By: Kathy, guest columnist - July, 2011
I've waited a very long time to become a grandma, and believe me, Kaellyn has made all of my waiting worthwhile. I am her "close-by grandma". Grandpa Ed and I have been babysitting her for at least a few hours every week since she was six weeks old. We've watched her grow from a dark-haired brown-eyed baby to the sassy blue-eyed blonde that she is today, and it's been a thrill.
For the first 10 months of our babysitting adventures, Amy, Allen, Kaellyn, Flash, Jazz, Summer, and Furio were all stuffed into that little house in Arlington. Even though Amy laughed when she called the house "the shack", it really was, well, "Shack-like".
Being a baby, Kaellyn was oblivious to the fact that her living conditions were not up to Grandma's expectations :) She was a happy baby and nothing, not even the yapping and licking dogs, bothered her. It was only as she became more active that the cramped conditions became an issue. Her whole waking day was spent in a living room that was already too small for comfort, let alone for moving around in. She learned to crawl by going around and around the coffee table, she learned about limits by banging her head into the sliding glass door, and she learned about sharing as Flash ran off with her toys.
At first all we had to do was grab the little baby, throw her in the stroller, get the dogs, and off we went. The baby was asleep as soon as we were halfway down the street., and as soon as she woke up, we headed back home. But as she got older, the weather turned colder, and it became a matter of bundling up a baby who didn't like shoes or hats or mittens, putting a sweater on skinny Jazz, and venturing out with a squirming baby and two hyper dogs.
We walked to the community garden, to the elementary school, around and around the blocks, up and down the hill behind the school, over to this park and to that playground, all the time singing or chatting to keep Kaellyn and the dogs happy. A few times we ventured, without the dogs, down the big hill into the wonders of Shirlington where we could mingle with others and grab a cup of coffee. But usually we just wandered around the neighborhood, stopping at a park to play or to snap some pictures.
Kaellyn and her family are now residing in a much larger place. She's got plenty of room to run around and play, and she doesn't bump into the sliding glass door anymore. Flash continues to run off with her toys and we still take plenty of walks, singing, talking, and delighting in this little girl who has become such an enormous part of our lives. Kaellyn won't remember all of the fun times we had while babysitting her in Arlington, but Grandma will never forget them.
The views expressed are those of the author and are not necessarily those of blue-haired blonde.
The views expressed are those of the author and are not necessarily those of blue-haired blonde.
