20 March 2022

Grandparenting

Phoebe at Lodge Moor children's play area this afternoon

We looked after Little Phoebe for the last three days. Her mama and papa were down  in Devon in the south west of England to attend an old school friend's wedding.

Caring for our little granddaughter was not an onerous task. In fact, it was quite delightful - she is such a sweet child and she brings us much joy. I put her to bed both nights and she soon settled. After all, she was tired. I read her a book called  "The Green Sheep" and helped her to imbibe a beaker full of cow's milk. After a little restlessness, she was soon settled and went off to slumberland like a yachtswoman sailing out of a sunlit harbour.

This weekend she laughed and clapped when she managed to walk without assistance between the two of us. Just three or four steps at a time. You see Phoebe - there's no need to hang on to us like a limpet - you can do it yourself girl!

And we read her books, bathed her, fed her, changed her nappy and wiped her mouth. That's something she hates with a vengeance, protesting madly whenever Shirley brings the warm flannel to bear upon her mucky chops. It's really quite funny.

When her mother and father returned at about 5pm on Sunday, the reunion was not as happy as we had expected. She had just woken up from a nap and was a little confused. "Who are these people Grandpa?" It took a little while to touch base once more and there were untypical tears but soon she was as right as rain and after Sunday dinner went home very happily.

"Hello, hello. What's your name?
My name is Phoebe.
My name is Grandpa.
Nice to meet you!"

31 comments:

  1. That is such a lovely age. Their personalities really start to shine and they are so loving and trusting. Grandpa and Grandma are giving Phoebe a lot of good memories to carry her through life.

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    1. It's nice that we are close by and that we see her regularly. This is down to COVID! Frances and Stew moved back to Sheffield from London because of COVID.

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  2. That's sweet that you all had such a special time that she didn't want to leave. What a lot she's doing these days. They do grow so fast! I love caring for my grandson; he doesn't mind his face wiped but he currently hates his diaper changed. "No dipe, no dipe!" It took me many songs and other distractions to get him cleaned up. :)

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    1. Dipe? I thought that was Number 45's nickname.

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  3. As grandparents we like looking after grandchildren. But I also think kids like and remember how we fussed over them. I like the flag you have in the top right corner.

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    1. These days will be treasured deep in her DNA. It would be possible for you to copy that flag into your own sidebar Red.

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  4. Anonymous4:43 am

    I can see shadows. The sun must be shining. Is it 20 degrees?

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    1. No it was not twenty degrees. It was quite chilly up there at Lodge Moor. As I write the sun is shining brightly again and there are a couple of roos grazing on our lawn.

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  5. She is so adorable :)

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    1. She points at things and says "Dat!" If she saw you she would do the same - "Dat!"

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  6. I can tell from this post that you are only carrying out your grandparenting tasks under sufferance. Not.

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    1. When duty calls we must go to The Front.

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  7. You've certainly got grandparenting down to a fine art! What a delightful little girl Phoebe is growing into. Soon these precious moments will be but a happy memory - they grow up so fast.

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    1. You just cannot hang on to the memories. They slip through your fingers like fine sand.

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  8. Your camera and blog writing captures precious moments.

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    1. I guess my blog is also my personal diary Dave.

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  9. Phoebe appears to be fond of the color (English: colour) pink. Or maybe that's Frances? :)

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    1. Grandma happened to see the pink coat going cheap in a charity shop.

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  10. She is such a sweet little girl. Your daughter and her husband are lucky to have you two to help out. And of course Phoebe is so lucky to be able to spend time with her grandma and grandpa.

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    1. It has been an honour and a delight to be close by, witnessing her development day by day. We are the lucky ones Pixie.

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  11. You know you have us all hooked when you post Phoebe pictures.
    She is precious, and one can just wish such loving grandparents would be there for every child. I was very fortunate with mine, too.

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    1. I can imagine that you were sometimes a very naughty granddaughter Meike!

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  12. She is simply a beautiful child.
    Here is how I manage to make the mouth washing fun. I make a sort of puppet of the washcloth between my thumb and the other fingers and I announce in the voice of Mr. Washcloth that I am SO hungry and see some food that I could eat from around the mouth of the child. "Please, can I have this gravy?" I might ask while darting Mr. Washcloth in to devour all the food he can find. This generally results in giggles.

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    1. Mr Washcloth could be a cartoon show for small kids. You could be the narrator - Auntie Mary. I will tell Shirley about your trickery.

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  13. What a sweetie! They grow up so fast! Showing off new tricks with each visit!

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    1. Soon the crawling will end and I shall miss it. She is an expert crawler at the moment.

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  14. How she's grown!
    Such a bonny girl. X

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    1. Your assessment is spot on Christina!

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  15. Children acquire so many new skills in that first couple of years- it's amazing how quickly they transform into little humans

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  16. It's funny how kids never like having their mouths wiped. Nor does Olga, for that matter. I guess it must feel very unnatural to have someone else handling your lips!

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