Ava-doting

Our granddaughter, Ava, is with us for this week, and I want so badly to share each moment of pleasure and enjoyment which is every moment we have had with Ava this week. But it is just not possible. For one thing I have worked Monday and Tuesday for 4 hours and those were 8 hours of excruciating struggle to complete my tasks for other children in order to return to Ava. But today I was rewarded handsomely. As I pulled into the driveway at 2:00, Andrew and Ava were outside and I found much compensation for the 8 hours I have spent away from her, those little tiny arms lifted upwards toward me to pull her to my body for a great big hug.

She must be the most special child on the Earth but I am sure Hope and Paige would disagree with me. But only Ava has "Badger" for a name. We marvel at her intelligence, beauty and ability to adapt to an ever changing world. Diane brought her to us in a state of unwavering sleep. She awoke with an asute appraisal of the people who smiled and preened at her. She did not smile at them until Tuesday, but when that approval came, the world opened as though Moses again had parted the Red Sea. At first she only allowed me, Grandmommy, to hold her and cuddle her and dress her and feed her but on Tuesday she deigned to allow her Granddad and her Knight in Shining Armor the pleasure of her acceptance. Were they proud? The answer is a resounding "YES!" Yesterday she napped two hours in the morning and no hours in the afternoon and so by 8:00 she was asleep, just in time for a martini and Dancing With The Stars to be enjoyed by her weary Grandmommy. Not only did she sleep at an opportune moment, she slept for 10 hours for the second night in a row. Today Grandmommy got home from work to spend hours playing with her, especially under the Japanese Magnolia tree. The game played under this tree has special significance. But now at 5:00 she has fallen asleep on the floor in front of Grandmommy's many spools of thread scattered on the floor. Who cares? Not Grandmommy! She sleeps beside her.