First kiss

William spent the night with his grandparents. He is a pretty predictable little guy. The first thing that he did when he hit the front door is run to look for ceiling fans. For reasons I cannot know, he loves ceiling fans, and he will stand beneath them with a broad smile calling 'MAN!!! MAN!!!!'

(Side note: Another day, we were at the library, and he was marvelling at their ceiling fans which were two stories above the main lobby, way high up there. He was pointing and yelling "Man!!! Man!!!" The librarian said, "What does he see?" I explained about the fans. She said, "Oh, I thought he was saying 'man'." I said, "Well, he is, because he does not seem able to say the 'f' sound, which is okay, because the 'f' sound can get a body into a whole lot of trouble.")

The second thing he went looking for was the buffalo. He always sort of sneaks up on it cautiously, to see that it hasn't come down off the wall, possibly to 'get' him. Once he has assured himself that it hasn't moved, he has a garbled word that means 'Bob the buffalo'.

The third thing he did is to wander around the house calling "Baaaaaaa-ba. BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-ba." He is always amazed to discover that his ba-ba is gone, and comes to me with a quizzical expression on his face, making the 'all gone' motion with his little hands. I explain to him that 'Ba-ba' is at work and will be home later.

Apparently he has some difficulty with the 'p' sound as well.

We had an exciting afternoon, but he began to get a little cranky, keeping to his habits, so he lay down on the couch for a cuddle with grandma. As soon as he dozes off, Grandma heads for the kitchen to fix supper.

When he wakes up, he is chirpy and bright eyed, and looking for his 'ba-ba' once again. It is a very exciting moment when he sees that red car pull up into the driveway.

We keep the little guy busy, but the last thing we do before coming in for the night is to take a walk. It is getting close to bedtime, and he puts up far less fuss about it if we simply wear him out. He had three helium balloons to walk, and he went along happily babbling to his balloons. On the way home, predictably, he wore out, and he wanted to be carried.

Our secret weapon at that point is 'One, Two, Three, Whee,' and he was swung into the air. He loves that. Most importantly, it keeps him walking for the rest of the way home. We like tired little boys at our house.

Home from our walk, he began to fuss in a tired sort of way. I looked at him and said, "Would you like a bath? With your cups?" He stopped crying immediately and studied me. He gently took my hand and began to pull me towards the bathroom.

I kneel beside the clawfoot tub, and reach over the high sides, scooping up water and pouring it out again and again. He loved the streams of water, and the splashing, and he played for a good long time. Suddenly, he got up, and stood, holding on to the side of the tub, between where my arms rested, staring at me intently. I said, "What's up, my little pippermasqueak?" and ever so gently, he leaned forward and kissed me right between the eyes.

There's a 'moment' right there. It was grandma's first kiss.