A Long Day...

Today was a fun day. I took a break from my normal routine and went to my granddaughter's swim training. Carson turned one years old on September 8, 2008. I took photos of her, and actually, I was quite surprised at how well she is doing. She is wearing the little swim float suit now, using her arms to go forward but still fighting it a bit when she is turned over to float on her back. After class, she and her Mommy (my daughter, Dana) and I went to lunch at Olive Garden. After lunch we took Carson to meet my x-husband and father of my other daughter and son, Jim Swineheart and his wife Carol. Since I have a son and daughter (Marty and Jodi) with Jim, he has always been "Uncle Jim" to Dana. Carson enjoyed every minute of our visit especially since their 3 year old grandson entertained her with teddy bears and lots of attention. Jim and Carol warmly welcomed all of us. They have raised several of their grandkids, and we kidded them about leaving Carson. They said they probably wouldn't notice for a couple of weeks that they had another kid. Afterwards we stopped by Carson's "Uncle Marty" (my only son's) home. Carson lives three houses away from Uncle Marty and my other granddaughter (Leanne), so she also was quite comfortable there. After a 15 minute visit, I picked up my car at Dana's home and couldn't believe it was already 4:30 by the time I arrived home where I was greeted by my husband, Jerry and our two English bulldogs, Max (10 years old) and Lilly (5 years old.) Jerry had been flying with his friend, Starr, who owns a helicopter, so he had a perfect day. Anytime Jerry goes flying either in his own airplane or with Starr in his helicopter, it is a perfect day for him. They had flown up to Big Bear for breakfast. I looked through the stack of mail he had picked up at the post office, chatted a bit and Jerry went up to take a brief nap. I watched President Bush's press conference concerning the economy, and around 5:30, Dana and my son-in-law, Brandon brought Carson to me for babysitting. They bowl on Wednesday nights. Carson played for a short while and clearly signed for me that she wanted to eat her dinner. I am amazed at baby's learning to sign so quickly and am glad that Carson has been taught by her parents to use baby sign language. The theory behind signing is that the brain development allows them to learn sign language quicker than speech, so it gives babies an opportunity to communicate before they normally would be speaking. I prepared her dinner, and she ate her entire plate of macaroni & cheese and peas & carrots. Afterwards, we sat out on the deck for a time while her grandfather watered the plants. She likes for me to ring the bell and rattle the chimes hanging under the eaves of the roof over the deck. Of course, the English bulldogs are following her everywhere she goes. That activity on the deck was followed by a bath in the kitchen sink, a bottle and an early bedtime tonight. I think she was exhausted from her busy day of swimming and visits to relatives. Finally, it was time for me to relax. My granddaughter, Leanne, is away at camp. Leanne is 17 and a senior in high school. Yes, I waited that many years to have another grandchild. Leanne comes home tomorrow. Thank you, God, for another blessed day.