Bonding with the boys

"Bappy" is what Asher calls me. For those musically inclined, he sings it. The solfegio would be "Do-Te" if I remember my music lesson days correctly.

Last night Bren and Amy went out for supper while Grammy and Pappy sat with them. First was our supper, which was ineresting since Truman was introduced to French Dip. Amy had some a jus beef for sandwiches, and Aleene and I thought of using the a jus since the buns were really quite nice for dipping (sorry, Marilyn.) Truman is very ventursome with food in some ways and in others he is totally traditional...as in no tomatoes in the Connelly household. But he got into dipping his sandwich in a jus. In fact he dipped his dish dry and mine too.

After supper Tru and I played catch (this is new for him since Bren is not baseball inclined.) Tru has been working on his skills all week. He is very coordinated (skate boarding, bicycle riding, etc.) so it was not log before he was able to use his little mit with effective results. I gave him a few pointers and his throwing improved dramatically. I recall the hours I spent playing catch as a kid with anybody who would play with me...mostly my sister in the early years. These are fond memories, so I really want that to be a good experience with Tru as well.

Next we hitched up the dual, tricycle stroller and took the boys for a jaunt down town. Aleene and I needed coffee so we headed the four blocks to Chapters. Aleene did the buying while I stayed outside with the boys. Everyone stops to talk to them...must be that they cute to everyone and not just us. When she came out, she had an ice drink for the two of them that she had wangled for free from the clerk since they did not have a full urn of dark roast coffee brewed for us (we each got about 2/3 cup.)

We circled around and made a pass at the park, but everyone was so mellow we did not stay.

Once home it was time for Asher to go to bed (the climax to our walking) and he took his milk and Aleene rocked him. He was winding down when I sat in the chair next to his room and turned on the light to read. He saw the light and me in the chair and wiggled and said, "Bap-py" in his sing-song, Do-Te style. Aleene was not pleased that I had broken the quiet strains, so I scooped him up and began rocking him and rubbing his back. In seconds his little eyes began to get very heavy. In minutes he was very still and snuggled into my chest. I just kept rocking.

In the ten minutes or so that passed I had all kinds of thoughts about childhood and adult relationships to children and the magic of rocking and the magic of massage. I recalled rocking Jeff and Amy and I thought about how I liked to be rocked as a tyke...so I just kept rocking. When I was sure he was totally out, I nestled him in his bed with his blanket and he never stirred.

Today when the Connellys came over to visit our sale (second day running and things are moving fast, now) Amy reported the first thing out of Asher's mouth this morning was, you guessed it, "Bap-py."

So I have found the magic of being grandpa at this stage of development: baseball for Truman and rocking for Asher. And I can't forget the "male beef bonding" that was always a joke in our household as Jeff was growing up...not sure where that came from, but it entered my mind as Tru and I shared the a jus for our French Dip sandwiches. Yep, readers, we belong right here.