights, and landing on your feet are learned skills, and being airborne is a joy to her.
I keep learning how to live joyfully with her.
She posed to get her photo taken and was grateful for the ensaymadas she got from @miko Zuniga.
I couldn’t wait for the weekend to go to the beach. So, off we went with our #princess2015la.
She had playtime all to herself. On her initiative, she started clearing up the kelp from the beach area and putting them in a pile. At some point, she even wanted to pick up the candy wrappers litter and we had to explain the transmission of germs. She then buried her feet in the sand.
“Grandma, what were you thinking when I was running on the beach?”
“I was hoping you would not go into the direction, straight to the waves. I was glad you ran parallel to the beach, and I relaxed when I saw that.”
After a hefty dinner of two entrees, “Grandma, I want spaghettini and chicken schnitzel.” she ate the cherry tomatoes, as well. We ended it with chocolate mousse cake.
On the way home, she said, “this is super best day. Can we do it again tomorrow?” Since my parents are working and you like taking care of me, can we do it again? Wait, do you like taking care of me.”
Of course, we do, I told her, on the way home, she sang for us.
Days ago, she came upon her #grandpa‘s strawberries. She immediately placed both over her eyes and said, “strawberry eyes.” What do you see? She sees love in others.
I made one day #macaroniandcheese and I requested her to come with me and to give it to our sweet, kind and generous in spirit octogenarian, vibrant and healthy neighbor, Larry.
She asked why? I told her that Larry likes her and may want to see her. She quickly replied, “He also likes Bonnie.” True enough, when we knocked on Larry’s door, I shared with them what my apo said. Bonnie responded with graciousness, “But, Larry likes #princess2015la more.
“When we got back to my place, she was all smiles. It does not take much to give joy to someone. Larry responds by giving me a beautiful close up photo of my apo.
My granddaughter then showed me her newly constructed farm, with flower petals as animals and plumeria flowers as trees. She also pointed to a brown rectangle patch and called it “a fake garden.
“I like that she tells me how she feels, what she thinks about, what she carries inside her mind and heart. It reminded me of the prayers today: “To be a lamp shining in a dark place, as the morning sun rises in your heart.” Maybe because, and in her words: “Grandma, you accept what I say.” I don’t challenge her, I simply validate and redirect.
May we all rise up from being one of the poorest nations in capacities to respond to Coronavirus with 4, 818, 328 cases out of 18, 710,668 new cases around the world in 188 countries and region, a whopping 25% of new cases in the world.
We are so poor in collective spirits, that the bankrupt soul of America is reflected in our pandemic cases, reflected in less than responsible and less than competent federal government responses and lacking missteps in governance. Good thing we have John Hopkins tracking these cases and our state and local govt.
God, help and bless America so it may help others by its best practices!
A blessed Sunday morning with #princess2015la. She said something to me. I reacted jokingly by saying, “Oh that hurts my feelings.” “No, Grandma,” then moves to sit on my lap. “When I ask you to take care of me, you do and you even get more excited when I come visit you.” She definitely knows how much she is loved.#selfassuredfiveyearsold #sheknowssheisinLolashouse
This am, I was fortunate to catch livestreamed mass of Fr. Randy Odchigue. His homily is exceptional in depth, in theological brilliance and existential philosophy of Albert Camus who spoke of Sisyphus rolling up the boulder up the mountain. To some it might look dreary, as he was consigned to keep rolling it from downhill, up to the mountains. But, Camus said Sisyphus must be happy as his happiness was not dependent on anyone and his reward was the effort itself, of rising up daily and keep moving the boulder from below to up the mountain, a curse he was consigned to.
He expounded on the sower who planted seeds. Some seeds fell on the thorns and withered. Some fell on the rocks, grew, but because of shallow roots, growth was uprooted by rains. Others fell on good soil and bore fruit abundantly for 100, 60, and 30.
Fr. Randy opened his homily by distinguishing psychologists’ tests of showing a glass filled halfway with water to testers. To the pessimist, the glass is half empty, while the optimist sees it half full.
He spoke of this biblical metaphor of sowing seeds and how farmers, though not guaranteed harvest, rise up everyday to tend to their farms. It is not unlike this pandemic, he said, where we rise up and tend to our daily duties yet, like an optimist, we will see bountiful harvests from good seeds. He likened the thistles, the rocks as shallow faith, while the good soil is that of rock solid faith from those who continue to have God’s grace of expecting, of having militant hope, and vigilant belief that God holds our hands. Be committed and have the conviction that God holds our hands in this journey. #BrilliantHomilistFrRandyOdchigue #GratefulforFamilyVisitFromFlores #GratefulforMyPeaceandContentment #GratefulforbeinglikeSisyphus
