Grandchildren - DRK

This is our first grandson, he's seven years old. When our daughter was pregnant with him she was attending and graduated from Kent State University as a physical therapist. She'd already received a degreee in Sports Medicine and was working with various clinics and hospitals, and well, physical therapy seemed to be a natural progression for her. I have a feeling that he was listening to the professors as she was going to school, because he's a very bright little boy. He can add and subtract large numbers without writing them down. Like our oldest granddaughter, he also learned to read early and it seemed almost effortless to me, because one day he could not read and the next he could. He loves trains and engines and one day while looking through some books we have, he looked at a picture and began to explain to me what kind of engine it was and how it worked. An amazing little guy.

He also writes books and makes his own illustrations. Two of them have won special awards in a young students' writing contest. When he was a little guy I remember my daughter calling me while she was driving somewhere and I heard this noise in the background. When I asked her what it was, she explained it was our grandson doing what he still does best - talking. The boy can talk all the time about everything! Here he is with AMS. I overheard their conversation and they were talking about the price of oil and imports from China and how that affects our economy.



And that was just some of their conversation, because they were at it for over a half-hour, just floating in the pool and talking quietly. But he's not all just talk. Here are some pictures I took when I spent a few days with them this summer. All the grandchildren were together and I had a great time with them.







This is a funny one. The children were playing house and he was playing the dad. The other three were asking him questions and he was ignoring them, until finally he told them to 'leave me alone, I'm reading the paper.' Now I know he didn't hear that from his dad, because my son-in-law has always been an attentive and hands-on dad. Maybe he was just being himself, I think that's probably it, he can forget everything else when he's into something.



This is one of the favorite pictures I got of him on my vacation. Pure joy, as it should be with a child.



What's a day at the beach without getting buried in the sand - courtesy of your cousins!



I have to tell a couple of stories about him. He was five years old and they were staying with us while our daughter did a triathlon. At the park, he got sick and I had to bring him home. When we got home, he needed a bath and change of clothes. While I was getting the bath ready I told him to use the toilet. I left the room and came back and he was starting to get into the tub and I asked him if he had gone on the potty. He gave me this quizical look and said, "Nana, I went IN the potty, not ON it!"

Last winter he was playing basketball with a team and it was his last game. His mom and dad were telling him on the way to the game to go ahead and shoot when he got the ball. It seems that up to that point, he had been working to perfect his dribbling and passing and hadn't actually shot the ball yet. So at the game, he got the ball and began dribbling all over the place, up and down the court and all around and his mom and dad and others in the crowd were telling him "Shoot, shoot!" In the middle of dribbling he stopped, held onto the ball, looked to the people and told them, "Stop yelling at me. I can't shoot, these kids are in my way!" I just love him! He's deep and imaginative and funny and literal and smart, and as cute as he can be on top of all that! He has an unusual laugh, it reminds me sort of like the jack-in-the-box, it's musical, going up and down notes on the scale. I enjoy watching him grow up, but I like to imagine what he will become when he's a man. I know he will be a fine one - he'll probably talk everyone's ears off, but he'll be a fine man.