Guess Who is 8 Today?

Today is Brianna's birthday. Yep, my oldest grandchild turned 8 years old today.

Where does the time go? Sigh...

I can't wax rhapsodic about the birth of this one. Like me, Amy become a Mom to her oldest two children by marriage. So we really only met four years ago. But it feels much longer.

She's such a sweet kid. She's not only adorable, she's smart and funny and loving, too.

And she's always been a fabulous big sister. She takes that job very seriously. She always has.

I remember several years ago, when she was at my house. This was way before Joey, the baby, was born. Gaige was sleeping or something and I gave Brianna a cookie. I was about to put the jar away when she said, "What about Gaige? Him needs one, too."

She tries to help out all the time, too. It's not always helpful, but it's the thought that counts. Her heart is in the right place.

One of my favorite Brianna stories is from about a year ago. Amy went off to Alabama on a Thursday to meet up with TJ who was there for some job-related training (he's in the Army). The plan was for me to stay at Amy's house with the kids that first night, take them to school/daycare on Friday, then home to my house that night, where Amy and TJ would pick them up on Sunday. (The above picture was taken mere moments before TJ and Amy arrived.)

All was going well on Thursday, or so I thought. After school/daycare, I played with the kids for a bit before starting dinner. I guess it was about 5:30 when I decided to start cooking. I was only making Hamburger Helper, so prep was no huge deal. Little did I know...

I'm not used to having three kids around (I'm getting better). Gaige, who was 4 at the time, was quite wound up. Brianna was talking my ear off (did I mention that she's quite chatty?). And Joey was feeling a bit clingy, crawling around the kitchen as I was trying to get dinner cooked.

I finally sat Joey in a little bouncy chair and he was almost asleep when Gaige came running into the kitchen, roared very loudly like a pirate, and scared Joey half to death. Of course, Joey was startled, started screaming and demanded to be held. I yelled at Gaige, who then slunk dejectedly off to the living room.

It was right about then that Brianna asked for a snack. "I'm cooking dinner now, so no snack," I told her.

She pouted off to join Gaige in the living room. I was holding Joey, continuing to prepare dinner when the phone rang. It was Amy calling to check in. She must have asked Brianna how she was doing.

"I'm HUNGRY," I overheard Brianna say. "She hasn't even fed us dinner yet. And she wouldn't give me a snack today either!"

It was pretty funny. Amy had left really good instructions for Joey, but forgot to remind me that an after school snack was in order. And that the kids usually eat at 5:00 or so. Not 6:00-6:30, which is what time we ended up eating.

Anyway... Brianna is a wonderful little girl. She totally kicks my butt at the Memory card game. And she loves playing War (she beat me at that, too) and UNO. And she keeps a pretty good sense of humor about my ineptness as a grandparent. (I am getting better, I swear.)

The below picture, which Amy took earlier this year on her first day in second grade, shows just how grown up she's getting. She may be 8 now, but the years are going to go fast. I hope to be around to enjoy every one.

Happy Birthday, Brianna!