Congratulations, it’s so fun.
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Just adding my congratulations!
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Congratulations to you and your family! 
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DD gets invited to a lot of baby showers - she puts together in addition to fun items, for new moms a breast and booty care kit - IDK what it all includes, but as a nurse and mother of 4, she knows what is needed and appreciated.
I have no grandchildren but I’m getting desperate - I’m babysitting for friends of my daughter while they all go out to celebrate D’s BF 30th birthday. Baby is only 4 months old so no need for toys or books or anything, but I’m still looking forward to it.
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My time with DD1/family is coming to a close. SIL ‘graduates’ from his training today; DD1 drove to the ceremony and to bring him home. I helped (as I have done everyday M - F) getting the Gkids ready for daycare and school - dressed, breakfast, and off. DD1 packs the older two lunches while I made up the baby’s bottles. Today I dropped off the older two to school (DD1 was able to drop off the younger two to daycare on her way out of town). I have done the laundry twice a week - including finishing it today so DD1 doesn’t have that chore over the weekend. Have had some great time with the Gkids - we played some board games (oldest 3 or older two), got some books read with all 3, including some extra speech articulation with books for the Gsons who both are improving on this. GS2 loves “Brown Bear Brown Bear” and Richard Scarry’s Busy Busy Cars and Trucks - and both boys sit through and say the story with me; with the cars and trucks saying the names of all the vehicles pictured. The First 100 words Board Book, they both say the words - which really have key word sounds to enunciate well. GS1 is getting better with the alphabet, getting better with writing the small letters, and writing his numbers. GD1 and GS1 both have Tball games starting this weekend - they got their uniforms after practice yesterday. DD1 was able to get to the tail end of the kids’ practice yesterday and picked up dinner. Thursday evening DD1 was too tired to put dinner together, so I got it ready in a jiff. Sundays we have been in the church ‘cry room’ because GS2 is very active; Easter Sunday dad was home, so he ‘handled’ GS2 in the regular pew. Having four little ones is a real work out getting to Mass, doing all the extras during Mass with baby and active GS2, and then coming home rather exhausted but with a laid back rest of the day.
Tonight, I will let them know if they want me to come back for a few weeks this summer to help out and spend some more quality time together, to let me know. Otherwise, it will be Christmas time, like it was 2023 with DH and I both coming.
Everything went as well as could be expected. Hopefully my flights home tomorrow will be w/o a hitch.
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@SOSConcern : You get the “above and beyond” award. Really.
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A really positive benefit with this all is that SIL, who at the get-go was a bit territorial, has now welcomed me/us with open arms with visits. Some of it also is that he is on a really solid career path now, so he can open himself up to seeing what are great ideas for their kids. DD1/SIL have a bit of a brutal schedule, with not much free time for general relaxing except on weekends. Super having very happy grandkids - a joy to be around. The grandkids have enjoyed the reading and games; very little screen time - but if so, it is a treat for them.
I could ‘stop out’ of my home activities. Only missed one book club meeting, and have one book almost read, and another book waiting for me when I get home. DH told me he just finished laundry. I think he wants to show he can manage pretty well. Once I was on a 5 day ‘mom-vacation’ to NYC with a group between Thanksgiving and Christmas, seeing sites and shows. I showed DDs (who I believe were in 3rd grade and 5th grade) how to wash out the uniform skorts they liked to wear (they had 2 each, and had 3 school days). When I arrived home, the very large sink was filled to the brim (DH did not bother to use the dishwasher), and the laundry shute was full. Easy to say “well my vacation is over!”.
Most M - F here on school days, DD1 would be out the door with the kids at 6:30 am (after the two drop offs, getting to work by 7:30 am). So I had a lot of free time between 6:30 am and 3 pm when I needed to leave to pick up the older two GKids at 3:30 pm. So those times were a bit of a ‘vacation’, as I could pretty much do what I wanted to do. Read my book club book, read some of the financial magazines I brought along, kept up with social media, news. Relaxed, watched movies.
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My son and family are in town for a week and took the night off from childcare; the parents stayed the night at a hotel. I got the 13 month old, and the 5 year old had a spend the night with my D and 4 year old GD. My GS insist the only place to play is sitting on the lower glass shelf on my tall marble table. Back in the day, the glass shelf head decorative item; it now store toys for the kids! He takes everything off the middle section and climbs to sit there, all the while playing with the wooden puzzles and his sister’s Paw Patrol figurines. No sooner than I take him down, he climbs right back up. Luckily, it is a 1" thick glass and there is no worry of it breaking; well, I think that is true! 
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Taking care of the 11 month old overnight at our place because her mom is at a conference, and her dad got super sick with some stomach bug. Ugh. The baby slept like a champ but has a runny nose and refuses to eat her favorite foods. I’m kinda over this “baby-led feeding.” 
Supposed to promote healthy relationship with food. OMG and LOL. All food ends up on the floor instead of in her mouth! Her mom was spoon fed Gerber foods from a jar and grew up a normal adult with no food issues!
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I babysat last night for a 3.5 month old. Boy, life is different for the first/only child. She is held 100% of the time, or she’s on ‘tummy time’ on the couch for 10 minutes with someone sitting right with her. Or she is screaming while getting a diaper change. To be fair, she just spent a week in the hospital to diagnose an issue and it affected her eating, and now she’s on a steroid so she is EATING. She is cute and happy when things are going her way, but definitely has lungs on her and her dad is very overprotective.
They (he) spent big bucks on a bouncer chair (are they even called that when they are electric and have 6 modes to sooth baby?). Waste of money as she didn’t like it! I’m not sure how she felt about basketball or 20/20, but she liked the ceiling fan.
My first child was pretty independent. She’d sleep anywhere, never cried, I had to wake her up to eat. This one proved her mother wrong by eating about 7 oz in the first hour, napped, and woke up for more food.
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Our kids got one of these jazzed up bouncy chairs for their daughter. Little Miss Independence hated that thing! They sold it to some poor sucker for $100. Lost about $50, but at least did not have to take it to the dump!
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Spring break mostly rainy then incredibly windy week was a success! Had a terrific time! Did lots of games, art, activity books, baking, book reading, pretending, and goofing around. Then when when weather permitted–cold windy beach walks, kite flying, nature trails, airport museum, ferry terminal hang out, seed planting, biking, etc. (full disclosure–D was available for some of this, thankfully, in the latter part of the week.)
Great fun! I am exhausted!
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GD2 is almost 10 months old. At daycare, I am sure she is eating a fair amount of table food. At home, she likes to be active, and has a bottle when hungry, and sometimes a food pouch (she knows how to suck it down, and I have held her while she eats it because it goes pretty quick and keeps the mess down). One evening dinner she was in the highchair with something less messy on the tray, with mom helping her some. The electric rocking swing (can’t remember the name of it) - well she has pulled enough on the wires going into the device (when she is on the floor) that someone needs to work to reconnect the wires - if my DH was there, he could do the repair. It is helpful for weekend napping.
Today, 3 year old GD told me that my tongue looks old & I need to throw it out. Not quite sure what to make of that! 
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Been with friends for a week. Taking them to the airport tomorrow and will then have time with the grands. Will be able to have good quality time with the littlest for a few days as older ones are in school.
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Today was my day to read to GGD’s class. I read “Falling for Rapunzel” a funny take on the original. At one point Rapunzel is asked to throw down twine. One little girl raised her hand and said “I like wine. I wiggle my fingers in it. Mommy says I’ll go to jail.” LOL!! But they were so cute
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The Big Move was Wednesday. (Actually D left Saturday to drive the dog cross country. He’s too big to fly in cargo.) SIL and the 3 grands left Wednesday afternoon on a direct flight to the new city. Apparently travel went pretty well. Only the 18 month old had any upsets during the flight. (Although Twin A took Dad’s taking his shoes off to go thru security as permission to strip off all her clothing…)
But I got a couple of video call before noon this morning because Twin A was having a meltdown because she missed grandma too much. Twin A had the room directly across the hall from mine and always insisted I had had to be the one to tuck her in at night. Apparently she couldn’t sleep last night because I wasn’t there. She slept in mom & dad’s bed (which she has NEVER done even when she’s sick) last night.
It’s nice to be missed, but I hope she gets over her anxiety/sadness because I won’t be moving the new city for 3-4 months. I don’t want to her to be sad and upset all the time just because I can’t be there.
I’ll FaceTime her again to chat a bit once I get done with the movers. (They’ve almost finished loading the house. Now I have to take them over to the storage unit where most of my stuff is.)
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Your DD/SIL/Gkids are so lucky to have you, and I know you are enjoying all but the ‘heavy lifting’ pun intended with organizing and moving! But the new digs will be grand once all are settled into new routines.
I know how kids are with needing the special attention. GD1, 5 1/2, has mom help her in the morning even though there are 3 younger. The one morning mom had already left with the younger two (I had GS1 4 1/2 and this GD to get dressed, get breakfast, and I drive them to school), GD1 brought her school uniform to me to help her dress. She cannot button the top button of her shirt, and she likes the adult also buttoning her uniform dress on the sides. The reason mom left early was after dropping off the younger two, to drive to SIL’s training graduation and bring him home (he was maybe 2 hours/2.5 hours away by car). They were home in time to pick up the younger two, while I did my routine pickup of GD1/GS1 after school.
The ‘littles’ are some demanding times, but also such fun times too.
