Little Ball of Fire

I’ve decided to give you a glimpse of one of my favorite people of all time, my grandson. The title of this blog is one of his many descriptive nicknames. Most of his nicknames are some variation of action verbs, adjectives, and nouns that make you think of some kind of high octane energy. You will rarely find words such as quiet, still, or sitting attached to him unless it’s preceded by the phrase, “it’s a miracle he’s”. Most people would describe him as very busy. I would rather think of him as full of life. He has never met an experience he doesn’t like, or a circumstance he doesn’t view as a learning opportunity.

As life would have it Calby (another nickname) and his mommy have lived with us since day one of his illustrious life. Calby recently turned four. From the start his determination and happy personality took us in its grip. It was at about the age of two that we started to understand that the determination part might offer us some challenges.

I walked into the living room one day and he was standing on the back of the couch…so far nothing unusual for him. He then announced that he was going to launch himself from the back of the couch over the seat and onto the living room floor. My brain quickly calculated that there was about a 100% chance that he would break some bone in his body if he attempted this maneuver. My mouth urgently reacted with, “no you are not…”-too late, he was in the air. He landed, rolled, and stood up laughing. A quick check assured no broken bones, or even any bruises.

Well now my pride as a grandpa took over. I was impressed. Jumping attempts two through ten were with my, at first hesitant, but increasingly enthusiastic approval. I should mention that my adult son was a co-conspirator in watching this unfold. There were no women in the house at the time and when we later in the day tried to explain this episode to mommy and grammy, I recall the word stupidity being applied to us men. Of course the fact that Calby had a great time and had no broken bones or significant bruises, gave us the self assurance that we had done nothing wrong.

Well, there’s a glimpse…more to come later.