Creating a technological bond between great-grandmother and grandchild

On one of my other postings, I have talked about how I am so thankful and blessed for being a part of the generation that I am in. We are after the Baby Boomers and before Generation Y. I heard that they are called 'Generation Y' for a reason. “Y move out of my parents house? Y pay my own bills?” But I joke....kind of. My mother is a part of the baby-boomer generation. She is also very close to Victoria. But she is really close to my daughter. So close that my daughter named my grandchild after her. What an honor that must be! We want to make sure that she is a part of this baby's life as we are. Unfortunately she lives about 25 miles away so she cannot see her precious great-granddaughter as much as she would like. But we have found a way that we can connect on a daily basis: Facetime. Having the special incentive to use this technology means she can be there to view the milestones at the tips of her fingers at any time. This is a great way to keep in touch with what is going on in the family, not only with Victoria but us too. There is a survey that shows 20% of the grandparents that were interviewed use such technology to 'touch base' with their grandchildren at least once or twice a week.

Grandparents of a generation or two ago would probably not accept anything other than the telephone for communication with their children and/or grandchildren (if the internet were available back then). But the grandparents of this day and age frequent social networks anyway; so using programs such as Skype, Facetime or Google Hangouts on any device they own in the form of a laptop, desktop, tablet or cell phone is easier to keep in touch with their babies' babies. That brings me to my own mother. She wants to make sure she stays in my daughter's life as much as possible (as she should). When my daughter was in high school, they would spend hours (literally hours) on the phone like teenagers chatting away to each other. They are so close, they share the same likeness of music thus going to concerts of that genre together. They are that close. So you can see how much my daughter wants to share special moments of Victoria with my mother. It is almost a daily occurrence that there is communication on Facetime. Be it lunchtime or bath time, my mother gets to see my grand daughter and my daughter, Victoria gets to actually see and get to know her great grandmother and I get to see my mother daily. As her adult-child, it brings me comfort knowing that my mother is okay.

12 things I want to show you about my 8 month old grand daughter Victoria Renee

Ok...I didn't write the 7 things I have learned about my grand daughter Victoria Renee. BUT she has made some improvements during the 7 month and I would love to show you the pictures instead. Today is Victoria's 8th month of life. I want to show you now that she is starting to leave the infant world and go straight to becoming a little kid. Its hard to believe that my grand daughter isn't a baby in a bassinet anymore. She is really growing up and I have become closer and closer to the little booger. We have gone from this:

To this:

Now we are to this:

Somewhere in between 22-25 lbs, she is starting to lunge forward to position herself to crawl. One of these days she will do it and hopefully it will be in my presence. Her mother holds her up in a standing position as she holds on to the coffee table in the living room. She is definitely on her way. From eating this way:

Eventually eating in a high chair:

And finally she is an ol' pro!

As you know, I am her babysitter while her mother works. There have been times when things are kind of hard keeping her on a schedule but all in all, she is a very easy baby to deal with. I set a schedule for her sleeping and she has grown into it wonderfully. We have gone from this:

To this:

And at times.....I find her playing in her crib when she is supposed to be in dreamland

She does a lot of things on her own, though.

And she even tries to push herself by doing different things, such as holding the bottle in one hand then switching to the other hand......

She really thinks she is cool. Thats ok because I think she's an awesome kid. Not a baby but a kid.

A Wonderful Day at Shriner's Circus

The alarm blared next to my bed as I struggled to find my glasses on my nightstand. The sun had already broke through the clouds and the sky became clear. As I lay in bed, I hear commotion in the kitchen with Victoria sitting in her high chair and her mother feeding her oatmeal with fruit. She has been 'finding her voice' for days now and shrieks (screaming out loud) to hear her own voice. Two wonderful faces to wake up to. (And my black cat Shaddow as well!) Today was the day we are going to the Shriner's Circus with Victoria. I kinda had the feeling that she would do well with crowds but with the loud noise I wasn't sure about. Today was also the day that she was promoted from her carrier to a 'big girl' car seat. Not the 'big, big girl' kind of car seat but the kind that toddlers are in. She is a husky 21 lbs. But she is also over 27 inches long. Big girl! But I bet when she starts crawling (which she is showing signs) that weight will melt off

her. Fat babies are cute babies! As we were walking into the Thomson-Boling Arena in Knoxville, TN there were people with children everywhere. I was kind of nervous, myself being in large crowds. And I had my grand daughter in my arms so I had to make sure I kept a straight face and took care of the task at hand. We searched for our seats in the dark in the nose-bleed section. Yes it was packed with children screaming from excitement everywhere! My daughter found seats for us and I handed Victoria to her so I could take pictures of her first experience with the circus. There were tigers balancing on beams jumping through fiery hoops and elephants dancing. There were trained dogs balancing on the backs of their trainer wowing the crowds. Victoria did enjoy it but the loud acoustics and flashing lights bothered her. After a few attempts to get her to look, we decided to retreat to the corridor of the arena so Victoria will feel a bit easier with all the hoopla that was before her. Finally we were standing in the corridor looking at the action that was happening inside the arena. I noticed a stand that sold wands that light-up. I decided to buy Victoria a big pink light-up wand. She was mesmerized by the flashing lights. It was great! She seemed so excited to see her new present come to life with just a push of a button. Fortunately that diverted her attention from the flashing lights and the loud noises coming from inside the arena. Then an announcement came on the speakers saying that there will be an intermission and a display of pony rides and elephant rides were presented to the little children. My daughter was so excited that she grabbed Victoria and announced that she will go down to see if she is old enough to ride a pony. I told her that she was probably too young and the clowns will probably scare the crap out of her. Like always, she paid no attention to me and walked down to the bottom of the arena where the pony rides were. I stayed up in the corridor searching for them to just get a glimpse of my baby and her baby within the crowds of other parents. I noticed that my daughter was next to a crowd of people strapping on harnesses for Victoria to ride a pony. I honestly couldn't believe it! She is only 7 months old and she is enjoying what other kids way-older than her- are enjoying. My daughter and a helper walked in a circular-motion following a circle of ponies attached to one another. Victoria enjoyed every minute! Soon the ride was over and she had to leave her pony. I was hoping that she would come back up to where I was standing but they were

surrounded by a bunch of clowns that took pictures with my grand daughter. If she was scared she never let it show. Then my daughter took her to get her face painted in the form of a cat. Yes she was young but I am so glad that my daughter introduced her to that type of social action. She didn't cry or become irritated. She just smiled and was very attentive. Basically she people-watched. As I sit here trying to find the words to put into this blog, I smile to the fact that my daughter had shown me what a true parent does. Its never too early to make memories with your babies.

I am proud of the mommy that she is becoming.

Experiencing both sides of the generational fence

If there was one thing I have always wanted to do if Mamae was still alive would be to introduce her to the internet. I bet she would have loved the ability to chat with people from different countries or find that her inbox was filled with daily recipes for her to try...or critique. I have always heard from my mother that Mamae was an excellent cook. Not just excellent but rivaling with the likes of Anthony Bourdain, Emeril Lagasse, Wolfgang Puck or Jamie Oliver. She was that good. Believe me when I tell you I have heard plenty of stories. I was lucky enough to be born in a time when we didn't have to worry about checking-in to our parents every 15 minutes to be sure that we are safe. We came home from playing hide-and-go-seek or ghost-in-the-graveyard well after the streetlights turned on. We were able to drink out of a garden hose and not have our parents worry if there is some kind of metallic poison running through the water hose. I can remember living in Ft. Carson, CO as a six year old sitting in the front seat of the car without a seatbelt. But I am also very lucky to be a part of the technological age. There is no way I could live without my laptop or cell phone. I have departed ways with the days of cable television (or even rabbit ears for that matter). Like everyone else in the 21st century, my home phone is not attached to the wall...except when its charging. Even my own mother, who is a proud member of the 'baby boomers', would not be able to survive without her Netflix running through her Wii on her smartTV. Still...she needs her cable in her life. That is probably the only thing from her past that she still holds dear to her heart. I, however am trying to break free from the cable company. Have you ever met a person in their 60s that texts with their loved ones on a regular

basis? She Facetimes us when we are giving the baby a bath or other times when Victoria does something new and wonderful. Technology is a wonderful thing so far. And I am so glad I got to experience both sides of the fence.

The Baby Shower

Looking out the window, I see the sun has finally shown its face after a month and a half of cold bitter days. Many times I had promised never to venture out of my apartment in the snow and today was no different. Rewinding the clock back to the night before, I again watched the snow fall to the ground hoping that this would not ruin my daughter's baby shower. We had to go to the next town over where my sister lives to celebrate. We had everything prepared for this day. As my daughter and I stared helplessly at the newly-fallen snow, we were both crossing our fingers in hopes that tomorrow will indeed be a day for us to remember. As a rule, I never leave the house without cleaning up. I don't want to come back home to a mess before I create a new mess. Both my daughter and I rush around back and forth throughout the house looking for last minute messes to clean, getting our outfits together or fixing our hair and make-up. As we run to catch our ride, I quickly feed our cat and grab the house key. She is already down in the car as I make sure my jacket is on zipping up the front. Looking around the ground, I can already see the snow melting which is actually making me smile.

We arrived at my sister's house to see her and her best friend decorating the living/dining room with splashes of light pink and dark pink streamers. Both women always seemed to have the best attitude and the brightest smile on their faces....and it was only 9 a.m. Actually, the house seemed to radiate good feelings. I was with family and friends and it was going to be a great day. Everyone finally came who was originally invited. Family meeting friends for the first time was very entertaining. The guests played many games hosted by my sister. "How well do you know mommy" and "baby animal names" were just a fraction of the games that they all played. I was in the kitchen helping with preparation to set out the food on the tables. Finally it was time to open up the baby shower gifts. Everyone sat around encircling my daughter who sat in the dead-center of the living room. Opening up the cards and carefully ripping the wrapping paper, I tried to take as many pictures as I could. Finally I had run out of space on my camera phone. Luckily my friend made sure she picked up where I left off. Everyone enjoyed cake and chattered back and forth with each other. It was a good time and a very successful baby shower. As the guests take their leave from my sister's house, my best friend asks me if she can take me home to bring the vast

amounts of presents for Victoria. I agreed that I would love to catch a ride back to town while my daughter stayed behind with my sister and my mother to finish cleaning the house. As we brought up all the gifts and compiled them into the baby's room, we look at all the presents that were bought for Victoria and breathed a sigh of relief. Now we have everything we need to welcome the baby.

My Grand Baby's First Picture

Sleep. That is the word of the month. She has no energy for anything and it is scaring the bejesus out of me. As she is in a constant deep sleep, I am pacing the hall hoping to hear her rustle around in her bed or talk in her sleep. But she is REALLY catching up on whatever sleep that her body is craving. Her eating habits have also slowed down which is another worry. When I was carrying her, there was nothing I didn't crave. If you set food in front of me, nine times out-of-ten, it would be gone.

The day is finally here. July 24th, the baby's daddy and my pregnant daughter went to the doctor for her first OBGYN check-up. Everything went wonderful. They heard the baby's heartbeat for the first time. It was strong and powerful. The doctor gave her a prescription of pills to stop her from being so nauseous. Hopefully it will help her regain her appetite. That is an on-going worry for me.

My daughter came home from her appointment with a picture of my grandchild. Like a damn  fool, I put it on Facebook, Google and I even Vined it. Here is HER first picture of my grand  baby's existence. I am so proud to see HER healthy and steadily growing in my daughter's  belly. My daughter's new due date is March 13, 2014. It is close to her father's birthday which  is March 17th. I am hoping that she will give birth during that time....if she can't deliver on

my birthday of March 4th, at least do it for him.