I’m starting to feel like the Jan Brady of Grandma’s.  Just a week ago I was the favorite but the tide has turned and all I hear from our 2 year old Granddaughter Ava is “Gumpa, Gumpa, Gumpa!!  Oh, she still patiently sings all our songs together like the “Good Morning” song and the perennial favorite “Old McDonald.”  But the minute we finish she says, “Gumpa?”  She even called him over the weekend. 

I have to admit he’s come up with a few good bits with her lately.  His favorite is to cough, and she’ll immediately ask “Are you okay?”  Then she fake coughs and he asks her, “Are you okay?”  She answers “Fine, thanks.”  We’re pretty sure she’s a genius.

My favorite Gumpa and Ava story happened during my birthday weekend last November.  My daughter and daughter-in-law and I went out and left Ava with the “boys.”  When we came back home John called us over and with a very smug smile said, “Watch this.” 

“Ava” he said.  “Do you want to play with Grandpa’s hee-hee stick?”  I swear to you I’m not making this up.

The girls and I looked at each other a bit speechless while John whipped out his back scratcher.   “Wheeeeee,” Ava squealed as he pretended to tickle her with it.  Then he handed it to Ava who poked him with the backscratcher while he went “Hee Hee Hee,” very loudly.  Now, any of you reading this who know my husband are probably falling on the floor in shock.  He is not a “hee-hee” kind of person.  I love that Ava brings that out in him.  But we all decided it might be a good idea to rename the hee-hee stick.

Right now Gumpa reigns supreme.  But I’m not worried.  Some day Ava will realize Grandma wrote a WHOLE BOOK about her.  So Gumpa, “You can just go scratch yourself.”