Meeting William

Our fifth grandchild, (second grandson) was born on April 13, 2018 and named William Daniel. We wait anxiously by the phone the day of his birth. His C-section scheduled for 9:00 am went smoothly, but we did hear from Dan until close to 1:00pm when he had a chance to text and later phone. This is the first photo we got of William being held by his dad shortly after his birth.

And here is our first glimpse at 8 lb 9 oz William Daniel, all by himself, just hours old in the hospital.

Frank and I had originally planned a drive-down visit to SoCal on Father's Day weekend. I declared I could not wait that long, so this week we flew down for a brief visit on Tuesday, April 24 and back on Thursday, April 26th. Sandwiched in between, on Wednesday, April 25th was our son Dan's 35th birthday.

Tuesday: Our flight landed at 4:00pm and we drove directly to Dan and Carrie's home. I tried to pack lightly, with only one change of clothes, planning to wear the same items down and back on the travel days. I was quite proud of myself, especially when we spotted this vehicle on the road on our drive from the Santa Ana airport to Dan and Carrie's home in Lake Forest. This group does not travel light!

I did have one extra suitcase though full of gifts for  the family. I never arrive empty-handed much to the barely contained dismay of my son and daughter-in-law due to their extra space challenged home. We would open the grandkids' gifts later that evening.

After a brief meet and greet of a sleeping William at their home, where I got to hold him for the first time, we scooted off for dinner and socializing at the community event Taco Tuesday convened at one of the Baker Ranch cabana clubs. Carrie asked me if she should take back William while I ate. I was starving but refused to give him up to eat. How often does one get to hold an eleven day old infant? His shirt label quips "tiny but mighty". Everything is relative of course. I would venture to say that a baby who is 8 lb 9oz at birth is not tiny in the newborn scheme of things. He sure is might cute in my mind, though.

I held him and ate simultaneously, picking the occasional bit of stray shredded lettuce off his forehead. He did not stir at all. When he did eventually wake, I reluctantly handed him off to Carrie to nurse.

Two-year old Lillian wanted to go to the pool so Dan took her away to that area of the cabana club to swim with her. Four-year old Vivian wanted to run around in the grassy area with her friends. "Run around" is a mild understatement. She tore around full tilt with a group of boys each one taller than her by at least one head height. She is very social, not at all shy, and she is fast! Dan asked Frank and me to keep her within eyesight and it did indeed take both of use to do just that. This is a little girl who comes home from daycare and changes to one of the princess dresses in her closet, so she is characteristically not a tomboy; but her bursts of energy were sure a surprise to us. I do not know how Dan and Carrie are going to juggle things and keep up now that they are outnumbered: Kids–3, Parents–2.

After we came home from the Taco Tuesday event, we opened the grandkids' gifts. I'd brought William's baby quilt (also shown in my DianeLoves2Quilt blog post for 4/27/18).

I'd also made soft velvet velour stuffed kitties for Vivian and Lillian (also shown in my DianeLoves2Quilt blog post for 4/28/18). They have an awake and an asleep side – just like their little brother William.

After some teeth brushing the girls were off to bed. Carrie also retired with William. We and Dan stayed together a bit longer chatting. It was slightly before 10:00 pm before we checked into our hotel and subsequently we old folk were tired out. I suspect the young parents Dan and Carrie were also.

Wednesday: Dan rose early the next morning to take 4-year old Vivian to day care for her 9:00 am dance class while Frank and I ate breakfast at our hotel. Dan then came by our hotel room with almost 2-year old Lillian before we all left to take her to a park. The child bucket swing was made out of black rubber and so it was hot. We rinsed it off with water to cool it. To dry it we first inverted it and then swung it empty so the breeze would finish the job. Grandpa wore the inverted bucket while it drained of the excess water. Lillian looks like she is hiding her face and saying "I don't know him...."

She was very much on board though, when Grandpa starting pushing her in the swing.

Dan picked Vivian up from pre-school after lunch and before nap time to visit some model homes. I painted Vivian's fingernails and toenails when were were home for a brief time. I also painted Lillian's toenails but only one fingernail. We were afraid two year old fingers would not be able to stay still long enough for the polish to dry. Probably toes wouldn't either, but feet do not tend to get into as many things as hands do. 

Skipping nap time has consequences, however. Vivian conked out on the 25 minute drive to the model homes.

Once there though, the girls had a blast exploring. They liked this big stuffed giraffe in one of the bedrooms.

There is a rumor that bunk beds may be in their future so they were checking these out.  Hmm ... how is the view from the top bunk?

Vivian decides to stretch out and enjoy the bottom bunk, also.

Yes, it was his birthday, but Dan says he likes to grill and so he cooked a delicious tri-tip meal, with vegetables and crescent roll sides.

Frank and Dan rushed off after dinner to take Vivian to her evening swim lesson. When they returned we all sang Happy Birthday and Dan opened his gifts. Carrie had gotten him some Travis Mathew™ shirts he likes and his favorite jeans. We'd also brought him a few items to open: a non-fiction business type book, a more fun fiction read, and a barbecue grill cleaning tool.  

Later in the evening we had Claim Jumper pie for dessert. Dan loves chocolate silk pie so this was a great choice in lieu of cake and candles.

After the girls were tucked into bed and William and Carrie were retired for the night – well at least for the first part of the night until William got hungry again – I asked Dan if he wanted to play a game to round out his birthday celebrations. I suggested Monopoly since I know that is one of his and his dad's favorites. "But, Mom, you hate Monopoly..." he responded. He is right but I answered, "For your birthday, I will play." So starting at about 9:00 pm we three played Monopoly, played more Monopoly, and played even more Monopoly. I went bankrupt and got eliminated about three hours into the game. (Game longevity and usually losing contribute somewhat to my personal distaste for the game.) Alas, this turn of the game, my having to give my properties back to the bank, breathed new life into the seemingly perpetual battle. 

Dan and his dad see-sawed back and forth in a monetary power struggle that came precariously close to a definitive winner many, many times. First road repair assessments on the multiple houses and hotels would deplete someone's cash reserves. Then the high rent on one of the properties would almost but not quite wipe out the opponent's money piles. Luxury tax reared its ugly head on those who were cash rich at the time. Dan and Frank were each pleased the times they landed in jail and could avoid landing on the high rent districts. By 1:30 am or 2:00 am –  I cannot recall the  exact time because I was sprawled out on the couch listening to the cheers and groans – Frank finally emerged the victor. Dan was a good sport about it. He enjoyed the game even if he did lose. It was no longer his birthday by that time anyway. I for one loved seeing the fun (prolonged) interaction between father and son.

Thursday: We had stayed up way too late on Wednesday night so Thursday would have to be some scaled back ventures before we flew back home that evening. Dan told us he was up by 5:30 am and I suspect Carrie's sleep was interrupted several times. Carrie went to a doctor's appointment and took William with her. Frank and I watched the movie Jumanji while Dan took a short nap and joined us halfway through. Frank and I had missed it while it was in the movie theaters, having been warned that all the good parts had been revealed in the trailers. That turned out not to be true, and so we enjoyed it immensely.

I rode with Dan to pick the girls up from daycare and we stopped to bring home dinner from Luna Grill, a restaurant billed as "fresh Mediterranean" and "the ultimate kabobery".

 

I stayed in the car with Vivian and Lillian while Dan went into the kabobery. He was no further than about twenty feet from the car when Lillian realized he was gone and began crying "Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!" I would have taken her to join her dad but Vivian wanted to stay in the car and I was not going to leave her. I whipped out my cell phone and started the app Baby Bubbles. It is described as

"the first 100% free bubble popping game for babies and toddlers that also has NO ADS and NO INTERFACE". As bubbles rise on the screen, the viewer pokes them to pop them before they float off the top. A lullaby and a baby giggling are background sounds. Lillian loved it and it engaged her totally. She shared it by taking turns with her sister so it worked out great while Dad was unavailable.

Dan got an assortment of chicken and beef shish kabobs and they were excellent. I learned shish means skewer and kabob means a dish of pieces of meat, fish, or vegetables roasted or grilled.

After dinner we opened a box of presents my sister Maxine had sent. She'd knitted a sweater for William but made it in an 18 month size so he could wear it for a longer period of time. We tried it on Lillian for her to model it and she would not take it off.

We paused for a posed photo on the couch before we went out to get in our rental car and drive off to the airport. Note that the booties that coordinate with the sweater fit Lillian well, also. Frank, Lillian, Vivian, and I are all smiling at the same time!

Lillian is hugging her daddy's legs as we loaded up the car. Vivian, after retreating to the threshold of the garage murmured quietly, "That was a very short visit." Oh... a mini-stab to my heart...

It was indeed short, but we promised to return in June, stay a bit longer, and pace ourselves better to do more interactive play with Vivian and Lillian. Our flight out that evening was delayed a half hour but we were home before midnight. We did not turn into pumpkins... just exhausted, happy, zombies.