Happy Birthday Fun...

It's not easy having our one and only grandchild living ten thousand miles away on the other side of the world, so we do have to get a little creative now and then in order to remain an active part of this little boy's world.  Lucas is truly our shining star ... he makes us smile and he makes us laugh, and we're amazed every time we get to spend time with him on Skype that he has learned how to interact with us via modern technology.  If not for Skype, would he know us so well, or would we truly feel like we were a part of his life?   

So today (well, tomorrow actually, but in Singapore, where he lives, it's already tomorrow!) it is Lucas's 3rd birthday!  It's morning there right now, and we were able to have some birthday fun with Lucas (and mommy, too!).  They used Skype on their iPad today, so we were right there on the floor watching him play.  Party time at Gramma's - I'd put some of his toys left here into colorful boxes and set them up on a table with some Little Critter books and a giant red ball, and we called it a birthday party!  The fun and imagination came when we sang Happy Birthday to him and presented him with a Brownie Cake I'd baked earlier tonight - complete with three birthday candles, burning bright with birthday wishes!  Papa and I sang HAPPY BIRTHDAY to him, then we held the cake close to the web cam and counted to three before we all blew out the candles together.  The fun and magic comes into the picture when you see this little 3 year old playing right along with us - he leans in to his own camera, takes a deep breath, and blows out his candles at the same time as we do!  It's amazing that he can possibly comprehend the time and space between his world and ours, but I believe he truly does.  When I started to cut his cake (at Gramma's house), he asked mommy if he could have some of his birthday cake too!  Breakfast or not ... Erika got him a piece of cake so we could all enjoy eating it together.  
     Then it was time for some REAL presents - the ones I'd sent in the mail.  Lucas sat there opening his gifts - he truly makes it so much fun to give him gifts, because with each one he pulled out of his birthday bag, we heard the "WOW"s and saw the smiles as he'd open a book, read his card, discover a new toy.  We sat there with him as he and mommy put together his new Rescue Helicopter and squirted water at each other!  This little guy has the most amazing imagination!!!  "Thank you Gramma.  Thank you Papa." .... words and sights to melt our hearts!  We watched as he picked up his new PHILADELPHIA CHICKENS book and walked down the hallway with his daddy to spend some time reading together.  
    Our lives these days do not allow very many opportunities to spend time up-close-and-personal with our grandson.  But through the magic of our computers and iPads and Skype and cyberspace, we have been able to share real-time moments with him that a decade ago were unheard of.  A few days ago, my computer was "ringing" with a call from Singapore ... only when I answered, it was not my daughter calling.  Having actually called me all by himself, there on my monitor was this beautiful, smiling little boy sitting there saying, "Hi Gramma, I'm back!!!!!".