Time Flies
Holy mackerel, how time flies! And how come I can't catch any of it and save it?! It has been a long time since I updated everyone on our happy family. Lots has happened...some good, some yucky. Let's start with the yucky...we lost my grandpa, Gringo. He was 87 and was basically just done. Hi
s dementia, which had been mild and just kind of silly up until then, worsened dramatically and he had trouble remembering what he was doing moment from moment. You could see it was really pissing him off! He had to move away from his girlfriend, Francis, and that confused him even more. He died in his sleep after Christmas in a pretty hospice and wasn't in any pain. We all got to visit him and love him and say goodbye because it was pretty evident he was at the end. But, even though he was that old and had had a good life, we still miss him terribly. I am forever grateful to have had such a wonderful grandpa in my life for as long as I had him! He was a bitchen guy and I'm fortunate to have been great friends with him.
We also lost Jimmy's mom, Pat, this past March, right after McKenna's first birthday. She wasn't able to come to the party, but had bought McKenna a great, big, fantastic unicorn. We thought she had the flu, but it turned out to be a host of problems from kidney failure to gallstones to sepsis to pancreatitis. It was literally one thing after another and it was up and down. We'd get good news, then bad, then good...Unfortuna
tely, it ended with the bad and she passed away. We made it through one set of holidays and they were extremely hard on everyone...does it ever get easier? The worst thing is that McKenna won't know her Granny who was such a fantastic, funny and loving lady. That's what makes me the saddest, I think. It was also very har
d because she was so young, barely 70, and still so active and fun! The best way to describe it, I think, is that it was a kick in the gut, pure and simple. We'll miss her presence in our lives. She was a tiny lady, but was a force in everyone's life!
McKenna is now a wonderful toddler. She is heading for two and is finding out who she is. Needless to say, she's not a very good listener at this point! UGH! This is, I believe, the most dangerous time of a kid's life (okay, aside from the teenage years) because they are just like little windup toys with n
o boundaries or perception of good or bad and no language skills to help them conceptualize the good or bad. YIKES. I find myself constantly holding my breath! One day, she was standing at the top of the steps of our porch, everyone around her, and she all of a sudden just FELL, her feet tangling together, and started tumbling down the stairs (there are 4 of them, but STILL)! Luckily, her faithful brother was standing at the bottom of the stairs and caught her before her head hit the step. Do you feel me?!
We taught her sign language which has probably cut down a bit on the usual toddler frustration of not being able to get a point across. However, I'm not sure if it's stopped her from learning to speak sooner. We always say the words with the sign, but she just started saying the words to the signs she knows recently! She knows the signs for "more, milk, all done, water, ouch." She's real big on the "ouch" thing and makes sure to commiserate with me on every single zit and mole that I have! Kids make you humble, don't they? All of a sudden, it doesn't matter how clean your house is or how your hair looks, right?! Some other words she says are dog, Mama (but we think it's not me she's using it for but for things she wants!), Ma (when she wants me), Daddy (which is more like"Dah" and is used when calling him at 5:30 in the morning to come spring her from the crib), Tah Tah for the Teletubbies which is her favorite show EVER...you get the idea. She's on the cusp of big things!
She isn't the snuggliest of kids, which I hope changes. She holds out on the kisses and hugs. We literally all force
them on her. When you ask her if you can have a hug or a kiss, she raises one shoulder and looks coyly down to the side and says, "No," in a very clipped, matter-of-fact way. She's BRUTAL. So, we sing the Ben Harper song, "Steal My Kisses" song at her which says, "I always have to steal my kisses from you..." while telling her all the while she better get used to it and just succumb as we are a hugging and kissing sort of family!
Her favorite toys are anything she can get on and ride. She even rode my parents' dog, Maggie, a great big Lab, when we babysat her on their latest trip! I couldn't get a pictur
e of it because I wasn't sure how much Maggie was digging on it and wanted to make sure McKenna got off her before Maggie felt she had to insist! Her and her daddy go for golf-cart rides at my parents' ranch...they share a ride on the quad in the desert...she rides on his shoulders...The kid just plain likes to ride! Wait until her Grammy gets her on one of the horses. At that point, she will probably insist she move in with Grammy and Bompy to help take care of the horses! That'll be the day!
She's a big dancer and LOVES music. I play music all the time in the house and in the car and I love to see her grooving to the tunes! She gets her head and shoulders bopping. It makes us want to cry, it's so freaking cute! She's particular towards "coffee-house" and 70s tunes and loves Jack Johnson, John Mayer, Elton John, K.T. Tunstall, James Taylor...Singers and songwriters, don'cha know?! Like the little Pisces she is, she loves to swim, which is a bit scary because
she CAN'T swim. She tries to get us to let go of her and actually pushes us away in her Grammy and Bompy's pool like she knows what she's doing. Thank GOD they got a pool fence or I think she'd just bop right on in there when no one is looking. Scary! The kid has no fear.
Her favorite person in the world is her friend, Morgan, my Godson and best friend Annie's baby boy, who is 7 months older than her. He loves her, too! When they are together, Annie and I FREAK OUT, they're so cute. They hold hands and help each other on and off things, bring each other food, books, toys...LORD! We call them future prom dates and I hope they are! I feel very fortunate that not only Annie, but many of our closest
friends have babies all around McKenna's age. The people we have chosen to travel through this life with are stellar people and I have no doubt their children will be the same.
I am still a stay-at-home mom at this point and am so grateful for that. Jimmy is doing well and still likes his job at Apex Contracting and Restoration, our friends Eric and Patrick's construction business. I make jewelry when Mac sleeps and sell it on line and at parties. I am not the type of person who can sit around...there's only so much you can clean the house! I am taking classes to learn new fabrication techniques. I just joined the San Diego Mineral and Gem Society to learn how to cut stones. Holy mackerel, if there's anything that ruins a manicure more...but, it's so much fun! Cooper has just started the 4th grade and loves his new teacher, Mr. Wilsie. It looks like it's going to be a good year, God willing (oh, and knock on wood!).
Here's looking at you and hoping you and yours are well and happy!
Much love ~ Erin
s dementia, which had been mild and just kind of silly up until then, worsened dramatically and he had trouble remembering what he was doing moment from moment. You could see it was really pissing him off! He had to move away from his girlfriend, Francis, and that confused him even more. He died in his sleep after Christmas in a pretty hospice and wasn't in any pain. We all got to visit him and love him and say goodbye because it was pretty evident he was at the end. But, even though he was that old and had had a good life, we still miss him terribly. I am forever grateful to have had such a wonderful grandpa in my life for as long as I had him! He was a bitchen guy and I'm fortunate to have been great friends with him.
We also lost Jimmy's mom, Pat, this past March, right after McKenna's first birthday. She wasn't able to come to the party, but had bought McKenna a great, big, fantastic unicorn. We thought she had the flu, but it turned out to be a host of problems from kidney failure to gallstones to sepsis to pancreatitis. It was literally one thing after another and it was up and down. We'd get good news, then bad, then good...Unfortuna
tely, it ended with the bad and she passed away. We made it through one set of holidays and they were extremely hard on everyone...does it ever get easier? The worst thing is that McKenna won't know her Granny who was such a fantastic, funny and loving lady. That's what makes me the saddest, I think. It was also very har
d because she was so young, barely 70, and still so active and fun! The best way to describe it, I think, is that it was a kick in the gut, pure and simple. We'll miss her presence in our lives. She was a tiny lady, but was a force in everyone's life! McKenna is now a wonderful toddler. She is heading for two and is finding out who she is. Needless to say, she's not a very good listener at this point! UGH! This is, I believe, the most dangerous time of a kid's life (okay, aside from the teenage years) because they are just like little windup toys with n
o boundaries or perception of good or bad and no language skills to help them conceptualize the good or bad. YIKES. I find myself constantly holding my breath! One day, she was standing at the top of the steps of our porch, everyone around her, and she all of a sudden just FELL, her feet tangling together, and started tumbling down the stairs (there are 4 of them, but STILL)! Luckily, her faithful brother was standing at the bottom of the stairs and caught her before her head hit the step. Do you feel me?!
We taught her sign language which has probably cut down a bit on the usual toddler frustration of not being able to get a point across. However, I'm not sure if it's stopped her from learning to speak sooner. We always say the words with the sign, but she just started saying the words to the signs she knows recently! She knows the signs for "more, milk, all done, water, ouch." She's real big on the "ouch" thing and makes sure to commiserate with me on every single zit and mole that I have! Kids make you humble, don't they? All of a sudden, it doesn't matter how clean your house is or how your hair looks, right?! Some other words she says are dog, Mama (but we think it's not me she's using it for but for things she wants!), Ma (when she wants me), Daddy (which is more like"Dah" and is used when calling him at 5:30 in the morning to come spring her from the crib), Tah Tah for the Teletubbies which is her favorite show EVER...you get the idea. She's on the cusp of big things!
She isn't the snuggliest of kids, which I hope changes. She holds out on the kisses and hugs. We literally all force
them on her. When you ask her if you can have a hug or a kiss, she raises one shoulder and looks coyly down to the side and says, "No," in a very clipped, matter-of-fact way. She's BRUTAL. So, we sing the Ben Harper song, "Steal My Kisses" song at her which says, "I always have to steal my kisses from you..." while telling her all the while she better get used to it and just succumb as we are a hugging and kissing sort of family!Her favorite toys are anything she can get on and ride. She even rode my parents' dog, Maggie, a great big Lab, when we babysat her on their latest trip! I couldn't get a pictur
e of it because I wasn't sure how much Maggie was digging on it and wanted to make sure McKenna got off her before Maggie felt she had to insist! Her and her daddy go for golf-cart rides at my parents' ranch...they share a ride on the quad in the desert...she rides on his shoulders...The kid just plain likes to ride! Wait until her Grammy gets her on one of the horses. At that point, she will probably insist she move in with Grammy and Bompy to help take care of the horses! That'll be the day!
She's a big dancer and LOVES music. I play music all the time in the house and in the car and I love to see her grooving to the tunes! She gets her head and shoulders bopping. It makes us want to cry, it's so freaking cute! She's particular towards "coffee-house" and 70s tunes and loves Jack Johnson, John Mayer, Elton John, K.T. Tunstall, James Taylor...Singers and songwriters, don'cha know?! Like the little Pisces she is, she loves to swim, which is a bit scary because
she CAN'T swim. She tries to get us to let go of her and actually pushes us away in her Grammy and Bompy's pool like she knows what she's doing. Thank GOD they got a pool fence or I think she'd just bop right on in there when no one is looking. Scary! The kid has no fear.Her favorite person in the world is her friend, Morgan, my Godson and best friend Annie's baby boy, who is 7 months older than her. He loves her, too! When they are together, Annie and I FREAK OUT, they're so cute. They hold hands and help each other on and off things, bring each other food, books, toys...LORD! We call them future prom dates and I hope they are! I feel very fortunate that not only Annie, but many of our closest
friends have babies all around McKenna's age. The people we have chosen to travel through this life with are stellar people and I have no doubt their children will be the same.
I am still a stay-at-home mom at this point and am so grateful for that. Jimmy is doing well and still likes his job at Apex Contracting and Restoration, our friends Eric and Patrick's construction business. I make jewelry when Mac sleeps and sell it on line and at parties. I am not the type of person who can sit around...there's only so much you can clean the house! I am taking classes to learn new fabrication techniques. I just joined the San Diego Mineral and Gem Society to learn how to cut stones. Holy mackerel, if there's anything that ruins a manicure more...but, it's so much fun! Cooper has just started the 4th grade and loves his new teacher, Mr. Wilsie. It looks like it's going to be a good year, God willing (oh, and knock on wood!).
Here's looking at you and hoping you and yours are well and happy!
Much love ~ Erin
posted by Erin Pettit | 12:56 PM
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