The Unfiltered Joy of a Two-year-old

 

Our trip home
into the sunset

Our children were born in 1972, 1978, and 1984.  No, we did not plan to have children exactly six years apart.  And in fact, they really are spaced 6 3/4 years between the first two and 5 1/2 between the last two.  Years ago, a rather rude and bold parent at one elementary school asked me if the first child was with my first husband.  Yes, he was--but so was the second and the third.  My first and only husband.

Subsequently, our grandchildren also differ in age greatly.  Today the oldest grand-daughter is visiting her aunt and uncle and their family at Ocean Grove.  She is coming with her boyfriend and her only female cousin was very interested in just how they met and how long they had been dating.  I wonder if she will ask directly!  

Two of our grandsons are moving out of their parents' home this month--one off to college and one off to his first permanent job.  Our son and his wife will have an empty nest.  Our daughter and her husband do NOT have an empty nest--there are five children ranging in age from two to fifteen plus the new dog.

This blog post is inspired by the joy that the two year old shared with his grandma yesterday.  I noticed earlier in the week when we visited them in Ocean Grove that the bubble makers they had were out of bubbles so I bought a large container of them at Dollar Tree this week.  What great fun H had in blowing bubbles and chasing bubbles and popping bubbles on the grass.  It doesn't take much to create lots of excitement.

Another father and son had made a large mound of sand on the beach and when they left, they kindly told H and his grandpa that it was available for play.  This pile of sand was a priceless gift for an hour--climbing, smoothing, moving it, making roads on it.  The best sand-box ever!  

I brought along a blender to finish up the last minute preparations for the watermelon gazpacho soup I had made.  That caused many questions about just how that would work--plugging it in, pushing the button, making noise, and mixing it all up.  When it was suppertime,  I called H into the kitchen to watch the process.  When I pushed the button, he squealed with delight.  I don't usually get that kind of reaction when I blend our smoothies at home!   He even was willing to try a bit of gazpacho but that was not to his liking! 

Of course, the opposite can also be true for a two-year-old.  When things are not going right, one usually knows loud and clear. But yesterday was a happy day for this two-year-old and that made his grandparents happy too!