What a year.
The past 365 days have been exciting around the Barkley household and that is thanks to Kathleen coming home from college with a bundle of joy named Adalae, who was born on this day one year ago. Andrea and I have enjoyed spending the first year of our granddaughter’s life with her at our home.
Kathleen began working for a television station in January and each Sunday since then has been grandparent’s day — and I would not have it any other way.
I did not remember how much fun it would be chasing a crawling baby from one room of the house to the other, but I get in my daily workout. Adalae started with the Army crawl and eventually learned to crawl on her hands and knees. She can really fly now. She winds her way around the kitchen and into the bedrooms before we can get up and chase her.
She has developed a great personality and just recently learned how the remote control for the television works. Adalae especially loves the pause button.
We also noticed that she likes to talk on the phone. Every time the house phone rings, she makes her way to the phone in the living room. But before the crawl, she will put her hand to her ear as her way of saying hello.
To help sooth tantrums, the entire family has learned that an episode of Sesame Street will calm her down. She claps along when Elmo sings Letter of the Day or when the Count sings What’s the Number? I know the songs by heart as well.
Being a grandparent brings back memories of visiting my family in Alabama.
My parents, sister and I would make the eight-hour trip to Birmingham to see my mother’s side of the family. I would watch football with my grandmother and wrestling with my grandfather. We would go shopping together, eat at our favorite restaurants — stopping by Krystal’s was always part of the trip — and visit my aunts and uncles.
We would make the trip north to Fort Payne to see my dad’s family and spend time on the chicken farm owned by my uncle. My sister and I would always walk through the coops to help Uncle James feed the chickens.
Thinking of those family trips makes me wonder what Adalae will remember from when she was growing up. I know she will remember the days that her PaPaw took her to McDonald’s for a Happy Meal. I did that with Kathleen and plan on doing it with Adalae. But I have a feeling mom may come along for the ride.
Adalae has been an inspiration for me this past year. I have watched her grow to love macaroni and cheese, but not smash cakes. That was until her birthday party on Saturday. County Clerk Melody Appleton made the cake for Adalae and she ate it — until mom had to take it away. Of the four smash cakes Adalae had this year, Melody’s was the only one she smashed and ate.
To Adalae, I look forward to the next 365 days, and the next and the next. You are a special little girl with a special mommy. I wish you all the best growing up and remember that PaPaw and Aya love you and are there for you growing up.
Ben Barkley is the managing editor of the Snyder Daily News. He has covered news and sports for more than 25 years in Louisiana and Texas. Comments about his column can be emailed to barkley@snyderdailynews.com.