My First Outings with Grandma and Grandpa

My name is Georgia. I will be one year old in three days.

Today is my Mommy & Daddy’s wedding anniversary, and they went out for supper, alone – without me. So my Grandma & I decided to have our own outing: our very first long one, all by ourselves.

I’m almost one, so I decided I would only nap for thirty minutes today. My Grandma was not happy about this so decided to take a highway drive to help me fall asleep. I screamed and screeched for half an hour but Grandma kept driving. I finally closed my eyes when we got to High River. Grandma told me later that the smoke from the forest fires was worse there so she turned around and drove back to Calgary.

When I woke up, Grandma and I went to East Side Marios Restaurant.

I chose Italian wedding soup in honour of my Mommy & Daddy’s marriage. Grandma must have thought this was a good idea, too, because she ate some of it. There were only two tiny meatballs, and I noticed that she let me have both of them.

Then I shared Grandma’s food and tried to put as much in my mouth as I could so that my cheeks would look like a chipmunk. My Grandma kept taking food out of my mouth. It was annoying.

I think she might have been a little irritated because I kept throwing everything on the floor. But after, I gave her lots of loud, growly hugs, and that seemed to make her happy again.

The little girl at the next table was wearing a shiny sequined dress. I had been looking at it all night, and when Grandma let me go down to walk while she picked up my garbage on the floor, I saw my chance. I just went and touched the girl’s dress. When I’m seven, I’m going to wear a dress like that.

All the adults at her table thought I was very cute and well-behaved and wanted to know my name. I really liked it when they waved good-bye and said, “Good-bye, Georgia”. I like it when people know my name.

They knew Grandma wasn’t my Mommy, though:

maybe because she looks old.

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My First Trip to the Library

We were off to our next destination. Grandma thought it was high time I visited the library, since I will be one year in three days.

I didn’t even know what a library was. I especially didn’t know that I was supposed to be quiet, especially in the bathroom. So while Grandma changed my pamper, I experimented with my voice to see how many different loud sounds I could make. There was a very excellent echo in that room, so I couldn’t help it.

Then Grandma had to pee, so I could do whatever I wanted. I pushed the little step stool around and it made a lot of noise – a LOT of noise, especially when I pushed it fast.

When Grandma & I came out of the bathroom, everybody in the library turned to look at us. I think they were expecting a big monster kid. I sure surprised them – being the cute little squirt that I am. I smiled demurely but Grandma pretended not to see them. I think she was embarrassed, so I tried to be more quiet.

Grandma tried to get me my own library card, but the lady wouldn’t do it without my Mommy and Daddy. I didn’t care, though, because Grandma got her own library card so that I could still take out books.

I got to play with big plastic letters. I focused on O, Y, and U – only three letters since it was my first time. I especially liked putting them in my mouth. Grandma would try to take them out but I just bit them harder. Grandma didn’t give up though, and kept putting me on her lap and holding me tight while she counted to 10 – every time I bit on a letter. She counted to ten quite a few times. I tried squirming and wiggling to get down, but Grandma held fast. I tried cute laughing, but Grandma wouldn’t smile.

After awhile, I figured out how to out-smart Grandma. I would pick up my letter, but didn’t put it in my mouth right away. This made Grandma relax and even give me positive reinforcement. Then I would run away from her – a good distance of ten feet or so – and very deliberately stick the letter in my mouth, too far away from her to come and get it, I figured.

But Grandma still chased me, took the letter out of my mouth, and did the counting to ten thing – but at least I got to chew on the letter longer. When I get older, I will patiently explain to her that I was practicing biting on the letters to build up my expertise for eating real Alphabet Soup.

Finally, Grandma made me look at the baby board books.

I looked at a couple for awhile, but then noticed that Grandma was having more fun because she was taking a whole bunch of books off the shelves. I showed Grandma that I could pull books off the shelves faster than she could put them back.

Grandma decided it was time to check out books. She told me my limit was five books, but she couldn’t decide which ones to pick, so picked ten books. However, at the check out she discovered she had two books with the same title so I only got to take nine books home.

Grandma let me walk out of the library. She didn’t realize that I’m not a baby anymore and could walk by myself. Grandma kept trying to hold my hand, so I tried to bite her hand. But Grandma is a general and wouldn’t let go, no matter how hard I chomped down. She finally picked me up like I was a sack, half upside down, with the nine books, and wouldn’t let me walk anymore. Maybe I didn’t bite hard enough.

Grandma decided our outing was over and took me home. We had a nice time, I think. While I drank water from my sippy cup, I sat on my Grandma’s lap and cuddled – for ten seconds.

Then I ran and put all of my own toys in my mouth. I looked at Grandma, but she didn’t seem to care.

Maybe she only cares if I chew on O, Y, & U.

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Grandpa Comes Along

A few weeks later, we went to the library for my second visit. My Grandpa came along – in his electric wheelchair, so he wouldn’t have to walk too far.

I got to sit on Grandpa’s lap, and he let me drive the wheelchair sometimes. I especially liked honking the horn. We got a lot of attention that way. Grandpa didn’t seem to care that we were supposed to be quiet in the library.

I added X to my letter repertoire, and I only had to sit on Grandma’s lap for two Thinking Times while Grandma counted to ten – very slowly.

Not for biting the rubber letters, though. I learned my lesson from last time. I still put them in my mouth so that I could get a good taste, but as soon as Grandma said “No”, I quickly took them out. That way I still got to chew on the letters, but didn’t have to have a Thinking Time.

But Grandma still found a reason to give me those horrid Thinking Times. I think it’s because I grabbed other children’s cheeks and noses and squeezed them hard. She told me to be gentle, but that didn’t make sense to me, since my dog Remington doesn’t care when I poke and grab his furry face. So for now, I will endure the Thinking Times. Maybe I have inherited a little of the rebel streak.

Grandma was determined to take out exactly ten books this time. Again, she made a mistake so I got to take eleven books home. Maybe Grandma can only count to ten correctly when she gives me a Thinking Time.

I tried to pull lots of board books off the shelves like I did last time, but Grandma kept trying to teach me to put each book back on the shelf before I could take another one. I did not like this method.

When Grandma went to the bathroom, I saw my chance, and took as many books off the shelf as fast as I could. Grandpa kept saying “No” from his wheelchair, but I pretended I didn’t understand. I took even more books off the shelf, even faster every time he said “NO!”

Grandpa later told my Mommy and Daddy

that it would take six men

to take care of me in the library.

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One and a Half Years Later, I’m All Grown Up…

 

Now I know more letters than O, Y, U, and X!

I can even read books to my baby sister, Freya, but sometimes she just plays or explores instead of paying attention.

Maybe my Grandma, the loving General, can make her listen!

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PHOTO CREDITS

Library – pixabay.com

Italian Wedding Soup by stu_spivak; CC BY-SA 2.0

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