As the first grandchild, Sophie had the privilege of our undivided attention and devotion. And, because she was a girl, articulate and precocious, a couple of 'stories' need to be shared before they are lost.
THE LUGGAGE
Sophie and I were sitting in the family room one summer evening in 2017 reading books, when all of a sudden there was a loud CRASH somewhere above us! Knowing Pop was upstairs alone, we looked at each other with surprise, jumped up, and ran upstairs as fast as we could, yelling, "Pop! Ken! Are you ok?" I had jumped up SO fast I jumped out of one of my slippers! We reached the top of the steps just as Pop was coming out of the master bedroom in his PJs, asking what was wrong. "We heard a loud crash and were so scared!" Sophie cried. "We thought you fell or dropped something," I explained. Seeing he was okay, we began looking around to see what fell. The closet door to the bedroom directly above the family room was ajar. Lo and behold, investigation of the matter showed a large piece of luggage stored in that cupboard had somehow toppled over, slamming open the doors, causing the 'crash' that we heard. The best part of this story was Sophie's reaction to it all. She was so 'scared, in her tummy!" I got her version of the incident on tape, and smile every time I think of, or listen to it, and now you can as well.
THE BATHING SUIT BOTTOMS
Summer of 2017 Dania, Sophie, and Grandma made a trip to the Burlington Coat Factory for bathing suits. Dania found a bikini sets to purchase for herself, and lined up to check out. Sophie and I watched the clerk scan everything and bag it. Dania paid and we headed to the doors to leave. As we went through the security gates, LOUD alarms went off! Startled, we realized it was US setting off the alarms! We dutifully returned to the counter where the clerk found a garment tag still attached to the bathing suit bottoms that she had missed during check-out. Impressed with this incident, Sophie talked for days about the 'bathing suit bottoms' and the the alarm that they set off. She recalled for months the colors of the bathing suit!
POOP!
This isn't a story that Sophie recalls, but she was a major player, and it taught me to be more prepared when watching more than 1 grand at a time! Julia and Pop were working, who knows where Dania was, but I had both Sophie and Abraham for the day. All I recall is it was summer, and before their post-lunch naps, they needed a quick bath. Sophie would have been a little over 2 and Abe not quite 1. No problem; I raised 3 kids who survived, I could do this. I put them into the bathtub, let them splash around a while, washed them, then realized my dilemma. I didn't bring clean diapers for them into the bathroom - the nearest diapers were 3 doors down in the nursery! There was only about 1 1/2" of water in the tub, and certainly Sophie could stay there herself for 20 seconds safely.... I grabbed Abe, ran down the hall, threw a diaper on him, and tossed him into the crib, screaming, because I didn't dress him and rock him! I ran back down the hall to the bathroom, where 30 seconds later Sophie was standing in the tub crying now, surrounded by floating poop turds! With Abe still screaming in the background, I scooped the poop out, drained the tub, rewashed Sophie quickly, dried her off, and took her to her room to dress her. I left her there while I went back to dress and calm Abe down (wishing I could clone myself). Once he was settled, I turned my attention again to a calmer Sophie, who needed a book read before her nap. Thankfully, as I recall, they both finally took naps and I probably poured a glass of wine... or should have.
