Jaci Dawn

Javan turned two last week. He is my second-oldest grandchild and the middle sibling of his family. Javan (or “Javes”) is an old-soul sort of child, rather solemn with smiles reserved for the most special moments and people in his short life. He is placed between a very bossy and meticulous older brother and a jovial little brother. Javan, like his grandmother, is not only a middle child but is an HSP.

My daughter planned a birthday party around Javan’s particular needs : something low-key, a few very close friends and family. Then it rained and the friends had other things to do, so it ended up being just family. Perfect for Javan.

He was so funny. It hasn’t been so many months since we attended his older brother’s birthday party with all the  surprises and gifts. Javes’ party was even more low-key with fewer presents, but when you are two years old, you aren’t competing with the previous birthdays and everything is wonderful. It’s all about the gifts, paper and bows.

So Grandma thought. It was really about the Matchbox™ cars. Someone gave Sam & Arwen about 20 cars in boxes and they wrapped them up for Javan.

You really can’t tell from the photo, but he’s sitting atop all of those cars. He tucked them between his legs and under himself before proudly declaring in his plaintive little-boy voice, “All mine.” It’s a sentiment only a second child could feel. The sudden understanding that these were his and not shared toys.

He didn’t much care about the blanket in the bag. The cars were his and his alone. All mine.

The party carried over into today. Father’s Day, 2011. I was pointedly ignoring the date. Sam & Arwen had a wedding to attend. What better way to ignore the date than to babysit the two oldest grandsons?

At Grandma’s House, Javan got a plastic shovel-hoe-rake set that was nearly identical to Zephan’s 2nd birthday present from Grandma & Poppa. No need to worry about labeling: Zephan memorized the color coding immediately. Z’s shovel is green, the rake red and the hoe blue. Javan’s are red, blue and red.

There comes a time in every grandmother’s life when you have to see if the dogs are really, truly *safe* with your grandbabies. I still wouldn’t leave the boys out side alone with the dogs, but the dogs were exceptionally well-behaved today. The dogs are keepers.

I’m torn between whether this is teamwork or supervisor work on the part of Zephan. Probably the latter.

To the amusement of everyone, Murphy took exception to the “popcorn” popper.

In all, it was a good day.

We walked to the park, even. I didn’t take my camera. Zephan talked the entire way. He walked on the curb like Poppa. The pair of them were so funny!

It was a good day from my perspective. I don’t know how Don felt about it: he’s the Dad.

That wraps up my sappy posts for this past week. Upcoming: a Bigfoot Encounter.