Taking a Bow

We haven't seen our little 3-year-old granddaughter since January on her birthday.  We were scheduled to go up to see her in March but Covid-19 came along and Maryland and New York City closed their doors.  

She is really tired of Facetime, so it has become very hard to engage her by phone, except when we use an app called Caribu which allows us to read stories together where she can pick the books and turn the pages.  We can color the same picture together and play little games such as tic tac toe as well.  It has been really amazing and she seems to like it very much.

My son sent me this picture today and I converted it to black and white and decided to use it for my blip since I haven't posted a photo of her in four months, the longest gap ever.  I liked it because it looks like an old movie, with her hair in little braids, kind of a cross between Judy Garland and Shirley Temple.  Each evening after dinner she does a little performance for her parents and sometimes the grandparents tune in for it too. Here she is taking a bow.

Both parents are working from home in their small two-bedroom NYC apartment.  In spite of that, each day there is a theme in which they all participate. One day was "sports" and dad got out his various sports jerseys and draped them around.  They played indoor versions of various sports.  Another day the theme was flowers and her mother took her for a short walk to a community garden which is closed, but there were able to look at all the tulips from outside the fence.  She is used to being in school every day, so her parents have worked over-time to keep her learning and stimulated and she is having a ball.  It means that they have to take turns with their work and her mother often has to do her work after the little one goes to bed but it is working for them and they are prepared to do it as long as it is necessary to stay safe. 

Today was her father's (#3 son) birthday.  I was able to find online a baker in NYC that delivered warm cookies to their apartment at around 1 pm as a little surprise. They managed to visit with friends and enjoy lots of treats in celebration without ever going out fo the house.  It's amazing how we are adapting.