Charlie's Thanksgiving Blog

Charlie Crawls -- Get Ready, World! (November 2010, Joe Kopp)

Last year I didn't post my Bowl of Chairies Thanksgiving blog until January 24, 2010 -- the day before Charlie was born. That day I wrote about about how my favorite part of Thanksgiving 2009 had been sitting with Meagan on the couch while the rest of the gang played games at the kitchen table. Together, we looked through the journals I had kept for Meagan when I was pregnant and, sporadically, as she grew.

I recently opened one of those little books so I could compare my Meagan to Charlie when she was the same age -- Ten months old Thanksgiving Day!

Oh, how it all began coming back to me...I wrote to Meagan about how she would climb to the top of the stairs with nary a thought about the consequences, should she miss a step. Charlie hasn't made it to the top stair yet -- at least not on my watch -- but I have saved her from injury a time or two, catching her as she sits on thin air halfway up!

I wrote about how Meagan would climb up and stand on the coffee table. Charlie hasn't done that, but then neither is she walking yet -- Something Meagan started doing when she was nine months old. Charlie seems to prefer crawling, and no one is rushing her!

I wrote about how I would be exhausted from trying to keep up with Meagan all day, as she tore from one "project" to another. I remember making sure that everything in our lower cupboards and on reachable shelves was safe for her to play with. And watching helplessly as she emptied every one of them, thinking I'll clean it up later -- At least she's having fun! Now I sit helplessly and watch Charlie de-book the shelves she can reach, and I think, At least she's not trying to lick the bottoms of someone's shoes or eat the cats' food! For now.

(Did I say I was exhausted then? I was only 26 years old! I didn't even know what exhaustion was!)

I also wrote about how, even though I was exhausted, there were moments in every single day when I was filled with such contentment, I felt like my life was perfect.

Charlie does that to me, too.

Now, as I finish this post, we have celebrated Charlie's first Thanksgiving. There was turkey and stuffing, potatoes and pie. And Charlie's Grandma Vickie and Grandpa Joe were here from Nebraska. Uncle Dj was here, still trying to win Charlie's heart. (I know that someday they're going to be such good friends, we won't believe that she ever cried when he wanted to hold her. But that day isn't here yet.) Our dear friends Jason and his Wendy were also here, and Great Aunt Dawn and Cousin Ali came a little later. And Charlie was wonderful. Even when she got tired and cried.

So this Thanksgiving was special, and I am thankful...

Belly Bean -- A Grandmother's Perspective (Another Blog Rerun)

This post originally appeared in "A Bowl of Chairies" on September 29, 2009.



This is how our Meagan's little "Belly Bean" looked on September 1, 2009. Of course she's a month older now. A month bigger, a month smarter, prettier, more talented...whatever. A month closer to actually being here -- In fact, we're halfway there!

Yesterday, her other Grandma, Vickie, and I went with Meagan for her appointment with the midwife. There, with the help of Doppler, we were able to hear little Bean's heartbeat. And we were just as awestruck as I remember being when I heard my own two little belly beans' heartbeats, oh, so long ago.

For now, only Meagan can feel her daughter's movements. But in another month or so, we'll all be able to share the excitement. (If Meagan is willing, of course.) Until then, the sound of that tiny little heart beating away -- and ultrasound photos like the one above -- assure us that, really and truly, there is a baby -- a baby girl -- growing and thriving inside there. And we love her already.

One More Thing I Have to Tell You... (A Blog Rerun)

This post originally appeared in "A Bowl of Chairies" on August 13, 2009...


"Baby Bean," June 2009. Debut scheduled for February, 2010.


I'm going to be a Grandma! Actually, I'm going to be Grammakate. Within minutes of letting us know that she and Joe were going to have a baby, My Dazzling Daughter Meagan told me to start thinking about what I'd like to be called. (You know -- with reference to being a grandmother.) She made it sound like it was my decision, but it turns out she has some very specific ideas about names that will not be acceptable. For instance, anything with "Granny" in it. Like Granny Square, or Granny Cake.

That's okay. Once the little Bean gets here, Meagan can name her whatever she wants. I know what I'll be calling her when her mama's not around. (That is my decision to make, right?)

**Note: It'll be a few more weeks before we can find out if Bean is a boy bean or a girl bean. Until then, I simply cannot refer to her as "it." In my heart I feel likes she's a girl. I could be wrong, of course; if I am, it will be very easy for me to turn around and start referring to her as "him." But for now she's a girl bean.

Of course My Awesome Husband Greg and I are thrilled. So is Uncle Dominic. Whenever one of us starts to feel a little overburdened by the all of the troubles in the world today, all we have to do is say, "Meagan's going to have a baby." Faces soften, eyes glow and smiles form.

That's all for now. Have a wonderful day!

**Afterward: We did find out that our Bean is a Beanette -- It's a girl!

Explaining the Bean

"Bean Sprout," June 22, 2009


I first posted this photo of a bean plant growing on our deck in my other blog, "A Bowl of Chairies," on June 22, 2009 (A Limerick Inspired by Nature), in response to hearing the wonderful news that our daughter, Meagan, was expecting a baby.

The post also included a limerick. I occasionally feel compelled to write limericks. I can't wait to teach my granddaughter to love and create limericks, as I was inspired to do by my father...



I spotted this cute little bean,
Its complexion a delicate green.
It clings to its stalk
Like a verdurous flock;
Such a lovely and promise-filled scene.