Today is our granddaughter Elisa Londyn‘s first birthday, and as the saying goes “time flies when you are having fun”, and what a fun year it has been!
Hum…I wonder what’s that?
Ms Elisa, mom and dad’s “little nugget”, and her grandparents’ delight is a bubbly, always smiling, happy baby girl. She began walking about a month ago and is now into discovering everything in her path. She is also “talking”. Grandma now needs a “baby talk” dictionary, because Elisa keeps talking (to me and everyone else) with her beautiful expressive eyes while pointing her hands, in a rapid fashion, while repeating “pata, pata, pata, pata…” I am trying to decipher the meaning of “pata, pata, pata, pata”; the hand movement thing I will attribute to her Latina roots, the rest is a mystery to me. LOL!
Mommy, that cake was so good!
Elisa was born on Memorial Day last year so we marked her first birthday with a traditional barbecue at Orlando‘s Moss Park this past weekend, a fitting theme for the occasion. Here are a few pictures of the birthday picnic in the park. Elisa must have been in “baby heaven”…both sets of grandparents were in attendance along with Mom and Dad, cousins and friends; how cool is that? As you already know, I was in Grandma heaven!
Happy Birthday little Miss Sonrisa!!! Abuela loves you!
Occasionally, random thoughts assault your brain for no particular reason; they just appear out of nowhere and somehow occupy your mind for undetermined amounts of time. Today has been one of those days when I have been thinking about the women in my life. The line is long and strong and I am a proud link on this chain.
My mother, Norma, was the best example of an independent woman I ever knew; she was a mother of four and a “working woman” long before it was fashionable. She held down a 9-5 job as an administrative assistant in the Panama Canal Company, the last of various positions held from the time when she first arrived there at age nineteen until her premature death at forty-eight. Just as women today, she did so to contribute to the household income. My dad, Lloyd, would have liked her to stay home, he worked for the Star & Herald newspaper, and used to say “I can take care of my family alone” but mom had her own ideas. I wonder where I get that from, hmm. They were the best parents we could have asked for.
The women and children in my life
Women have always been a very important part of my life, starting with my very first BFF, my mother. I could go to her with anything I had in mind—be it discussing the mysteries of becoming a young woman and all that it entails to talking about boy crushes, to figuring out what to wear to the prom—anything. In fact, when we announced our engagement to my parents, my mother took over wedding planning with such determination, that my only involvement in the whole process consisted of showing up for dress fittings and being on time for the wedding. I could count on her to come through for me.
Luckily, I also have my sister, Lydia; she is two years younger; to this day still my best friend. My sister and I have been inseparable ever since she came into my world—yes, we have two brothers and we love them dearly—but they are…well hmm men!
Since I am reflecting on the women in my life, you would need to know that when I met and married Carl, we like any other couple had plans for children; I never gave it a thought as to boys or girls, he hoped there would be at least one boy, I would be happy to just become a mother. Our daughter Natalie arrived first; then Nasima, my sister’s child and our niece appeared and I was like okay, I think girls are in our destiny and then came Yasmin our second daughter and last child; I was totally convinced—women are what will surround us. Sorry dad…to make the circle complete at the time, we even had female dogs. LOL
All along this road of life, I counted with the support of “women of strength” such as my grandmother, aunts and girlfriends—thanks to Facebook, I have even stayed in touch with my high school partner in crime, Rina. She has worked relentlessly to pull out of the woodwork many of the friends with whom I had lost touch decades ago, today we correspond just as we did when we were still in our teens.
Today, my BFF circle is tight—it consists of the women mentioned before, but what holds me together is the love and friendship of my daughters—and that includes my niece, even though she is technically my sister’s child; I am so proud of the women they have become in their own right. My other mother—Lois, who is actually my cousin and someone my parents had the great idea to commission as my “Godmother” all those years ago, when I was born. I am grateful for her because when I suddenly lost my mother, long before she could meet any of her grandchildren, I still have Aunt Lois as my go to mom—to answer all of the questions I still have even at this stage of life.
The likely reason I got into this sentimental journey–this past weekend we were in Orlando celebrating the baptism of Elisa, and as usual during family gatherings, I looked around at our children, nieces, nephews, in-laws and reflected on the great family we are. If that was not enough, the circle of life continues to bless us these days, with granddaughters, yes–more girls–Lauryn, Elisa and Sydney.
Of course—we are not perfect but truth be told this is the only family I would ever need or want and I am a truly blessed and grateful part of it!
First, a bit of background information. It all started about two months ago when Natalie (our daughter) and her husband Michael had this wonderful idea—they were planning a get-away for a couple of days—and would I mind coming up to the ATL to babysit the girls? You already know my position when it comes to the grandkids, of course I will do it. When, was my response?
As luck will have it, Airtran (my preferred airline) sent a promotional email announcing they were running a special–$35 each way from Sarasota to Atlanta and points in between; you know we jumped on that one. Then, as we were getting ready to buy tickets, it hit me. Wait a grandmamma minute I will be alone with the baby (4 months, breastfed only up to this point) and Little Miss Lauryn, (3 years old) who I will need to take to and pick-up from school—for two days? Am I crazy? What was I thinking!
Here we come!
Second great idea, someone else will need to co-manage this situation with me—enter Tati Lydia (my sister) who lives in Miami, and lucky for her Delta (her preferred airline) was offering the same deal as Airtran. It was a hilarious situation, trust me; coordinating ticket buying, on two airlines and we had to buy them before midnight that day, it was already 9:30 p.m. After enough drama going back and forth, at 11:45 p.m., it was all set; we will be flying to Atlanta on December 8. Mission accomplished.
Oblivious to the Grandmas' drama, LOL
I had already spent time babysitting my grandchildren before, so that was not the problem. My concern this time was the baby, Sydney; who was breastfed exclusively, no formula/bottles had crossed her tiny lips to this point. It became a running joke between Natalie and me during our pre-trip phone conversations. I kept telling her I was not worried about Lauryn—she talks, is potty trained and will certainly let me know when she needs something. No problem there at all—Sydney on the other hand, I envisioned going on a “hunger strike”, no mommy–no food. So please practice giving her formula from a bottle. Two days before we arrived in Atlanta, she finally did; we were very pleased with this development. No hunger strike during our watch, yeah!
So here we were, Tati Lydia and Grandma Marcia, enjoying the girls; relaxing from our usual chores, reveling in the fact we could finally spend some sister time together, catch up on our lives, in person this time (we talk on the phone daily); and Natalie and Michael were on their planned escape to Savannah, well deserved, I might add.
Girls just want to have fun
The trip to school and back, no problem. Lydia stayed home with the baby while I picked-up Lauryn. The funny stuff came later. Before the parents left on Friday, we received detailed instructions, complete with demonstrations on how to do this and how to do that—how the car seat works, prepare the formulas, how many ounces, give her vitamins, tuck the girls at night, how to fill the humidifier with water, read a story…yeah, yeah, yeah… been there done that, we raised you all, did we not? You turned out ok, did you not?
On Saturday, Lydia and I decided to take the girls out to Kanga Zoom (a playground) and then to the Chickin’ store as Lauryn calls it (Chick-fil-A). All was well until it was time to get the baby in the carrier that process took more than five minutes with both of us trying, and then voila she was in—now we just had to figure out how to set her in the car seat and we’d be good to go. Let me tell you, right here and now—those things are a menace to grandparents! We got her in, but when we arrived at Kanga Zoom? Grandma could not remember what buttons to press to release the da** carrier, and Tati Lydia stood outside the car cracking up, with Lauryn as her accomplice, telling me stuff like “maybe Lauryn knows what to do”, oh… shut up, I said; you try it then. She did and it worked, WTH…! By the time we got to the Chickin’ store about two hours later, we were delirious with laughter. Michael told us what to do—we just thought we knew better. LOL
Easy stroller; no complicated instructions needed.
Back in the days when we were raising our girls, we made do with those “umbrella type” strollers that were light as heck, did not require any complicated instructions and were easy enough to carry with one hand. You know what, after all this excitement; we did not attempt whatsoever to take Sydney’s stroller out of the car trunk. Thank goodness, Lauryn can walk! That is it for this Grandma tale, I am sure there will be more to come. LOL
Stroller and plane images courtesy of Google images.
It is finally here, Christmas, no more shopping (did not do any), no more parking wars (none of that either), no more falling for the latest gadgets out in stores; (wish list is still growing); no, not me—not this year anyway.
The Gibsons and Miss Lauryn
Instead, I have adopted a mellowed out attitude, and laid back style—now all I want for Christmas is to spend time with our granddaughters, the three little angels we are blessed with—two of them brand new additions this year alone; I could not ask for better presents. They are all healthy, happy and adored by their parents, aunts and uncles, and of course their grandparents; and since they are growing too rapidly from one week to the next, Grandma wants to see them all the time.
The Covingtons
Christmas, the holiday season, Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, whatever you call it—are celebrations for children; best celebrated as a family. That is how it was for me, when I was growing up. Our parents had more than a “village” at their disposal to take care of us; those were joyful times. Immediate and extended family members, nannies, friends and neighbors—especially neighbors were part of the circle of care.
Christmas decorations at Bok Gardens
Christmas traditions are what make the occasion special. In Panama, one of my favorite celebrations was “Noche Buena”; Christmas decorations were set-out the night before Christmas—not a moment sooner, and this included preparing elaborate, “Nativity sets” the bigger—the better.
Decorations were kept hidden from neighbors’ prying eyes, until midnight, when baby Jesus was born, signaling the official start of Christmas. The celebrations always began at home; every home went through the same ritual. We had our Christmas meal at home, then go out to visit neighbors, where we would eat some more; this would go on until the wee hours of the morning.
After all the night’s excitement, children would go to sleep (adults stayed up); when we woke up in the morning, we saw the gifts Santa left under the Christmas tree. Nativity sets and Santa co-existed in the same place; talk about conflicting messages, LOL! Funny thing is–we never gave it a second thought, it was Christmas, we had food and –there were presents for us, and that was the end of that!
Merry Christmas everyone and Feliz Navidad, Prospero Año y Felicidad! Whatever you
OMG, it's The Grinch...oh, no!
do… don’t be a Grinch this holiday season!
I want to wish you a Merry Christmas… From the bottom of my heart!
Just so you know, I did not forget about you. I had very important assignments during the last few months, and they took precedence over my blogging duties. So much has happened in our lives since the last time I spoke to you.
Here goes, Miss Elisa Londyn was born on May 30 2011, the beautiful bundle of joy’s parents were beside themselves, in more ways than one. Does anyone remember the first few days after delivery? I do, very vividly, not only my own but our daughters’ too. Miss Elisa arrived on a Monday afternoon, and took her departure from the comfort of her mother’s womb very seriously; when I met her approximately 30 minutes later, all she had to say was a loud “whoa, whoa, whoa!!!” She cried as if to say “who let me out? I was doing just fine in there, Grandma. I want my mommy!
Elisa, Lauryn and Sydney
Let me tell you, as one of the two proud grandmas I was beside myself with joy. I stayed with the new parents for about 10 days to help ease them into their brand new role. Time spent was priceless; we bonded like nobody’s business and by the time I left, everyone was pretty much in sync with each other. Daddy took to being the “poopy diaper engineer” and mommy thrilled at being relieved of this particular job. Of course, she too, eventually had to step-up to the “poopy” plate. Mind you grandma was on task from the beginning but had to make sure to delegate duties just before returning home.
That was granddaughter number two; you still remember our first, Miss Lauryn, “the big sister” as she is known these days? Sydney Joyce, granddaughter number 3, arrived on July 30, to the delight of little Miss Lauryn, her parents and grandparents; Miss Lauryn has taken control of the situation, for the most part. She is mommy’s little helper, checking in on her little sister regularly and reporting to mommy when she believes there is a diaper change in order.
According to her auntie “Titi”, Lauryn can talk to little Sydney; we had a few hilarious moments a few weeks ago when all three grand-kids, parents and grandparents convened together for a baby meet-up. Titi asked Miss Lauryn one day, what her sister wanted because she was crying; she responded: “she says she wants to eat, and I think she has a poopy diaper!” We all rolled over with laughter at that assessment; and you know what? She was right!
BTW, I will never forget Sidney’s arrival into this world either; I was in the birthing room. I will never forget seeing her little head come out and without prompting and right before the shoulders were out, she made her singing debut, she was like “at last, what the heck took you all so long?” I’ve been ready for this!
Stay tuned; I am sure this will be a joyous and totally funny ride. I love my grand babies and their parents tremendously; they are my pride and joy. I am thankful for them, and am especially thankful for the wealth of material they are going to supply Grandma with for the pages of this blog!
Happy Birthday little Miss Sonrisa!!! Abuela loves you!
Chica on the Move 