A Sixth Sense

The other day, Grant visited the local nursing home with my parents. Grant loves to go hang out with the people there, and it doesn't hurt that the nursing home has a cool aquarium or a huge cage of birds. Grant is very sweet with the residents, giving them hugs and pats on the leg. We tell him before he goes that we're going to "go see the old people who are very lonely and need lots of love." He translates that with his big heart to mean leg pats and hugs and lots of jabbering, which I think is a pretty fair translation.

This last week, the story goes that Grant added a new skill to his visit. I guess he ran up and down the halls, pointing at the people in their wheelchairs, yelling, "I see old people. NeNe, I see old people."

Luckily, I don't think the residents cared... or for that matter, heard.

In other news, yes, Bret is back, as we have failed to blog, and Grant and I are happy he's home. Bret caught an earlier connection out of Newark, so he made it home before Grant went to bed. When I realized Bret would be home before bedtime, I made the mistake of telling Grant that Daddy had a present for him. While he's grasped the "how to be nice to old and lonely people" ability, he still doesn't get the whole "it's better to give than receive" idea. He spent the next TWO hours whining about wanting his present. When Bret got home, Grant sprinted to see him, threw his arms around his neck, and screamed, "Daddy." One hug and one breath later, and Grant said, "present for Grant?"

At least he says thank you, I guess; sometimes, he even says it without prompting.