Pete, The Explorer

"Behold your little ones, and see within them the wonders of God, from whose presence they have recently come." Gordon B. Hinckley

I love this quote because that is exactly what I feel whenever I look at my grandchildren. There are wonderfully entertaining, exciting, fascinating creations of God. I never, never tired of observing them. I stand in awe.

Maddie & Kinlie are so far away and so I don't get to experience the growth up close. I miss them more than I can say and love them more than they can know. But with Pete, it's different. I get to see him unfold and I get to see it up close. So let me tell you a little about Pete.

Pete is never content to just sit if there is something within his sight that he has not explored and explored thoroughly. My house is small and; therefore, he's seen every inch of it with the exception of Emily's room. Some areas he passes with barely a glance, knowing that there is nothing in such and such a room that is worthy of his interest. Other rooms he'll stay in, but nowhere does he stay for long because there's always another hill to climb. His favorite thing is to explore the outdoors and he's making friends among the neighbors as we inch further and further along the street.

Well, each time he learns how to do something new, he claims another little piece of my heart. He's learning to talk, just words not real sentences yet, and what a sweet sound it is. But this week, he's learned something new that just melted my heart into a little puddle. We were sitting at the table (where he refused to stay in his booster seat because it is too confining for such an explorer as Pete). He climbed down, came over to me, and took my hand to pull me to the key rack. For a long time, his favorite place to explore was my minivan. I fear that it's becoming a little old now that he knows how to turn on the windshield wipers and radio. But he pointed and said, "Key. Key." Well, how is a grandma to say no to that? Whether we were in the middle of dinner or not was a mute point.

That was cute enough, but later in the evening when he again pulled my hand to take me up to the kitchen table to play with Emily's old Halloween Happy Meal toys, my heart was cemented as Pete's Personal Putty. Jeremiah said, "Lately we've learned he has his own agenda and he'll want you to follow it." Uh, no problem, Pete. Your agenda is my agenda.