Baby, Big Sister, and Bode

Grace with new great-granddaughter Elise

Today I traveled with my sister Grace to visit her daughter Sue and her family. (Sue blogs at Only the Manager.) This was the first time we would meet the newest family addition. Sue and her husband, Mike, are grandparents for the second time. Their daughter, Maria, and her husband, Eric, have a new daughter, Elise, who is one week old today. (Oh, there is nothing so sweet, so heart-meltingly tender, as a newborn baby. I felt privileged to get to hold her.) Elise has a darling dimple in one cheek, and spiky black hair. So precious.


Elise has a big sister, Cordelia, who will be three years old in September. Cordelia is a lively, smart, little girl, who is proud to have a little sister. Many of her adventures have been related in her mother's blog little things are big.

Sue and Cordelia playing a game.

Sue and Mike have a beautiful dog named Bode. He's young, just a year and a half old, and the whole family seems to be in agreement that Bode is all beauty and no brains. He gets wildly excited when company comes, so Mike had to control him with his leash until he calmed down. Later, Bode needed to rest up from all the excitement. He climbed up beside me on the couch, rested his head on my lap, and snoozed away.

Happy Family

It was a lovely day spent with dear family members. Cordelia finally got accustomed enough to me to sit with me for reading of a storybook. Elise accepted all the adoration and being held by all of us with admirable patience for such a new little person. And I made a new friend in beautiful Bode.

Bode having his snooze.