Vivienne at Twenty Months

She has hazel eyes and honey hair.  Her hair has a bit of natural wave it it, which I, her Grandma, insist she got from me.  She is a beautiful child, not just because she is my granddaughter.

She walks and runs all over the house, and strews toys, clothes and shoes all over with abandon. She especially loves shoes.

She puts her tiny feet into Daddy's or Mommy's shoes and delightedly walks around in them. Sometimes she will put her brothers' shoes on her hands.

Formerly just fine  with going barefoot in the house, now she insists on shoes and socks.

She drags one or both of the pink plaid blankets that her Great Aunt Kaye made her everywhere and has to have them to sleep. When we tell her it's naptime with her own little naptime song, she starts calling for "Binky, binky, binky!" till she finds it.

Once in her crib, she will settle down with her binky and her thumb - once again, like me as a baby.

She blows kisses when someone leaves. Her favorite book is Hugs and Kisses.  

She loves to watch Coraline  and Sarah and Duck.

We all adore her. All the big people in the house, and Sadie the dog, whom she calls Say-Dog.

I love little boys, but this girl baby has my heart.

I Have Had a Poem Published

I have been published today by Poetry Breakfast. Here is the link to the page, in their online magazine. Here is the link:

http://poetrybreakfast.com/2016/04/06/honeysweat-a-poem-by-becca-burke-allison/

It calls up summer nights in Birmingham, Alabama, in the 60's. We didn't have air conditioning, so our father built a huge box fan that fit in the dining room window and blew outward.  Then we opened the windows of our bedrooms and the fan pulled air in those windows and out the fan window.

The breeze was fresh and wonderful. It dried our little sweaty necks and the spots behind our knees. We could smell the night air and hear the crickets and cicadas as we fell asleep.

Sometimes I think we lose something with the advent of air conditioning. No, I know we do.

Vivienne at Seven Months

My grandbabygirl is almost seven months old.

Her length and weight are healthy, maybe a little petite, but fine. She is cooing and "talking" , sitting up and rolling over right on schedule.

She is beginning to look more like her mother, Beverly. Her eyes are a pretty blue green like her mother's. She has no hair to speak of, like her father at that age.

Beverly and Vivienne

2 months old

She lies on her back and kicks her legs vigorously. We will see them at Christmas. I can hardly wait!

It has been far too long since I wrote here. I am not sure what the reason is; I could claim things like being a new grandmother or a new political activist for Bernie Sanders - both give me hope for the future.

But the fact is I have been writing elsewhere and neglecting this blog.

So I am back, bringing my daydreaming along.

I've been campaigning for Bernie Sanders, and learning a hell of a lot along the way.  He seems to be the brightest hope for my grandchildren's future.

While we were buying the Republican trickle-down garbage, a lot of my children's future trickled away.

Saddled with ridiculous student debt for college - $15,000 for one year  - my sons are struggling to make the payments. I don't want that for my grandchildren.

I hope to move to Greensboro this year to be closer to them.

Meanwhile I am volunteering at a local thrift store, working part-time as a food demonstrator at Costco, and writing poetry. I have even done a couple of poetry slams locally. Didn't win, but learned a lot.

Also had another poem published online, in Poetry Breakfast. I will see if I can link it to this blog.

Talk to you soon!

Vivienne

Here is our sweet baby Vivienne. She was five pounds and 17 inches long.

Here is her exhausted mama, Beverly.

Here is her adoring Daddy, Mack, our son.

Here is her big brother, Terry.

Here is her other big brother, Rowan, and the family dog, Sadie.

Here she is in her first photo shoot by Grandma! I didn't realize it moved til just now!

In the top photo, she is definitely from my side of the family in part! That little raised eyebrow is just like my grandmother, mother, and me. Below is the game she plays!

Grandbabygirl is Here!

Vivienne Simone Allison was born April 10th. She weighed 5 pounds, and is 17 inches long.

The doctor decided to do the C-section early, concerned that the baby was not gaining weight.  So approximately 7 in the evening, she was born, and is doing fine, as is her mother. She might be little, but she is awesome!

I am waiting for my son to call and let me know when to bring her big brothers and finally visit her.

I will post pictures when I can.

I can hardly wait to hold her. But I respect my son and my daughter-in-love and their wishes, and am making myself useful cleaning the house for them.

Still.....call already!

Grandbabygirl

That's what I have been calling her for months now.

My granddaughter will be born April 15th, just five days from now. I am staying at my son Mack's house awaiting the birth, and trying to help out as much as I can. My daughter-in-love, Beverly, is hard to keep resting, but I try. My son's son, Terry, nine,  and Beverly's son, Rowan, seven, are also living here and their activities have to be monitored. I am currently the homework monitor for Terry.

Soon it will be a family of five - his, hers and theirs. But they will all three be ours.

Her name will be Vivienne Simone Allison. Big name for a little baby girl, but one she can grow into. Currently they are going to call her Simone, but Beverly referred to her as Vivienne the other day. We shall see who she becomes.

I find myself speculating on what she will be like. I found with my sons that people seem to come a certain way, and you can only modify them so far. They come with talents, preferences, personalities, evident from birth. You can help them develop manners and habits, but you are not likely to turn a lover of words into a math person, a math genius into a poet, and so forth. You can only help them become the best of who they already are.

God knows my poor parents gave up on this strong-willed daydreamer.

I pray that she is healthy, and further than that, I will not go. Even healthy seems to be asking for a lot. Certainly children born with handicaps and illnesses and deformities have thrived in the right settings.

I pray that she is kind and loving. That she will defend those who need defending, help those who need help.

I pray that she will find happiness inside herself and not ask others to provide it for her.

I pray that she will be brave and not shy away from difficult things.

I do not ask that she be beautiful, or smart. If she is loving, that trait trumps beauty and high intelligence. Beauty will shine out of kind eyes.

Whoever she becomes, she will be born into a family who loves her already.

I am looking forward to meeting my grandbabygirl.