Chip Off the Ol’ Block

I should have known . . . after all, her grandmother and I each had something to do with creating her mother. According to science, a little bit of each of our DNA mingled together to create her mother and make her who she is today.  So, I imagine a little bit of the two of us have made it into our granddaughter.  With the holiday season upon us we have been graced with our daughter, son-in-law, and granddaughter being home for the holidays to visit all of her family on both sides.  It is a sort of “coming out” party for the granddaughter . . . a great big party that I have been thoroughly enjoying . . . the kid is a chip off the ol’ block.

My granddaughter and I have a special bond.  I see a lot of me in her . . . and, that could be saying a lot or it could be scary—time will tell.  But, in the two-and-a-half days that I have had the privilege of being with her, I have noticed that we have a lot of the same tendencies and mannerisms.

First of all, we have the same hair . . . at least for the time being.  We are both bald.  Fortunately for her she will eventually grow hair, while her grandfather will continue to lose hair.  For now, though, we share the chrome dome look, and I have to admit, it looks a whole lot better on her than it does me.

Second, we both like our bottles.  She likes hers with milk, and I like mine with beer.  We both have an affinity for bottles.  Neither one of us likes it when people mess with our bottles . . . bottles are sacred.  Whenever someone attempts to take our bottles before we are finished we both throw a hissy-fit.  It isn’t pretty.  But, it seems to be more acceptable coming from a nearly five month old child than a nearly 55 year old adult.  Either way, don’t mess with our bottles.

Third, we both get grumpy when we are tired.  She wears her grumpiness much better than I do.  Where I am sarcastic, she is just whiny and teary.  The granddaughter is at that age where her grumpiness comes from a desperate need to take in everything around her . . . the world is new to her and it fascinates her . . . she doesn’t want to miss anything.  So, she fights falling to sleep.  Her grandpa, on the other hand, just gets grumpy . . . then whiny . . . then teary eyed.  No one thinks it is cute from a middle-aged man, but everyone loves it when the granddaughter does it. 

We both like to babble and make noises.  The granddaughter is discovering her voice and loves to hear herself.  Me, well, let’s just say that it is a good thing that the granddaughter has arrived . . . I can now get away with babbling and making noises without people staring at me like I have lost my mind.  But, it only works when I am with the granddaughter.  It seems that it is socially acceptable for adults to babbling and make noises when they are with a small child.  At other times . . . well, let’s just say one gets a lot of weird stares.  With my granddaughter in tow, I can be as weird as I want to be and no one cares.

I want to thank my daughter and son-in-law in cooperatively bringing this unique, beautiful child into the lives of my wife and I.  The granddaughter is a chip off the ol’ block right now.  She and I have a lot in common that we seem to enjoy sharing.  We are developing a pretty special bond and that is way cool.  We seem to truly enjoy one another’s presence in each other’s life.  Not bad for the first five months . . . the goal is to make those bonds grown deeper and deeper as the years go by.  We may not always have these commonalities as we get older, but we will have each other.  This has been one of the nicest Christmas gifts I have ever received.  The granddaughter is pretty special in her grandpa’s eyes . . . and, grandpa hopes he is in her eyes too.  In the years to come, I am banking on it . . . after all, she is a chip off the ol’ block.