Flashback Friday: Mothers Day Times Two

If you could see a full shot of my mother in this black and white photo, you would see that she was quite the fashion plate. Yes, we were in an apple orchard back on that long ago Mothers Day (or perhaps it was Fathers Day, I honestly don't remember which since, as you can see, I was kinda young).

That was the tradition in our family for EVERY holiday: get everybody all dolled up (my dad even wore suits for these auspicious occasions), find a pretty place and stand out there in the soft, loamy, spring earth in your high heeled shoes (well, not my dad) to get your picture taken.

Yes, times - and styles - have changed and these days Mothers Day is a bit less formal - but no less celebrated. Mothers Day remains a Sunday in May where the memories we make are, well...timeless.

This year we celebrated Mothers Day - the "real" day - with the Wagners and the Navones at the senior Wagners' beach home in Aptos. The waves were big and beautiful and it was a restful, relaxing, very special day because not only did I get to spend Mothers Day with some pretty special people, we also met for the first time Rob and Alyssa's new niece, Carla Corinne, who seemed pretty mellow as her Auntie Alyssa held her in the photo above.

Carla's grandparents, Corinne and Lou, make grandparenting look easy above. Enjoying the miracle of a new little life and a sweet baby to love, Lou couldn't have put it better. "My cup runneth over," he said. I know, Lou - mine too :)

Mothers Day at the Wagner beach house in Aptos. I could take in this view all day - and pretty much did! The sun was low in the sky and beginning to set when we gathered our things and headed back "over the hill" for home.

But Mothers Day - at least the "times two" part - wasn't quite over yet because the next morning - about 5:30 to be exact - I headed south to Long Beach. A six-and-a-half-hour drive? No problem. With the "Sensational Stromberg Sisters" waiting at the other end, my car has wings that fly the distance in no time. Above, Gracie contemplates a small handful of clay.

Miss Emily Mae, 5 weeks old, has already grown so much...she and her mommy enjoyed the sunny afternoon outside.

Gracie with a bow barely clinging to the back of her hair decides that teeny tiny pieces of clay stick really good to a girl's bangs and certainly enhance the hairstyle! (Click on the photo for a larger view of the mini-glam.) Later, a chunk got stuck in her teeth (well, when you are 22 months old, you really need to see how these things taste, right?).

Emily Mae listening attentively to her mommy. Ashley had best enjoy it now while she has Emily's attention. Because we ALL know what it'll be like in a few short years...

Gracie having fun in her playroom. Since Emily and Gracie share a room for sleeping, Ashley and Jim have set up the small bedroom in front for the girls to play in. Emily isn't quite sure yet what "play" entails - but her big sister will show her the ropes before too long.

Emily Mae - in a talkative mood. Not sure what she was saying to her mother here, but it was undoubtedly profound. Probably went something like this, "...and when I'm 16 I want a car and my own bathroom and a cell phone with unlimited minutes and..."

So Mothers Day Times Two came to a close on Thursday morning - 5:30am - when I left the sleeping Strombergs and pointed my vehicle north to return home. Until next time.

Mothers Day - then and now - it doesn't get much better than that!

Column: Warning! Warning! Grandparents on Duty

I seem to be slipping a bit (is it an "old age" thing? Yikes!). Well, maybe it is. So here, a few days late, is the posting for my latest column, which as it turns out, is about grandparenting. That would be grandparenting specifically to Gracie, our 22-month old baby granddaughter earlier this month while yet another baby granddaughter, Emily Mae, was making her World Debut with her mommy and daddy at a beautiful harbor-side hospital in Newport Beach.
Now one question I DO have at this time is why are grandparents STILL portrayed as kindly, white haired little old ladies and men? And while the "kindly" part is fine, what if we, you know, "accessorize" our greying hair with streaks of blonde? Or dark brown? Or whatever your color fave in the World of Hair happens to be! Because we grandparents are a hardy bunch. We survived entire wars (well, Vietnam WAS a war, right?) and first trips to the moon, and polio vaccines and all kinds of stuff the "Generation X'ers" never experienced. Yep, we've seen it all, people! So I would like to start a campaign that says "Let's portray grandparents as they really are! Young! Hip! In touch!" Ok? And, um, yeah, I do have that gimpy knee and all, but still! It only bothers me when I...walk....

So that was a long way of getting to the point, which is that my latest column is about the ways that my first grandchild, Miss Gracie Elizabeth, is already finding to outsmart her "Mimi." But, oh, isn't that ride SO much fun??!!!

Now, before I become even more grandparent-like and forget why I'm posting this entry, here is the link to the story of how Miss Gracie is outsmarting her Mimi on a pretty routine basis, I'm afraid... http://www.mushroom-city-memoirs-the-column.blogspot.com/.

Flashback Friday: Those Fabulous Nursing Follies and Other Taboo Topics

This is one of the oldest photographs of me where you can actually see any detail...back in the "olden days," consumer cameras lacked the sophistication to facilitate blow-ups and detailed close-ups like we've grown accustomed to today. So eventually my parents hauled me down to the local photo studio for a "formal portrait." Color wasn't used much, but if the clients wanted "color portraits" the black and white prints were lightly painted in with pastels. Sometimes the look was quite nice; other attempts could be quite garrish. My "color portrait" is out there somewhere - probably packed away somewhere. But this image, taken many moons ago, is me at about 9 months old.

Skip ahead a generation. This is Ashley at one week sleeping away in her crib. She was born on one of the few "snow" days in San Jose. Her daddy and I were marooned in the Santa Cruz mountains, which was where our first home was located. We were snowed in and I was in labor. Mr. H. was running about boiling water and frantically hollering, "I don't know nothin' about birthin' no babies, Miz Scarlett!" Well, that's an exaggeration, but I do believe he was getting a little nervous about having a wife in labor as the snow was falling all around us.

Yes, that is indeed a thumb in the mouth of Miss Emily Mae. At one week of age, on April 15, while "Mimi" was holding her she began the search. Dragging her fingers over her face and (now and then) into her eyes, she at last settled on that all-important digit and began sucking for all she was worth. She even managed to locate her thumb a second time when it became dislodged. But when the phone rang a few minutes later she was startled by the noise; her thumb popped out and she was unable to locate it again.

Now the reason Miss Emily was in desperate straits searching for sustenance from her thumb was that her mommy was otherwise occupied. Emily is in that early phase where L-I-F-E means feeding, feeding, feeding. She was searching wildly for her mommy and instead found her thumb a convenient substitute. Reports from Ashley are that occasionally at night feedings even when her mommy is located immediately nearby, Emily will search frantically trying to locate the desired target. Making all sorts of strange and crazy sounds, Ashley says that as Emily is grunting and rooting around attempting to latch on that she sounds like a "pack of wild pigs."

Any currently or previously nursing mom will relate. The feeding instinct is strong and urgent and a food source had better be handy! When Ashley was born I was unable to move too far from her because it wouldn't be long before she was ready to be fed. When I developed a serious case of cabin fever after her birth, her daddy and I tried an outing to a nearby restaurant. I'd no sooner settled into the booth and Ashley wanted food! Cleverly concealing Ashley with a blanket I let her nurse. We were situated in a booth near the back and I had my back to the other diners so I hoped to nurse in privacy. But that was not to be.

A lady at a nearby booth bounded over to where we were sitting and said something to the effect of, "Oh! A new baby! Can I see her?" Well. The other thing about nursing babies is once they have "latched on" they are not eager to be pulled away. I swear you could hear reverberating through that entire restaurant the "pop" that issued forth as I wrenched her loose so I could show off my baby girl. Now, I strongly DO NOT recommend doing this. Ashley was not a happy camper for this abrupt disruption of her feeding and proceeded to scream like a banshee. I felt terrible and had I been a little more mature, I would have explained that my baby was feeding and I'd be glad to bring her over in a few minutes. That's what you call learning the hard way!!!

These days, modern mothers are pumping their milk for baby's future feeding. Working moms can return to their jobs secure in knowing that many meals are safely stored away in the freezer to be pulled out and given to baby later on. So Ashley has begun the pumping process again in preparation for returning to her job in a few weeks. Now, the pumps are a sort of cross between a mid-evil torture device and official dairy farm apparatus. Ashley had just begun to pump last evening, sitting on the bed all hooked up to suction cups and hoses, when 21-month old Gracie came bounding into her room to see what was cooking. She was happy to see her mom, but was undoubtedly wondering, "What the HEY??!!!" was going on with all that hardware! Bounding over the bed, she tripped over a hose, which pulled things loose. Ashley, who in her words was at "high tide" at that moment tried to keep her composure as milk went shooting off in every direction. Therefore, when "Mimi" came in a moment later to rescue Ashley, Gracie was VERY HAPPY to leave with Mimi and go color for a little while. My guess is with, you know, a few years of therapy, Gracie is going to be JUST FINE :)

I'm happy that mommies are nursing their babies successfully these days. When I asked my own mom about her experience nursing me, she said she pretty much didn't because she "wasn't very good at it." That's too bad because my own experience feeding my two baby girls was great - after the experience I described above. Nature's best is a great way to go. I always said I had enough milk to feed half the population of San Jose! I was blessed with a bountiful "harvest," and it's a wonderful way for mommy and baby to bond - for life!

Welcome, Emily Mae!

After thinking it was never going to happen, Miss Emily Mae debuted one day after her due date, on April 8. She was born at night, 8:58 pm, and she was quite the big girl - 9 lbs. 1-1/2 oz., 21 inches long. Like most "big babies" she has been an absolute angel. Now and then I hear a strange sound and think, "Hmmm...what is that noise? Oh, yeah, it's Emily!" Such a GOOD BABY!!! Emily Mae and her mommy, above, share a little time together on Emily's first Easter Sunday. Below, Emily is all dressed up and ready to leave the hospital on Good Friday, April 10. It was a Good Friday, indeed!

Emily Mae, one of the few times I saw her open her eyes while in the hospital...not that we were there all the time, of course. Grampy and "Mimi" were on duty at Gracie's house watching Emily's big sister.

And... Speaking of Miss Gracie, here she is checking out Emily Mae at the hospital...you know, just making sure she has all the right parts and all...

All of this visiting with the relatives wears a girl out...that is a BIG yawn!

Emily Mae meets her Grampy Hammond for the first time on Thursday, April 9. Since she came at almost 9:00 at night, Gracie was "night-night" and "Mimi" (that's me) was not far behind! Gracie kept us busy all day and we were pretty emotionally exhausted waiting for news of Emily's arrival and how Emily's mommy was doing after a very long day of labor!

Since baby sisters don't stop the whole entire world, Gracie's mommy and daddy planned an egg hunt for Gracie on Easter Sunday during the warm Southern California afternoon.

Hmmmmmmmm....checking out what's inside these eggs! They sure aren't like the kind you buy at the grocery store!

WOW!! These eggs are ALL OVER THE PLACE!!!

OK, it really isn't every day that you come across a rapping Easter Bunny. This one not only has street cred, he "hip-hops" sideways! Yes, it's a very cute toy, except after hearing, "I like car-ROTS and I cannot lie..." etc. approximately 50 gazillion times, there is a temptation to heave this wild hare out the closest window! :)

A fun family portrait on Easter afternoon.

Emily Mae was just chillin' in her teddy bear jammies on Easter...

The Sensational Stromberg Sisters...Gracie explains that this red thing flopping around is a "tweet-tweet." Life is sweet!

And We're Off to a super start..Stay tuned, everybody!! It's going to be a fun ride!