Beautiful Blue Eyes is in town...

Today is the day we met Grammy and Papa to pick up Beautiful Blue Eyes. He's been visiting with them for the last couple of weeks or so and now is our turn to share him before he returns to the Big Bad Cold North on Thursday. We met him at his brother's favorite eating place. The place he always connects with his Granddaddy because we always spent some time eating there with them when they visited, and brother learned to love it. As soon as we stepped in the door, Grammy and Papa waved to us and Beautiful Blue Eyes immediately turned and waved back. How much three months can change a child. He's growing taller and he doesn't look like a little toddler anymore. He's beginning to develop his own little personality. He's his own little self.

I wondered how a little 2+ year old boy would react to seeing us again. As I said it has been three months and they can forget so fast. My biggest fear with them being so far away is that they will forget us. Well, one of my biggest fears. I won't go into the others that haunt me daily.

He latched onto us with big hugs and kisses as though it was only yesterday he had seen us last. And talk he did. He has come a long way since we saw him last and he's added lots of words to his vocabulary. He's been set back in his speech development because of so many ear infections earlier in his little life, and now he's finally catching up because he can hear us now. It's frustrating to him as well as to us when we don't quite understand everything, but since we haven't been around him much lately, it's only reasonable that it will take us a while to understand everything he says.

On the way back to our house he chatted away in the back seat. He says, "It's dock outside. It's dock." And it was dark outside. He wanted to be tall enough to stretch and reach the clothes bar across the back seat and just out of reach in front of him. He wanted to know if we were at our house yet. He would echo me telling Granddaddy to "Stop, Granddaddy" at each stop ligt or "Go Granddaddy" at each green light. He wanted his water out of his "bag pack". He wanted to go inside with me when we stopped at Target for his milk. He was just a regular little chatterbox. The whole 35-40 minutes back home.

He giggled and giggled and giggled as we bumped over each of the speed bumps near the house as I said, "Here comes another one..bumpity, bumpity, bump!" It takes so little to entertain kids sometimes. And I do qualify that with a "sometimes".

We let him play for a while so he could get comfortable with his new surroundings at our house before we suggested bedtime. He really wasn't ready at that point, but finally time came when we had to go to bed. I had already prepared him by telling him he was sleeping in his daddy's old room that he had slept in all his life, even when he was a little boy like him, until he was big enough to move away from home. He seemed to deal with that just fine.

We crawled into bed, and then we read some books. He was not happy when we finally turned the lights out even though I assured him either Granddaddy or I one would be sleeping with him. Then we heard a train in the distance. "Ut oh", he says. "Choo choo train." He was a bit disturbed by the sound of the train and I tried hard to reassure him the train was nowhere near the house, even though he could hear it. He continued to be a bit skeptical.

I resorted to the old trick his daddy's grandmother had used on his daddy years ago when she came to visit and slept with him when he was around the same age. She would have him lie on his tummy and then she would run her fingers up his back like a choo choo (although, I had better sense than call it a choo choo at this point). This little game only cracked him up. He thought that was so funny because it tickled him on his little back! Stop that game, Grandmomma, and move on.

I watched through slightly cracked eyes as that precious little boy lay there struggling with whatever feelings he was having about that train, about spending time with these people he called Grandmomma and Granddaddy. People he didn't see everyday and for all intents and purposes were strangers to him, and I'm sure he was also wondering how long he could stay awake, because as he had said before, "It's dock." I wondered just what that little fellow was really thinking. He's a long, long way from home and his mommy and daddy and two older brothers, who he loves dearly. In his world, it's been a long time since he's seen any of them. I wonder if he dreams at night about seeing them soon. I know he can't wait! He is being so very brave.

He would reach over occasionally and touch my nose, or my mouth, and try to see if he could see my eyes opened. Only rarely would he close his own. Granddaddy came in and crawled into my spot because he will attempt to sleep with him tonight.

Once again, before I left the room, in his sweet little whispered voice he said "My muck, my muck." That's milk to you who don't know. "Just a couple more sips and it has to go back into the refrigerator for the night." He was satisfied and he had more night-night hugs and kisses before he tried to settle down again.

I left two of my boys alone, finally. I'm sure one of them fell asleep long before the other. But at least the one who was awake still had the comfort of knowing two someones who loved him were there to keep the boogers at bay. And he trusts us to do that. We'll do our best to live up to his expectations while he's here.

He is one precious little soul in a small, but quickly growing toddler's body. I look at him and I wonder how we can be so blessed. How very fast they grow up and away. We'll enjoy them while we can. Before we can turn around he'll be bound by obligations of school and then we'll see very, very little of him.

I hope the two of them sleep well tonight and no pacis are lost.