ElleSpeak

I love spending time with my Grandson Cooper and he seems to enjoy spending time with me. When he was old enough to talk on his Dad’s cell phone I would often get a call from him saying, “Mema, don’t you think this is a good day to go swimming?”, or “Can I come over and visit you for a while?”, or “Will you take me to Target?”. I am happy to accommodate his wishes anytime I’m able, because he’s really good company.

We enjoy talking about everything under the sun, and I’m always amazed at how much information he has already collected in his short lifetime. When we talk about life, as we often do, we each share our own perspective and sometimes his observations and comments crack me up! He has a great sense of humor, and at times he can also dispense excellent advice.

When he was very young he would come to my house along with his Mom, Laura, when she and I got together to talk and make beaded jewelry. Cooper would often be asleep in the portable playpen right next to us. All curled up with his arms and legs tucked under him, and his butt up in the air he looked like the most adorable little pill bug I’ve ever seen.

Sometimes he would spend the better part of a day with me while his Mom ran errands and eventually he would be ready to take a nap, so I would put him on our guest bed with pillows on each side of him so he couldn’t roll off the edge. He would assume his adorable pill bug position and zonk out for a while. Cleo, my Boston Terrier, was crazy about Cooper, and would always curl up beside him while he slept, and would remain there until he awoke.

Some mornings when he visited I would fix him bacon and eggs for breakfast. He loved bacon and eggs then, he still loves bacon, but not so much eggs anymore. One day I set him up at the table on his booster seat and asked him what he wanted to eat. He lowered his head slightly, his eyes looking up at me from beneath his eyebrows, and said quite seriously, “I’d like an egg please, and I want five pieces of bacon. I’m not kidding Mema, five pieces!” Of course I fixed him five pieces of bacon and he ate every one.

One day he was in our backyard following around our good friend Jim who often did handy man work for us. Jim took a break from what he was working on and asked Cooper how he was doing today.

Cooper replied, “I’m doing good. How are you, Jim?”

Jim had been out late the night before, and answered truthfully, “I’m not doing too good today Cooper.”

Not missing a beat, Cooper looked up at Jim and said, “You know Jim, sometimes, if you can just have a good poop, you’ll feel better.”

Excellent advice!