Xavier Meets Grandpa Bill
Greetings to everyone.
I mentioned yesterday that Sunday was a day of miracles. I was not just using that expression, it truly was. Two of the biggest ones came together very late last week, on Good Friday in fact.
Xavier's paternal grandfather, my dad, went to church with us Sunday morning. And, because our God is awesome, we got a second blessing. Dad spent Easter Day with us as well.
This was the first time my dad has gotten to know Xavier. They have met (oh so) briefly three times in the past, but these were meetings-in-passing, lasting less than a few minutes. Today, Xavier got to spend some time with Grandpa Bill, and the two got along wondrously.
Xavier, Dad and I went shopping for a few things for the Easter feast after church. At the self-checkout Dad and Xavier scanned our items and fed bills into the cash machine together. This, I think, really helped gain Xavier's attention.
We came home to breakfast waiting for us; Rebecca had gone ahead to start setting things up. Dad sat across the table from where Xavier was sitting. Xavier looked at me and asked "Why not Grandpa Bill sitting over here?" and he pointed at the empty place next to him.
Dad moved over and Xavier was delighted. Dad got the grand Xavier tour of the house (which means all the things in the house important to Xavier). They read a book together, although Rebecca did the reading; Xavier sat between them.
Dad helped hide eggs in the back yard, and he helped Xavier find some eggs by giving subtle and not-so-subtle clues.
I had plans to get more pictures of the two together than I did, but the day got away from me. Still, a wonderful day, and one for which I thank God for.
Happy Easter, 2017
Greetings to all. Christ is Risen!
Today was a day of miracles! So much happened, and for Xavier, whose day began at 0530, he was overwhelmed with new things. He ended up falling asleep on the couch by 1800—that never happens, no matter how tired he grows!
We opened the day with a sunrise service to celebrate our Risen Lord. After service, we finished some shopping, where Xavier picked out the floral choices for the dining table. We had several guests arriving around noon for a feast.
One of the new things for Xavier today was meeting his paternal grandfather, really for the first time. Grandpa Bill spent the day with us, and sat as one of the honored guests at our feast.
Aunt Chelle arrived second, bringing an Easter basket. We exchanged baskets. Xavier, of course, made out well. He had much to occupy himself before Ben, a friend of his, arrived.
Before lunch, while Xavier and Ben were distracted (by design), several others hid the eggs we dyed yesterday and a number of plastic egg shells with goodies inside. Then, we let the two boys at it!
Xavier did not know quite what to make of it. This gave Ben a great advantage. It took only a little coaching, and Xavier figured it out. The competition grew intense when Xavier understood that the one finding the most eggs wins.
When Xavier found an egg, he spiked it into his basket. One of today's miracles was how few of his real eggs did not break.
One of the eggs Xavier found scared a rabbit from its hiding place not two feet away. I pointed and told Xavier, "Xavier, look! It's the Easter Bunny! We caught him hiding eggs." Xavier laughed and gave a halfhearted chase until the rabbit ducked under a fence. Xavier then returned to hunting eggs.
One of the items Xavier scored in an Easter basket were three squirt guns. After lunch, he and Ben tested them out on each other. The battle escalated to pails of water. Both got drenched to the skin, and loved every minute of it.
By the way, Xavier won the competition. Of course, the adults favored showing him where he might find an egg or two.
Egg Dying
Greetings to everyone.
These last few months, Xavier has taken on another level of maturity. He is cognitive of more things and thinking and speaking in much more complex terms. Along with this has awakened an anticipation and likeness for things such as having friends over, and various holiday rituals.
This year, he really got into the Easter egg tradition. Rebecca had boiled twenty-four eggs earlier in the week, and today, after lunch, we set about dying them. Xavier could not contain himself. We used his excitement to get him to eat a decent lunch.
He helped his Mama dissolve the dye tablets in the vinegar, and he helped topping off the glass tumblers up with water. It's unlikely Xavier had any idea how we planned to use the eggs tomorrow.
As you might imagine, he could not leave the eggs alone to rest in the dye. He kept rolling them around and lifting them up with the wire loop. Still, when he helped remove the eggs from the solution, they all had a nice, even color. The only accident, which sent two eggs to the egg salad bowl, he did not precipitate; all the eggs under his aegis suffered no cracks or breakage.
Of course, once the eggs sat in the drying rack, Xavier went on to other things, soon forgetting all about the eggs.