Gumpa

My dad with the bigger twinnie, Megan.

"Gumpa" is our nickname for my father, taken from when Melissa (or was it Michael?) started to speak and couldn't quite say "Grandpa" and it came out "Gumpa". Even though Melissa and Michael now both enunciate the word, we still stick with Gumpa. It just sounds cheerier. And, he's a cheerier fellow. He sees his grandchildren often, babysitting the older three munchkins every Friday and visiting them on other days as well. He's a very dedicated grandparent.

Earlier this evening I rounded us up at Allan and Cheryl's house for some pizza on disposable plates so nobody would have to do dishes before the busy-ness of tomorrow: Cheryl, Melissa, and the twins fly to Maine (from Seattle) for Allison's wedding. The other two bambinos are staying here, and Allan is going to work from home (ha!), while looking after the kids with some drop-in assistance from Gumpa. Of course, I'll take them off his hands sometime on the weekends.

Amidst the regular chaos of dinner at their house, we recited stories of our childhood and relived our naughtiness. Gumpa had a good ol' belly laugh and I wanted to capture it, but I was too busy coralling Maddy to take his photo, so this is what I managed to get after the older kids went to bed and the twins woke up for their regular evening feed.