A few days after the actual Christmas holiday, the remainder of our family members came to celebrate the season with us. I didn't take lots of pictures that day, but I want to share one of each of the grandkids and offer a few thoughts as the new year begins.
Clara will be five in just a few days. This year she is enrolled in a preschool hosted at her local community high school and which provides the high school students with an opportunity to learn about early childhood education and care. Clara seems to love her time there. I love her affectionate nature and always-charming smiles. She recently asked me to install a mail slot on the treehouse I built for her and Henry last spring, so now she sometimes gets mail delivered there from her Grandpa Bill.
The newest member of the family, Frederick, shares my father's name, so I sometimes get to call him Fritz, as Dad was usually known. Fritz turned three months old on Christmas day. He has lots of fun outfits, including this Mr. Cable-knit ensemble. A very happy baby so far, he is starting to watch everything and everyone and is smiling and talking. We don't know what he is saying, but it is fun to have conversations with him nevertheless! And I'll take all the cuddling I can get too.
The oldest of the lot is Henry, who turned eight just before Thanksgiving. How is that possible? He is showing potential as an engineer, what with all of his Lego fabrications and inventions. Because he reads all kinds of books, I like to challenge him with things like Totally Irresponsible Science and Oh Yuck! The Book of Everything Nasty. It remains to be seen how much his parents approve of the grandfather's selections. I like it that he enjoys baseball and is showing improved skills in that regard. It is easy to be proud of him and to admire the love he shows his sister, brother, and parents.
Eleanor is in kindergarten this year. I love her alluring smile and sweet nature. When she arrived for our day together, she handed me a beautiful hand-made card which reads, "I love you. Love Eleanor." That was good for a whole day of warm feelings and extra hugs. Eleanor likes to read and also to tell stories, especially fantasies involving elves, fairies, gnomes, woodland creatures, My Little Ponies, and other characters. (You may have seen a prior posting of a small woodland home I made for her.) Her artistic skills have become quite detailed and involved–I'll have to get her together with her Great Aunt Paula sometime soon.
Her Pop says she is the happiest little person he knows. Penny is nearly 1-1/2 years old already. Like her sister, she loves to read too. Her favorite book when here is a picture book and story that her parents made for us when Eleanor was just two. Penny asks me to read and reread that book to her when she visits, and she like pointing out all the familiar faces in it. We also play together with the farm set that my sister made for me (specifically designed to help me educate the grandchild about our rural roots). Penny knows all the animals and their sounds, and she seems to be fascinated with our dogs, especially Josey. The way a happy little person like this can warm your heart is quite amazing.
Anders turned four last September. You have to inlcude "Mr. Energy" as a descriptor when thinking about him–he was riding a bicycle by the age of three. He still loves music, especially anything by Johnny Cash (he knows several of those songs by heart), but his interests are expanding. He received a real, tiny violin for Christmas (might once have been his Aunt Betsy's), and I bet he will work at learning to play it. Pirates are another huge interest these days. Last year he was Johnny Cash for Halloween, and this year he was a pirate. Anders has a dog named Kelso (works nicely for singing the song about a dog named Bingo). He likes being at their northern lake property, and he and I have enjoyed time at our Wisconsin home catching fish, snow shoeing, and cross-country skiing. I always receive a big hug when we see each other. We look forward to a trip to Disney World together this spring.
My mother, in her later years, said that grandchildren were God's reward for growing old. She was right! She also once wrote a short story for children called The Most Wonderfullest Treasure which culminates in the reader learning that grandchildren were her treasure. Mom was very perceptive.
