These posts may be less carefully edited because the baby does not sleep very long.

My last visit to North Carolina, Riverbend Farm, was for the birth of Gwendolyn Ruth Shanahan on July 24, 2023. Unfortunately, I got sick and missed the main event almost entirely. I stayed only three weeks and then went home to recover.

I arrived again on September 16. This time I am devoted to figuring out some of this “Grandma business”. It sounds like something that should be simple – you become a grandma when your grandchild is born. I have a feeling there’s more to it than that.

The timing of this visit is because Gwennie got baptized the day after I arrived. In this case, the terms baptism and dedication are interchangeable, in my mind. She will make her own decision about believing and choosing to follow Jesus someday, but this was a decision by her parents and church family, to raise her in full knowledge of that path. I loved being there and making my own promise to show her God’s love. Of course, water was involved, but she behaved well as it was poured on her little head.

Day #1 Grandma Daycare

Gwennie Ru is very small, not yet two months old, and I know that it will take some time for me to recognize her personality. Today was my first day doing her care while Mommy went to work. We hung out together all day and I’m still not sure who she is. But I now know that she gets hungry every three hours and is intelligent enough to get bored quickly when awake. I have heard her cry “bloody murder” when trapped for hours in her car seat, but in the course of a normal day she doesn’t cry loudly or often. She fusses and makes funny faces. She can be coaxed into a nap easily and I’m getting good at that.

After I figured out how to get her pack fastened on me, and then how to get her in it, we took three walks around the farm. I got over 14,000 steps. I’m teaching her to pray with me while we walk.