Remembering Gross-poppy

On the morning of June 27th, Preston's great-grandfather (affectionately known as Gross-poppy, an homage to our German heritage) passed away peacefully, with the comfort and love of his only daughter, Gigi, at his bedside.

Sadly, Preston will only remember my grandfather as he was in his final years, a mere shell of the robust man he once was, and a rather obstinate and reclusive grumpy old man. But it did make me laugh to hear my grandfather mutter, "Come here, you little shit" under his breath, every time he wanted to get Preston's attention. Contrary to how it might sound however, he loved Preston to the fullest extent possible. Preston was special to him for a variety of reasons, namely because he was his one and only great-grandchild. But also because he came to know and love Preston's father during the time we lived with him in Hawaii. 

My grandfather suffered through a long, slow, and painful decline, mentally and physically, over the past several years. It was the complete opposite of what he wanted, which was to live independently in his beautiful little Hawaiian condo until the bitter end, venturing down to the beach every day for a swim, followed by some tanning with a beer and a book in hand, followed by nightly Pupu-parties with his dearest friends. Unfortunately, his body had other plans. We had an incredibly strong bond, forged over years of Hawaiian kinship and countless dinners with just the two of us. Not to mention a few near-death experiences of his that I was at his side for. I look forward to telling Preston all about how his great-grandfather could complete any Sunday crossword, answer just about every question on Jeopardy (which he watched nightly for probably 20 years,) and who read enough books to fill a library. Not bad for a man who spent most of his life self-employed running his own cafeteria, followed by years as a fishing boat captain off the coast of Long Island. He had an absolute love of the ocean, which he passed down to Gigi, and also to me. Whenever I am at any beach, any where, I always think of him, and I expect I will continue to do so for the rest of my life. Except now I will look out at the ocean and picture him there, strong and healthy again, deep-sea fishing off the back of his boat. I will miss you, Grandpa.

So I'm making a rap video...

Preston is a big fan of making videos using the iphone or ipad, particularly with the screen reversed, so he can see himself in action.
We made the following video as an announcement of some pretty big Eckrich news, initially for Oompa and Gigi, and now for all of you:
(Kindly disregard my complete lack of musical/creative artistic talent.)
Also, it was Preston's idea to hold the maracas up to our ears as we sang. He kind of left me hanging.

Summer Camp with T&B

This week Preston started his first ever "Summer camp," which is really just an excuse for me to get 2 glorious hours to myself on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. His good buddies Theo and Beckett are also attending, so it gives the 3 of them time to burn off some of that pre-schooler energy, and be away from their Mama's for a little bit. It will be interesting to see how they function as a part of a larger group. The 3 of them have known each other since before they can remember, and have gone through all the wonderful stages of infancy and toddlerhood with regular interaction. They have definitely become best of friends. Whenever I get the opportunity to say "Theo and Beckett will be there," my job of getting Preston out the door becomes drastically easier. The dynamics of the trio has been ever-evolving and increasingly complex, but in general they have always played and worked well with one-another. Being the odd-man-out has proven to be favorable for Preston, as I think Theo and Beck enjoy the occasional break from each other, and often compete for his attention. (T & B are twin brothers, for anyone new to this blog...) Usually, Preston is content to just play with all their toys. But as they have come to recognize each other as individuals with increasingly distinct personas, it has been more challenging to minimize and resolve conflict. There are definitely times when 3 is a crowd. Because Preston is the cherished outsider, it gives him the option to (at times) favor one brother over the other, which, as you can imagine, is problematic. (Not to mention, I usually have to refrain myself from saying, "Hey, stop being an asshole!) I suppose it is all one big lesson in human relations and conflict management, hopefully of which they will all reap the benefits of mastering. But it would be tremendously easier on the Mama's if they could just be courteous, considerate, and supportive of one another, 100% of the time. Is that too much to ask? Anyhoo, here are a few shots of the troublesome trio. (Just kidding, they are not actually very troublesome. Yet.)

Enjoying some cartoons after a delicious lunch at Moe's (and bouncy house excursion before that.)

Post-prandial sleepiness setting in.

Nap time drawing nearer. (And I love how oblivious they were to me sitting down across from them and taking pictures. I don't think they looked away from the TV once.)

1st day of summer camp complete! Apparently stepping out into the overcast outdoors was too much for their eyes. 

Me: "C'mon guys, smile and open your eyes for the camera!"

Preston checking to see if Beck was opening his eyes. Clearly Theo put forth a valiant effort.