Yesterday a friend reached out to me and part of our conversation she asked if I was a prophet. Let it be known I have had a couple of dreams that have come to be. I say all that to say this:

Last night I had a dream that I woke up and it was June. In my dream I was very well aware that I fell asleep in January but I woke up in June. A big part of me really wants that to be a prophetic dream…yet that would mean I’d be losing 5 months of my life in some way. Or gaining 7…the dream was not specific to what year in June. Maybe it could just be prophetic that it could be June like weather?

I’m just so cold all the time. Between losing weight and cutting off all my hair I’ve resorted to wearing beanies indoors.

Dear Amehlia,

The photos you see here are over a week old, because I have not seen you since the 4th of January because YOUR PAPA WENT AND GOT CoViD-19! Not sure where he acquired it but he is positively positive. I however, tested negative and, in the way of the world, that means that though he will end his isolation tomorrow…I am stuck until the 28th. Yes, you read that right, the 28th. I will suffer from not seeing my Nathalie and Amehlia for the better part of a MONTH!

That being said, you are still growing…even without the benefit of the presence of your maternal grandparents. How dare you! So, today you are two months old and according to your Mommy (and the doctor’s visit today) you are 11lbs 6oz and 22.25 inches long! You hold your head up so well already it surprised the doctor. Also, you received a couple shots today and did not enjoy it, however; your mother is probably one of the few children in the history of all history that actually wanted to get and looked forward to receiving her vaccinations. Aunt Pixie on the other hand…let’s just say it was not a fun experience when she needed vaccinations.

So, I really do not have all that much to report on you. After all, this is my second grand-parenting rodeo and just like baby books, each consecutive child’s historical record tends to be less and less. But I am trying here…you on the other hand need to give me more material to work with.

Now your sister on the other hand…She is a treasure. Since her last log she has had significant growth (but still on the lower end of the percentile charts for weight and average for height) and she has been potty trained. She eats vegetables. She does NOT like kefir, but points to her for trying it. She has the MOST messed up sleep patterns and there is NOTHING – even according to the doctor – that can be done about it. She has very vivid dreams and night terrors. Oh, and she is still sticking to the story that her puppy died (she has been saying this for at least a year now) even though she has never had a puppy. Y’all have 5 cats and a snake but not a canine anywhere…ever. She has to have some dental work done at the hospital later this month under anesthesia…Aunt Pixie had to go through this when she was 3 years old, hereditary weak teeth are from me, I apologize in advance…but I have begged your mother to video tape her coming out of anesthesia because back in the day we did not have camera phones to record the most hysterical things your aunt said when waking from sedation as a 3 year old. I cannot recall the actual things she said and did as much as I can recall how much I LAUGHED and LAUGHED. Good Lord, let there be video of Nathalie.

One last thing I wanna note, and pay attention here, is the use of the I Love You sign in sign language. It is something that our family has done forever when we leave one another or sometimes even pass nearby one another. Your sister is catching on and has been trying to master the sign for some time, I think she just about has it. So, I leave you with this.

MMMMMUAH!

Nawnie (sorry kid, your sister named me)

Dear Amehlia,

Today you are a month old!!!

You entered the world 6 days early, amidst a pandemic called CoVid-19 and a presidential election that has yet to be declared official. A world where people are asked to wear masks in public spaces, often incorrectly, and vacillate between believing the masks help and believing they are useless. A world where whether or not there would be room at the local hospital in which you were born was a concern.

You weighed 8 pounds and measured 19 inches at birth. If you were a kitten, you woul be called a little chonk. You added light in the darkness.

The day you came began like any other day for me…I woke up at stupid o’clock and made coffee while Papa slept in a bit because it was a Friday (the 13th). Around 7am your father rang and stated “We have water everywhere.” And I envisioned a leaking dishwasher because Papa and I were in the middle of dealing with water damage from our dishwasher leaking. Once I figured out your father’s code for your Mommy’s water breaking, I woke up Papa and we commenced our role in the mission of your birth: Take charge of Nathalie. Nathalie is your big sister, we will speak of her often in these letters. Anyway, just as when Nathalie was born, Mommy was pretty chill when we arrived. Her water had broken while visiting the loo…you girls are so considerate.

We were not able to visit you in the hospital because… corona… But the night you were released Mommy and Daddy surprised us with a 10pm visit. Your sister’s excitement was more joyful than you could possibly imagine. Papa and I were more…”Meh, whatevs.”

Don’t believe that last statement for one second.

Over this past month you have been compared to your sister quite often, and other than the fact that in pictures we could swap the babies and most people wouldn’t know it, you are a bit different. For one… you eat…and you seem more chill… and you prefer being bounced over being swayed. Other than that, just another baby that we adore. As time goes on, we shall see more of your personality but for now you are just squishy bundle of cuteness for us to admire.

Happy 1st month of life little Podling.

Dear Nathalie,

This may be the choppiest letter I have written to date – I am not caring today.

October in review:

This may be the month when I moved up in the Ranking of Favorite People! I have been with you a bit more than Papa this month. Let’s see how long it lasts, but you have been so excited to see me lately. Even relinquishing the hands of Mummy and Papa to walk with me on Halloween! Oh, my heart!!! Even though one day I woke you from your slumber and forced you to do things like put on clothes and brushed your hair and (GASP) cover your feet in SOCKS…all so that I could take you to Jenny’s for the day. You crashed hard in the car and stayed asleep after I delivered you to her couch. But did I take a photo of that cuteness? OF COURSE NOT! There is a reason we humans should not give birth in our late forties…YOU TODDLERS ARE EXHAUSTING!

Did you see the sass in that video clip? Mmmmhmmm. Good thing you are cute. This visit to church ended with you giving hugs and kisses to Miss Monica and one of the other volunteer before leaving. It was quite adorable, …another moment not caught on video. But we did get this:

Playing with Fishies

Did you see that ponytail? That is video evidence that it stayed in for at least 20 seconds!

And, much like your Mummy, you do enjoy rocks.

One time while being your designated adult in charge, I had Papa on a video call and you had a toy golf club and inadvertently knocked the side of my phone with it while talking to him…you patted the side of my phone and told Papa “I sorry” – the cuteness was real.
November in Review:

November began with POTTY TRAINING…

…and a visit to the dentist for Mummy to have a cleaning. In an effort to get you dentist adapted you joined her, with me present as back up. You were fine sitting with Mummy in the chair, but then they put a “bib” on her! HEAVENS TO BETSY it was like they placed the most offensive object imaginable on her chest. You were not pleased and then when they leaned her back in the chair…that was it, your anger turned into despair. It was as if the reclining position meant that Mummy had DISAPPEARED! So, we went back to the waiting room and played with toys like this:

Hanging Out at Afdent

I love how polite you are becoming…sort of…when you feel like it. In response to “Thank You” we get a response of “yooweckom”…pretty sure that means “You’re welcome”

You celebrated Gracey’s 16th birthday and experienced being in the spying eye of Chris Jr’s drone. You were calling it to you and were fine until it got close, then you became a Papa barnacle…

Video:

Mummy says you apologize to all of the things these days… cupboard doors, stuffed animals. You are trying to be kind to all things under the sun

November was the best!  It was when Aunt Pixie moved back home from Washington!  Which was just in time for you to end up contracting Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease after celebrating Thanksgiving. (Which is also the year that I missed Thanksgiving due to a migraine and waiting on Aunt Pixie’s flight to land…c’est la vie) Apparently, before you left the Lovitt gathering you gave EVERYONE kisses.

Your vocabulary is expanding beyond our ability to capture it.  Even since October, you seem to get the L sound into “You’re welcome” and it comes out as two separate words.

You are surprising us with the things you say and do; on one occasion Papa was struggling to get you buckled into your car seat and after several failed attempts you uttered in frustration “come on” drawing out the word “on” in such a way that you would think you were 12 rather than a toddler.  I imagine at twelve our response will not be laughter.

I will say, that you are the epitome of The Terrible Two’s and to be honest (or lucky) I did not experience that with your mother or aunt.  Don’t get me wrong, they both had their moments but your moments are… well, a way of life right now.  Though your vocabulary is expanding I am hoping that once you master the English language and can CLEARLY state what it is that you want, your world will expand and your attitude may shift…here’s to hoping.

We pretty much wrapped up November with allowing you to decorate my Christmas tree…I had intended to “edit” your work after you left…but I couldn’t. Also…with Aunt Pixie home, we now have FOUR cats in the house and …let’s just say it is a good thing we don’t use glass ornaments and we have the tree anchored to the ceiling with twine.

 

December FLEW by!

Your Aunt Pixie joined you and some of the Lovitt family at Allie’s Cafe for lunch where you spent the time eating all of her fries and then walking her around the restaurant while holding her hand and waving and saying hello to other patrons.

Another cute moment that I have second-hand information on:  Before Christmas dinner with the Lovitt family, during Aunt Kelley’s blessing of the meal, you apparently were saying Amen, amen, amen…  AND I MISSED IT!!  After this occasion…NO ONE GOT KISSES.

We continue to take you to church whenever possible. I was present for this after church one evening:  You danced

…and received many compliments from The Ladies at church about your little poncho sweater…everyone wants one, including me.

You received gifts from EVERYONE and I spent way more on you than I had planned but did you LOOK at this activity center!  IT’S HEIRLOOM QUALITY! (the video quality…not so much)

During Christmas festivities with the Giles clan, you tried to rival your mother in her toddler injuries with a trip into some object and ended up with this beauty:

We kept you overnight that night and I cannot tell you how many times you inadvertently brought Papa close to myocardial infarction…you DO NOT watch where you are going…at all.  Our kitchen table is a death trap of sharp corners.  The bad kitties like to chase things you trail behind you and force you to look at them rather than at the minefield that is our home full of SHARP CORNERS.

We did find the magic trick to getting you to settle down: WINNIE THE POOH MOVIES!!! You watched them in their entirety. I had never witnessed this before.

The next day you really did NOT want to go home, getting you dressed was a chore until Aunt Pixie decided to make it a game of hide-and-seek and that everytime they hid from us, she added a special piece of clothing that made her harder to find.  Not the most efficient way of getting dressed but it was a pleasant experience for you.  Also, when you “hid” in Aunt Pixie’s room…you walked in and GASPED and half-whispered “So messy!”  – this spurred Aunt Pixie into action later and forced her to clean her room.

On the ride home, you kept your head completely covered by a blanket and would not speak at all until we were driving in a direction where the sun was not shining in your window.  Truly, the moment we turned away from the sun, you popped your head out from under the cover and became Normal Nathalie again… although, I don’t know that there is a Normal…  You are not fully aged yet.

That is all I have Tiny One. Now I sit at home on New Year’s Eve with movies queued up and ready to watch with good company…Papa and Aunt Pixie…who keep harping at me to get off my computer so that we can start the movie.  This is the real party.

Happy New Year!  Don’t party too hard. Go to bed early…I know I will.

Love forever,

Nawnie

 

This comment came up at lunch today.  It always makes my ears perk up… because I hate it.  Allow me to explain why:

“It’s easier to ask forgiveness than for permission.”

Again, I feel intense and passionate dislike for this statement with every fiber of my being.

To this statement of preferring ease, I ask:  “At what cost?”

I can accept this thinking from children who are testing boundaries.  As parents, we learn how to work through this with our kids…and pray that we were brave enough to help them understand the longer-term repercussions of this type of thinking.

As a child, you have the excuse for your brain still developing. You may not truly understand how it affects the person to whose authority you have thwarted.

As adults, I will grant the consideration of believing that it is simply something you have not really considered there is a cost.

So let me get to the point.  As a Christian, this old adage is often used as a weapon.  Yes, forgiveness is a tenant of Christianity.  However, though I am commissioned to forgive you, I am not required to trust you.

With each offense in this arena, you risk hacking away at the cornerstone of trust that relationships are built upon.

Was it really worth the risk?

 

Today is my 47th birthday, and I am still here!

“Shine on me sunshine
Walk with me world
It’s a skippidity do da day
I’m the happiest girl, in the whole U.S.A.”

Today I want to celebrate my life by celebrating my life:

Thank you, God, for knowing me before I took my first breath! Thank you, Jesus for my salvation. Thank you to the church I call home for helping me understand the gift.

Cheers to you Mom and Dad, for bringing me into this world! To both of you and my siblings – Amy and Ray for the life and love and all the things that went into the forge that created the foundation of who I am.

Thank you, David, my love, for helping me become the person I am and for loving me even when that person is selfish, or snippy, or overall less than lovable.

“Skippidity do da
Thank you oh Lord for making him for me
And thank you for letting life turn out the way
That I always thought it could be”

Thank you, Breanna, for being the best first child in the world. For being like me and so completely different than me that it challenges my thinking and makes me look deeper into that which is life beyond mine.

Thank you, Paige, for being the best second child in the world. For being like me and yet being braver and still mellow and laid back. For worshipping with me and understanding the tears in the worship.

Thank you to both my daughters for making me laugh until I cry, for making me cry because we all need to. For the triangle of tears that formed some cornerstones of our relationships now that you are both adults.

Thank you, Nathalie, for being you. For being excited about life and helping these older eyes become open to discovering things as if they were new.

Thank you to my extended family, for the love and life and joy and sadness and history.

Thank you Lovitt family for accepting me as one of your own. Primarily Jack and Lois for being so solid and consistent and open. Thank you to the three sisters Lovitt that have shown me what it SHOULD be like.

Thank you to my sister friends, Lori, Paula, JennieBean, Christa, Julie, Jen B, Shelley, Rachele, Jeanna. I wanna cry thinking about how much I love you all and how grateful I am that you are my people.

Thank you to the fellow humans that authored the journey that brought my beloved pets into my life. (Thank you to all the animal people out there that understand this.)

I am certain there are people not mentioned specifically here that I am grateful for…there are so many of YOU! I don’t have time to write that novel, but know that if you are in my life in any way and have stumbled into this post, know that I am grateful for your presence. Every encounter, every conversation, every moment of shared joy or pain…every…single…one – adds/added/will add a layer of substance to the person I am. And…

I like me.

So, thank you!

Now go out there and light a sparkler and think about everything you have to celebrate!

“Now shine on me sunshine
Walk with me world
It’s a skippidity do da day
I’m the happiest girl, in the whole U.S.A.”

________________________________________________________________________

Consider this to “post-credit extras” to my life:

The Happiest Girl in the Whole USA

That song always makes me think of my childhood… always loved it…always felt joyful when I heard it.

Just for kicks, I will also include the song that stuck with me in childhood…

Dear Nathalie,

I have a hard time accepting that it has been two whole years since we were blessed with the wonder that is YOU! As you can see, I am officially accepting the title of “Nawnie” and yet I know that somewhere down the line you could call me something else (hopefully always something kind)…for now, it is Nawnie.

Because I was so tardy with my last post and am RIGHT ON TIME with this one, I am trying to find out what, if anything, has developed along the way.

You are still selective in your use of language. But you are starting to come around. My favorite is when you start toddling in a direction and then turn around and say “C’mon.” When a toddler says “C’mon” – you follow. I will enjoy your desire for my inclusion in your adventures for as long as I can.

Other favorite things for Papa and I would be the way you say the words “shoes” and “keys” – you emphasize the wrong syllable. Shoes sounds like shoose and keys sound like keece. Exhibit A: (note… the word is uttered around 40 seconds in but the video goes on quite a while beyond “shoes” but for those who love her and don’t see her often, I include the entire interaction that led up to choosing her clothing for the day)

I love how Papa tries to teach you which shoe goes where and how you say “Thank you” in context…and the way you cock your head and look at me like I’m adorable when I ask you to say “Apple Jacks” – perhaps I am easily amused.

You have very specific expectations for our cats. (Yes, I always have to have a cat update) Often telling them to “go way” when they are in a space you don’t think they should be, and just as quickly you try to smother them in your love. Speaking of cats, your mother shared a story of making smores at home and you only wanted the marshmallow, but then you spit it out, squished it in your little fist, and then tried to pet the cat…Mummy saved the cat.

On a recent visit, we took you to breakfast at PEGGS downtown. You are NOT restaurant trained. Apparently, you don’t do meals, you simply graze. We chose the location so that Papa and I could participate in Pokemon Go Community Day. (Don’t judge) Little did we know that there was going to be a Pride Festival there as well – you had dressed appropriately for the occasion (see following GIF) and you loved all the colors and the dogs that people were kind enough to allow you to pet.

You attended the family reunion for your paternal great grandmother’s (aka Gramma Lois) family. You paid attention to no one new. Pretty much dragged Papa to wherever you wanted to go…and of course he followed.

I need to be more kind when including Papa in your photos…these are not good representations of how handsome he is.

Speaking of Papa, on that same day of the reunion, he actually left you alone with me for a few hours! Now, understand that when you come over Papa follows your EVERY STEP and it is exhausting! I had come to the conclusion that you were a very busy child. Papa is very nervous of possible injury or mess or…who knows…but he takes his responsibility of you VERY seriously. Me, I do a perimeter check to make sure there are no knives or chemicals that you can reach and I let you go. While Papa was trying to leave, he was so convinced that his leaving would throw you into a tizzy he kept telling me to distract you so that he could leave. I ignored his requests and just told him to go. So, when after the reunion he left you in my care, I actually sat down on the couch, turned on Puppy Dog Pals and left you to your own devices you were pretty chill. Oh, and at one point I sneezed and you said “Bless you” – oh my heart! Back to you being chill…so chill that you hung out next to me and admired the softness of my pants (which you also kept pointing to and saying something that sounded like “cute” – great taste by the way) and you lay your head on my leg and actually WATCHED THE CARTOON!! I have never seen you watch a cartoon for more than a minute. Don’t get me wrong, you were not motionless during this time, but you stayed in the same room and you were content to do your own little thing without injury or destruction! We practically BINGED the ENTIRETY of Puppy Dog Pals that was available on Netflix! Holy Cow! This was a MONUMENTAL MOMENT! Angels were singing. Glory to God was given! You were still.

No, I do not plan to use the television as child care when you come over. I learned that was wrong AFTER raising Aunt Pixie. It’s okay…she survived and is very smart. She even enjoys NATURE!

That wraps it up for now. Papa and I will come to see you later, maybe I will edit this post to include a photo of you on this special day.

EDIT: official day of birthday photos, action shots of course.

Happy Birthday Nathalie!

Love, Nawnie

Dear Nathalie,

It has been quite the whirlwind of a month.  Rather than write a novel about things that have happened, AND because I am EXTREMELY late with this post (Nine days. This might be a record)  I am going to do some bullet points with the exception of this first revelation:

You are calling me something between Nani (Nah-nē) and Nawnie.  Though Nani in Hindi actually means “maternal grandmother” which is incredibly accurate for a child of your age that has been raised in the midwestern part of the United States of America. I will accept it if that is where you land, but I am encouraging the Nawnie version for two reasons:  First, it is phonetically similar to what my mother calls me (Dawnie) and I am very likely to respond this moniker and second, I do not speak Hindi.  I do take comfort in knowing that, as a Hawaiin name, Nani means “beautiful” or “splendor” – ultimately, either way, these two things you are calling me are a WIN!

You spent an entire week with your paternal grandparents leading up to Mother’s Day. It was traumatizing for your mother, and you my dear have raised your Fit Throwing Level to Professional since that visit.  Oh. MY. WORD!! You went from Amateur straight to PRO without even touching on Intermediate.  It could be a coincidence or you experienced a level of spoiling that you simply were not receiving from your Indiana clan and FOR THE HONOR OF GRAYSKULL you are determined to regain some spoil action. Let it be known…we aren’t having it.

{Confession:  I lied…I can’t do bullet points}

You had the opportunity to spend a great deal of time with Aunt Pixie who was visiting for 10+ days.  You were the highlight of her visit. The first time you fell asleep and she was able to snuggle you like this in almost a year…I think her heart grew three sizes that day. (Shout out to Dr. Seuss!)

As your grandparents, I feel that we have spent a great deal of time with you this month.

We visited the zoo with you…chipmunks running around were a big hit. As were the average local birds flying around. Goats scared you. The rest of the animals grabbed your attention as long as they were moving and lucky for us it was a coolish overcast day and many of the animals were out and active!

As you can see in the above picture…I do believe I have a fellow curly girl in the family.  Someday you will appreciate your curls, as you don’t have the coarse texture with them…You are welcome.  Mummy is learning how to properly manage and encourage them.

You’ve spent quite a bit of time at Lauren and Casey’s where you met all of their farm animals and even rode a pony…or a horse, I am not sure…an equine of some sort.  Your cute shoes were muddy as …well, they were very muddy and even taking my scrub brush to them barely made a difference in their discoloration.

You have learned the phrase “I love you” but in your language, it sounds like “Wuv you.”  Mummy did capture this on video and shared it with me, but you are totally naked in the video and I am not posting that for the world to see.

You don’t like us having gates up at our house.  Prior to now, we have had some rudimentary pseudo barriers to keep you from going downstairs or into rooms we wanted you to stay out of…so, seeing a gate at our house for the first time, let’s just say you were less than happy about it.

Other fit worthy things include:

• Not letting you ride a bike in the house.
• Making you come inside.
• The adult holding you has the audacity to go from a standing to a seated position.
• Turning off the water before you are done playing in it.
• Someone besides you has your blanket
• Someone besides you has anything you believe you should have
• Stacking blocks
• Not stacking blocks
• Putting the toys away
• The word “No” (unless uttered by you)
• Putting the broom away
• Adults disagreeing when you say “MINE” when it is indeed NOT yours.

{Hey look!!! Bullet points!}

We have figured out that you are afraid of the sound of a train whistle…which is unfortunate because that sound happens a lot at our house even though we don’t live that close to a train track…sound carries.  You just WAIT for a low flying plane!  The trains will seem like a pleasant lullaby to you.

I feel like I am forgetting some things but at this point…my brain hurts trying to recall all the things that make up the wonder that is you.

OH WAIT!  New Nickname… NattyRoo.  I believe there is a reason behind it but I cannot think what it was.  Will consult with Mummy and perhaps update this post.

Until next time Roo…

Love…Nani…Nawnie  (whichever)