charlie at six weeks
Most of you know my dad, and for those of you who don't know him too well, his speech at my wedding was a good glimpse into the man my father is: thoughtful, funny, compassionate, wise, at times wordy (do you know a berkowitz who isnt wordy?), and above all a man who LOVES and ADORES his family. As a child he took me to A's games, Warrior games, wwf matches, yes you heard me wwf matches, and came on many of my field trips. I have fond memories of my dad picking me up from school on Friday and taking me and my friend Jackie to the movies. He was the coach of my little league team, and even though he "forgot" to play me on my last game ever, was an excellent coach. I have nothing but wonderful memories of my father growing up, and it really is no surprise at all to see what an amazingly fun, loving, and devoted grandfather he is.
Here is a list of why Charlie LOVES pa and how he shows it:
1. If you watched the video on top you will see Charlie's famous dance move, it is the arm swinging to each side move. At my parent's house in Edie's room (yes every spare room has a Berkowitz friends' name attached to it) is my dad's record player. It is in that room that my dad and charlie, or Big Kate and Charlie would rock out to music. This was during the time when Charlie was exploding with signs and he developed his own sign for music. He would run into that room and do his arm swinging and we would know he wanted to dance, but we couldn't figure out where the move came from, until one day I came to my parents' house to pick up Charlie and got a view of my dad dancing, sure enough Charlie got his dance move and music sign from my dad.
2. My dad takes charlie out back most days for sports practice. They run track, race lawn mowers, kicks soccer balls, hit ball of the tee, play catch with their football, and most recently garden.
3. The first thing Charlie does when we walk into my parents house is run all around screaming, have you heard my kid scream?, screaming PAAAAAAAA. When we tell him he is in his room napping, charlie walks right up to the room and knocks on the door...Paaaa
4. They go for walks, go to the park, and just today ran track at cunha school.
5. Pa teaches charlie things like: YEAYAW, something charlie now says when he is excited or ready to do something fun.
6. Even though my dad is the best pa out there he is a little slow when it comes to learning Charlie's signs. I understand. Charlie has only been signing for...what is it now.....about a year. A few months ago my dad came in from playing with Char outside and said to my mom, he always does this (acts out the ball sign) and then gets the ball, what does that sign mean......are you kidding? And then later on my dad says to me, every time I am putting on Charlie's shoes he hits his fists together, what does that mean..........not the brightest star in the sky.
7. Charlie follows my dad around the house like a little puppy. When my dad has tries to run up stairs to grab something he tells Charlie, I will be right back. He then opens the door and Charlie runs right past him...goin' wit ya pa
8. Charlie adores pa because pa enjoys every second with him. When I come upstairs to fetch charlie, or when I come back to my rents after tutoring this is what I see. I either see charlie on my moms lap reading or talking, or I see pa on the ground (he aint no spring chicken, so this alone is impressive) playing diligently with my son. Warms a mom's heart!
I will be the first to admit that it is taking a village to raise my children. I am not afraid to ask for help. We have had a really rough few days, and once again my dad has come to my rescue. First Charlie was really sick for 24 hours, then me and today the baby and Adam are struggling.
When Charlie was sick, my dad came over for a few hours, brought ginger ale (which charlie who was never had anything other than milk and water, told me was yucky) and made jello. He stayed here helping me juggle the baby and a sick toddler because we were trying our hardest to keep them apart, a difficult task when you have a vomitting toddler who loves to hold and kiss his baby sis.
I know most blogs probably don't blog mostly about a selective family member but when I finally sit down to write, my stories are always filled with family members. I choose to settle down in good ole hmb because I wanted to raise my family by my family with my family. And I am thankful everyday of the support, time, love, and generosity my family demonstrates daily. It really does take a village to raise a child, and although we may never own a home, we will always have dear friends and lots of family close by that are able and happy to help at the drop of the hat.
ps. thanks julia for racing over that medicine for my horribly sick hubby. you are the best second mother a girl could ask for!
No comments:
Post a Comment