A year ago today

A year ago today was a big life change for me. I became a grandmother. To this day I still can't believe it. I am not one to cry very often. I cried that day. It was probably one of the most joyous days for me.

My daughter lives across the country so I could not be there right away. I could have gone to visit before the baby was born and be there for the labor and delivery or I could wait and get to enjoy a whole month with the baby. I could barely contain myself after she was born. I had booked my tickets months in advance and had already changed them once when my daughter was a little late. I waited a week to let her settle in even though it killed me. She sent me a video clip of the baby in her car seat with the hiccups to tide me over. I am not exaggerating when I say I watched that video a thousand times. I would show anyone that would watch. I think the bag boy at the grocery store really enjoyed it.

Having three children myself, I knew what it would be like for her. I didn't want her to have to lift a finger. I just wanted her to enjoy her new little princess and to rest up. I cooked, cleaned and did all of the laundry.  I told my daughter I would let her take care of the baby. I would take care of the house (secretly I wanted to just hold the baby 24/7) I  didn't want her to feel like I was taking over. I also didn't want to be a burden. Being in her house for a month would be a long time. I was there to help. It was also a long trip and I knew a week or two wouldn't be enough. I didn't know how long it would be before I got out there again. It was so hard being so far away.

This was our first meeting. I got in late that night. I was so glad I got to see her right away. Look at how alert she is for a newborn.

I totally forgot how all consuming having a new baby in the house is. There were three adults there so I figured out a system. We would rotate shifts so that the same person didn't have to get up with the baby every night. I failed to realize that I would be up every night no matter what. I was sleeping on the couch in the living room and this is where here feedings took place. I didn't really mind. I wanted to enjoy every second of it. It went by in the blink of an eye really. I don't think I have ever been so exhausted but I have very fond memories of that time.

My daughters husband tends to be on the nervous side.The baby's bellybutton had still not fallen off . He was in changing her diaper and he was calling my daughter into the room frantically. "Where is her bellybutton?" It had fallen off and nobody knew where it went. It wasn't in her diaper. We looked frantically for it. I knew it wasn't that big of a deal but as first time parents they were nervous. We never did find the bellybutton. I did see her dog chewing on something and I swear to this day he still has part of it caught in his teeth. Her dog is a scavenger and drives me insane!
I also had to teach my daughter how to give the baby a bath. I told her to take the facecloth and gently squeeze out the excess water into the tub before she rinsed her hair.. She took the facecloth and just squeezed it over her head without squeezing out the excess. The baby must have thought it was a monsoon and started to cry. There are a lot of things to learn with a newborn.

It was very hard for me to leave when the time came. I call my daughter every day just so I can talk to the baby. Sometimes she babbles sometimes she doesn't. I just want her to know my voice. Hopefully when she is old enough, she will pick up the phone and call her Mimi everyday. I will do everything in my power to make sure she is happy. I love my Bean. I am very fortunate to have her in my life! Happy birthday to my beautiful little granddaughter!