I have just been blessed to share in the birth of a new grandchild, Simon George Gawlik, 7 pounds, 10 ounces, in Portland, Oregon, on September 1, 2007. My primary responsibility this week has been to take care of Owen Ray Gawlik, the two year old big brother. I have had lots of fun, but I also am EXHAUSTED! I realize more and more why God chose for us to have our children young. 😉
Owen and I spent many hours together reading stories, going to the park (he likes to swing for sometimes a half hour at a time, always calling “higher, Barb, higher” – my wrists were sore from pushing!), watching his favorite movie, “Toy Story,” at least 10 times, playing cars and skateboard, making masks out of paper bags and scaring each other, learning new songs (he is really good at “The Bear Went Over the Mountain”) and pretending. Very often he would say, “Silly Granna Barbara!” One day he picked up a little stuffed duck I brought him, and said, “Hi, duck. What’s your name?”
Of course, often the answer is adamantly, “No!” (he just turned two August 2); yet he is easily distracted, especially with food or seeing what Granna Barbara might have in the “Grandma Bag.” (This is a special bag filled with small things such as finger puppets, little books, windup toys, matchbox cars, small puzzles, plastic bugs and animals, etc., that the children can only have when it is a special occasion or when it is a place where they have to sit still such as in church or in a restaurant. It has become a Glanz family tradition, and they all love it!)
We talked often about his being the big brother, and when baby Simon came home last Wednesday, he was really good about being the helper. After 14 hours of labor, my daughter, Gretchen, had to have a C-section, so her recovery time will be much longer than normal. I have had to relearn how to cook again (I rarely cook for myself anymore since I am alone or on the road almost all the time), I have done many, many loads of laundry, bought lots of groceries, cleaned out the refrig and freezer, reorganized cupboards and cleaned the microwave, all tasks that I have not had to do for quite awhile! However, I am so glad I could help.
Besides the joy of spending time with Owen, I have LOVED holding and cuddling little Simon. It always strikes me as God’s most wonderful miracle when you see such a perfect little being that was created inside a mother’s tummy! It also brings back so many memories of my own babies who are now wonderful grownup human beings. As I look at this tiny little boy (who is, I must say, an eating machine-he no longer finishes one feeding than he is ready for more!), I am struck with the thought that one day he will grow up and be a father, too. I pray that I will be around to see that happen.
I wonder what the world will be like when he is grown, and I wonder what his gifts will be. What an amazing feeling of legacy one has to see one’s own children having children and teaching them so many things that you once taught them. However, I am especially proud that they are even better parents than we were, and perhaps that is the best legacy of all. How very blessed I am!
