THE COMFY CHAIR

I think I have the most comfortable chair in the world. 

My chair moves if I move so that I am always comfortable. What's more it's heated. It's always lovely and warm and snuggly.  

The arms on my chair sometimes move to hold me close and safe and other times they let me wriggle about if I need to.

Most of the time I'm too busy studying things to take any notice of my chair but occasionally I turn round to look at it and check that it still looks the same then turn back to my studying.

My chair is quite old. There's a little bit of it which feels lovely and hairy. I think it must be where the stuffing is coming out but I sometimes like to twiddle it in my fingers.

If you would like a chair like mine I'm sure you could find one. But you'll have to find your own because this one is mine. It's absolutely perfect if like me, you're seven months old.

My chair is called 'Grampa'.

BEST WISHES

Yesterday I met up with my second grandchild. My life is now enriched with the addition of Emily and Charlie.

I wish them both joy and happiness.

I wish for them to have good friends along with their already happy families.

I wish them both good health.

I wish them fun with more laughter than tears, more sunshine than rain.

I wish for them to attain their dreams and become what they seek in life.

I wish them both long and fulfilling lives with the joy of becoming parents if that is what they choose.

I wish that when they reach their second childhood like me, they will look back and feel proud to belong to the human race which they have just joined.

I wish them love. 

 

SLEEPING LIKE A GRANDDAD

It often strikes me, now I'm a Granddad,  that there is a common bond between the old and the very young. They both seem to sleep a lot.

Some babies sleep for up to twenty hours per day, with short periods of wakefulness.

One reason for all this sleep is the fact that the baby is still adjusting to a new environment, and experiencing rapid growth at the same time. A lot of sleep for babies early on is a good thing. Growth hormones are secreted by the pituitary gland at a much faster rate while babies sleep.

Babies sleep so much because that is part of the natural order of things. Basically, baby knows best. 

The elderly are supposed to need less sleep as they age but if, like me,  you have ever visited an old people's home and seen the rows of sleeping seniors sitting round the lounge in the middle of the afternoon you would disagree. 

The question is, now that I have started to have a nap in the afternoon, does that mean I'm into my second childhood?

THE TIME THIEF

I hold you in my arms looking down at your sleeping form. I hear your soft breathing and gently stroke your hand. Even though you are asleep, your fingers close around mine. Your skin is soft and warm.

I gaze at your beauty and not for the first time I am in awe at your perfection. You stir and move. Will you wake? No, you allow me a little longer to look and admire.

Eventually your eyes open but only a little. I smile. You return the smile and I wait patiently for your eyes to open fully.

When they do, we examine each other's faces for a while. I think to stand up and discover that two hours have passed without me noticing. Two hours spent doing nothing. Nothing but love.

Along with my heart you have stolen two hours of my life but I am the richer for it. Though I am two hours older, I feel years younger, for whilst I held you, the years fell away and my thoughts returned to the warm summers of my youth.

You are the time thief.

You are Emily...

...and you are seven weeks old today.

 

 

 

PRETTY AMAZING

So, as I may have mentioned a few thousand times before, I've become a Grandpa. It was all because of a tiny bundle called Emily Elizabeth.

Her Mum is feeding and nurturing her of course and it has struck me that for a while, all babies are parasites. Starting in the womb, they draw their nourishment from their Mum's supplies and she poor thing has to eat more in order to keep herself and baby healthy. The process continues after the birth as baby still grazes from her Mum's buffet.

Emily's mother is a very beautiful woman but is very aware of a few extra spots on her face and some lumps and bumps to temporarily spoil her lovely figure. As we all know, after a while, she will regain her former beauty but here's my take on it.

Just as she is busy sharing her body's nourishment with Emily, so too for a short while, she is sharing her beauty as well and Emily is blossoming into a beauty in her own right. 

In time, mother and daughter will emerge as rose and rosebud and the world will be an even more beautiful place.

PRO CREATION

I have a lovely photo of myself taken immediately after the birth of my daughter. She is lying on my lap and I am gazing down full of obvious pride and awe at this wonderful gift which somehow shrouded in mystery, my wife and I created. There can't be many better moments in life than the first view of your own new born child. For those lucky enough to experience it, it is a feeling that will stay in your memory throughout your lifetime.

It is precisely because I remember that feeling so well that I recognised it again the other day when I experienced it for the second time. No, I haven't miraculously conceived. If I had I'd be demanding a refund from the clinic and a grovelling apology for the expensive and excruciating pain which they caused me.

No, I had created a totally different baby. It was round and perfectly formed. It was beautiful. It was tough skinned but soft and yielding within. It was a gorgeous shade of brown. It even smelled almost as good as a new born baby. In short, I had baked my first ever loaf of bread.

I had toiled hard to create it and kneaded it to within an inch of its life. The effort proved to be worth ever bead of sweat as I sliced the crusty loaf, lavished it with butter and devoured it sensuously. It was quite delicious. The next day it also made perfect toast.

As a result of this, I am so pleased with my new creative ability, that I can't wait to get another bun in the oven.

BABY BLUES

The birth of my daughter Amie was the most amazing event in my life. I was 31 years of age and I think you can read the pride and the wonder in my expression as I gazed down at this tiny creature.

It had not been an easy birth. My wife was in labour for some 25 hours or so. For a day or two, there was some concern for her breathing and she was kept in intensive care but all proved to be well and we were rewarded with this delicate, beautiful baby.

It certainly felt like a reward! We had been trying to start a family for around seven years and during that time, there had been fertility tests, advice and way too many excruciating and dramatic abortions. We were downhearted and it put a tremendous strain on our marriage but we never gave up - so yes, I think Amie was indeed our reward.

We had the nursery all ready. Baby toys had been bought or received as gifts and the same was true of the numerous girlie baby clothes which we had so enjoyed shopping for. Could things be any more perfect?

Well yes they could. She proved to be a troublesome baby. My wife and I suffered many sleep-deprived nights as we took turns to try to persuade her to sleep. There was one night which I'll always remember. It was perhaps 3 a.m. and I had been singing and rocking her for some two hours or more. Still her little lungs kept finding the breath to scream and cry. My nerves were really jangling. Then for one brief second the red mist came down and I knew how easy it could be for parents to flip and hurt a screaming child.

It was fleeting because my senses kicked in and I took firm control of myself and my emotions. I continued to gurgle, sing and coo at her and mercifully, in no time at all she was asleep. Her work was done and I had passed the test.