Meet the Tonys

On Sunday mornings when I was a kid, my father would take my five siblings and me to Reilly's Drug Store where we each got to pick out five pieces of penny candy and share sips of his bottle of Pepsi. Last of the big spenders, that guy. In truth, it was a much anticipated weekly trip, mostly for my mother. In addition to the candy, we were allowed to peruse the comic books while the Old Man held court with Reilly and other regulars. When it was time to leave Reilly to reclaim his serenity; my father, for dramatic impact, would stand by the store's front door and loudly count us kids off as we exited, ostensibly making sure he left with as many children as he came in with. Quite the comedian, that guy. Truthfully, if he'd tried to collect us by calling off our names, he would have screwed it up. Not that he wasn't completely present - quite the opposite - the man was the original new age dad. He was fully involved in all things family. Its just that if you ask any parent of a lot of kids, they'll admit to calling one by an other's name from time to time.

With just two offspring, I never had too much trouble keeping up; but it hit me a couple of years ago when for a short period of time, I had solo supervision of my first four g-kids. At the time, the age range was something like 8 mo to 4, and they were excited and rambunctious. Trying to herd them was a challenge, and somehow I lost all their names and just started calling them all Tony. This created much amusement, especially for the older two.... "Grandma called us TONY!" And not just "Tony." Somehow it all came out with some kind of Brooklyn or Jersey accent, like you might hear from one of Tony Soprano's colleagues. Since then, there has been added a fifth, and likely final Tony. And here they are:

Tony # 1 - Gabe (7 1/2)
Check out the smile... its a rare time when its missing. His aunt coined the phrase "Life's a Party when you're Gabe" soon after he enjoyed his first taste of solid food - the guy was ecstatic. It was noted that if banana cereal gets a guy this excited, look out when he goes to his first kegger. Gabe's now a second grader, immersed into all the things second grade boys do... soccer, basketball, on-line Scrabble, Chess, and, oh yeah, reading and all that other stuff.

The Girl Tony - Vivi (7)

Nothing says first grade like a gap-toothed smile. This year for Halloween, we won't need to carve a pumpkin - we'll just stick a candle in Vivi's mouth. Vivi loves all things "girlie" - one of her first spoken phrases was "omigod, cute!" Scary. At at the same time, she's an accomplished athlete on everything from bike riding, hanging from monkey bars or gracefully gliding down the green runs at Mt. Hood. Nobody - I mean nobody - cuddles better than Vivi. And, I gotta tell you, there's something incredibly thrilling when you're tucking a kid in at night and she says, "Grandma, can you sing 'Banjo on my knee?' " Ah, that's good stuff.

Tony #3 - Jonah (5)

As an infant, he refused to take a bottle from anyone except his mother, who happened to be nursing at the time. Not so helpful. At two, he grabbed onto the garage door as it was opening and rode it up until his mother turned around and found herself at eye level with him. When in preschool, he once surreptitiously dumped the contents of his lunchbox before leaving for school, replacing the with an entire Costco-sized box of fruit roll-ups. The teacher was impressed at snack time. I took him shopping once when he was clad in swim goggles, his superman cape and yellow rain boots. You argue with him. When asked how he liked his first day of kindergarten, he replied disapprovingly, "we didn't even learn how to read yet!" Suffice to say, its always a good idea to have had lots of sleep if you're spending a day with Jonah.

Tony #4 - Tommy (4)

Give him something to throw, ride, climb or run to and this guy is happy. I've never met anyone so comfortable in his own skin. While the consummate daredevil, he is also gentle and sensible. For example, he'll haul ass down the street on his two wheeler, but will stop obliging at the corner and wait patiently for the go-ahead to cross. Sometimes, he's so cool its hard to remember he's only four. I suspect he'll be an accomplished student, but I'm a positive that he'll be that guy you call when you want to go grab a beer, catch a game, or need help changing your tire.

Tony #5 - Michael (1)

Mellow Michael... that's been his M.O. since day one. Now I'm not saying he's beyond dumping a box of cereal on the floor when you're not watching or pulling all the CDs off the desk. Its just that he's going to be really happy when he does it, and odds are, so cute that you can't help but laugh. Two older and very rowdy brothers don't intimidate him in the least... he's all too happy to join in the pillow fight -- even if he is the pillow at times.

Its fun being Grandma Dot.