The change of life

Not that change. I am writing about the change that comes when children become part of your life. 
Grace is 2.6 years old. Her vocabulary is a strange mix of detailed nonsensical sentences punctuated by a word or two that are just as clear as a bell. I am pretty good at deciphering her intent since that is pretty much the way her Grandaddy talks. It is so frustrating. "Honey, what do you want for dinner?" His reply... "Uh, heh unno um ec ec hot dog duma dexi con." This stream of language - and I use that term loosely - is extremely hard to follow because he is taking a drink of water or has his head in the refrigerator or is doing anything except looking straight at me and answering my question.
Grace, on the other hand, will look you straight in the eye and give you her words with all sincerity and plenty of force and detail. In either case, I know they want hot dogs,
We got to spend some time with Grace without her parents recently and it was fun. I do not know how they do it every day. The best word for Grace is busy. She played with her toys, then played with the dogs, then bounced on Grandaddy, then ran into the kitchen to put her tiny hands on anything that could possibly be sharp and dangerous.
Our house is dog proof. We don't leave things on the floor. We don't have carpets or curtains. We have leather furniture and the coffee and end tables are made of slate tiles.
Dog proof is not the same as child proof. Grace found things I did not even know I had. She was at full throttle running through the house picking up things, asking questions (I think they were questions) and looking for a place to put the item so that I will never find it again. It took me two days to discover the second dog leash.
I was never a mother. Olivia came into my life when she was 17, so I did not need to develop mothering skills. 
Grace has brought something out in me that I cannot quite identify. I do not think it is my inner mother. I guess it is my inner grandmother. I love her. From her stinky feet to those beautiful blue eyes that can be serene or stormy. I feel her spirit and I already recognize who she is going to be. 
Hands down, the best day in recent memory was when she spotted me and yelled "OG!" and came running to me, wrapping her arms around my neck and giving me the best full body hug ever. 
My brother talks often about the way his daughter changed his life. I can see it plainly, but now I truly feel what he means. It is a change. Good change. Or, as Grace might say, "OG, yen fammy hoe whop change!" You bet, Gracie. You got it.