January 31, 2007

In honor of today, my Mom's birthday, I dedicate this entry to her...the coolest Grandma Jakob could ever ask for...

The toughest part of living away from home (home is where I grew up...and I'll always call it home), is that my parents are missing out on a lot of stuff that I know they would find hysterical and endearing. They dig their grandson, just the way he is. Every day, Jakob does at least 5 things that would make Mom and Dad giggle. Jakob's funny...very funny...if you get his sense of humor. Mom and Dad get it. Jakob and I are very lucky.

Had Mom been here for Jakob's discovery of the beauty of fresh batteries, she'd have been bent over. One of Jakob's Christmas toys...(a bear that tilts his head side to side and reads "Twas the Night Before Christmas") was starting to read slower...and slower...and slower. So in a moment of brilliance, I decided to teach him the concept of new batteries. I was smart enough to not let him see me screw off the cover for the batteries, but I did show him that I took out the "old" batteries and put in the "new" batteries. He was amazed at how immediately following this procedure, the bear was talking at full-speed again. Well..........I need to mention that the bear is not the only battery-operated toy that he has full access to... So now, anytime one of these toys starts to sloooowww down, he grabs the toy and takes me to the kitchen drawer that he saw me get the batteries out of, and he gives me this "please, fix it, Mom, please...I can't live like this, Mom" look. Ya know the one...the one I'm a sucker for every time.

I ran out of batteries the other day. That wasn't good. I scrambled, found some battery-operated toys that he wasn't playing with and did a swap. Of course those batteries only had about half-lives left in them. So as those batteries were dying, I was running around yanking batteries out of every spare toy I could find...I had to have back-up. I'm going through batteries like nobody's business. Time to go to Sam's Club...great deals on batteries.

It'a all my fault and now I'm paying for it. Never should have shown him the beauty of new batteries...

Stuff like that happens all the time. He catches me doing something and I'll be darned if he doesn't jump right in. Of course, when I want him to do something, I ain't got a shot, but if I'm plunging the toilet and he sees me doing that...the plunger becomes his new favorite toy.

It's fair to say that I'm always on my toes and there's never a dull moment.

I think my parents were granted the wish that every parent wishes for...that their child gets a child just like them or even a little bit ornerier...

Once again...thanks Grandma and Grandpa...