My Little Basketball Player

Sammy's Grandma

Sammy Loves his Grandma TT

One of my favorite things in life is watching my mother and son together, the way they don't need language to communicate, the way they delight in each other's presence, the way one of them leaving the room can cause the other to change their posture or facial expression. When TT arrived Friday evening, Sam was snapped into his high chair smearing mixed veggies all over himself and the tray, intentionally dropping syrupy mandarin oranges onto the kitchen floor. He was unhappy and he was letting me know it. But as soon as he saw TT's face in the corner of the entry way, his eyes got big and a smile expanded across his face, and he reached out his index finger to point to her.

TT makes dinner fun

The weekend went way too fast, but every weekend that Sammy spends with his grandma brings joy and delight to our house. Cries of "Yay!" with each basketball shot made, giggles and squeals as TT picks Sammy up and helps him climb the back of the couch. Music and laughter and hugs. Running and crawling and wrestling. Sammy clings to grandma's legs, and when she goes to the kitchen to grab a drink of fresca from the refrigerator, his little feet pad along behind her. "Wait for me, Grandma," you can almost hear in the gibberish coming out of his face. When TT went to take a shower Saturday morning, leaving him behind in the hallway and closing the bedroom door, his face melted into a mess of tears until she came back out to reassure him.

Oh, how he adores his grandma.

And having her around allowed me to accomplish some things, including two milestones... turning the car seat to face forward (after having a near meltdown trying to find the tether anchors which are in the ceiling on a subaru outback) and giving Sammy his first haircut--f cutting a few layers into his bangs and around his ears can be called a haircut.

Sam's First Trim

TT left right after lunch, and this afternoon Sam has been walking around a little slower, frequently looking back over his shoulder, peeking around walls and doorways as if he is sure that she is right around the corner waiting to smile at him or make a funny face or a funny sound or push her hair into the flesh of his belly and make him laugh. "Are you looking for TT?" I ask and his eyes perk up. "She went bye-bye," I remind him. But I don't think he believes me, and I find myself looking forward to her next visit.

Walking!!!

Ten steps tonight. Towards me, not away from me. This is important, as I'm sure so many of you parents know that being a parent is about watching them move away from you over and over as they grow. My little man. First 3-4 steps a couple weeks ago. Then 5-6 last week. Then standing up without holding on to anything and walking 7-8 steps. Tonight he consistently walked at least 10 steps without falling down, oftentimes while carrying his new favorite toy, the big Spiderman ball. When he's not trying to walk with it, he looks towards the ceiling and puts the ball on top of his nose and tries to push it skyward with his face. Somehow he thinks this is how Mommy makes the ball go up in the air.

My little man is walking.

Oh my.

(Pictures and video coming soon.)