My Husband, Awesome Grandpa

I really enjoy being a Grandma, doing all the typical Grandma things... cuddling, kissing, singing, dancing, feeding, diapering, bathing, rocking, playing. I am blessed to be able to do these things almost daily since my son and his family currently live with us. It is an honor that, despite the hiccups, my husband and I would choose again in a heartbeat. It often strikes me as odd that I didn't find all these things quite so blessed when my own children were babies. Especially the toxic waste-filled diapers! But this post isn't about me. This post is about my husband.

When our children were young, Stewart would do anything that I asked him to do to help with their care. The frustrating part about that was that I always had to ask. Or insist, depending on your POV. I thought that he should just KNOW when they needed care. He didn't. What I didn't realize is that, as I've come to discover, he was a Grandpa-in-the-making.

Grandpa's first time holding Levi (l.) and Liam (r.) in the NICU.

He is so in love with Levi and Liam, our twin grandsons. He does all the things that I do, sometimes pointing out to me what needs to be done -- "Levi is stinky. I'm gonna change his diaper." "Liam is fussy. Yep, it is about time for his bottle." He has become an expert at rocking the boys to sleep even when they put up their fiercest battles to stay awake.

Grandpa and his boys at 2 months old.

One thing that Grandpa does that Grandma doesn't typically do is roughhouse with the boys. He's done that since before they could even drag-and-drop their little baby selves in his direction. He'd scoop them up, roll from side to side, and growl while they squealed and I hovered close by. Hey! I remember that this is the same man who accidentally knocked out 2 of our son's teeth!

On the floor with Grandpa.

Grandpa, always helping.

Since our first floor is concrete and the twins are quite adventurous (and FAST) we decided to get a play yard and put extra padding and carpet underneath so that they can fall without becoming concussed.  And fall they do.  And push each other over.  Head bonks happen frequently.

The first evening the play yard was in place, Levi and Liam were playing contentedly, crawling, sitting, pulling up, cruising and, yes, falling over. There was a little fussing here and there but nothing out of the ordinary.

I went upstairs to the kitchen to get the boys' dinner ready and left Grandpa in charge. When I came back downstairs he was laying in the middle of the play yard, head propped up on a stuffed animal (a bison, if I remember correctly) with a boy on either side of him completely absorbed in their own little baby games. Stewart was just looking at the ceiling. I sat down on the couch and said "Hon, why are you in there?" Without skipping a beat my husband said in his matter-of-fact, quiet way... 



..."Just in case they want to wrestle."