Unique Bond

Alexa loves it when I let her bring the iPad in the car, a very rare occurrence as it's nearly impossible to pry her away from it if she's in the middle of watching her daily television show allotment.  She's able to tune nearly everything out, including Ani crying, when she's using the iPad.  However, as we drove to dinner on Tuesday night, the song "Gone Gone Gone" came on the radio, and Alexa suddenly closed the iPad.  She simply said, "Granty's saying hi to me," and she began singing along with her beloved song.  I was shocked not only that she heard the song (the radio was at a very low volume), but the fact that she voluntarily shut off the iPad was practically unbelievable.  The power of Granty...

Granty has been at the forefront of Alexa's mind lately; I'm not sure what has triggered this (maybe Ani?), but Alexa has been talking about him more than ever.  She will be in the middle of playing with her My Little Ponies and suddenly say, "I miss Granty," and go right back to playing.  She's also planned what dessert we will have to celebrate his second birthday in June - a Sprinkles cupcake :).  I always allot some time on Thursday night to discuss with Alexa what she would like to bring for Friday Show-and-Tell at school.  This week's request?  Alexa wanted to bring pictures of Grant to share with her class.  I hesitated, as I was worried it might be a little too deep for 3-6 year-olds and a little too emotional for her teachers.  Instead I steered her towards bringing a butterfly book we had picked up during our trip to St. Louis, but I couldn't help but wish I had let her bring the pictures.  I would love to hear her show the pictures to her classmates and explain why they are special to her.

When I picked her up from school yesterday, her Aftercare teacher (Ms. Suzie) pulled me aside and mentioned that Alexa had been talking about Granty on the playground.  During the week, Alexa had also talked about how much she misses him and told Ms. Suzie of her plan to bring his photos for Show-and-Tell.  Alexa also confirmed that she was going to tell Ani all about Granty as she gets older.  Ms. Suzie wrapped up our conversation with one of the best things I could possibly hear, "She really remembers him, and he is going to live on through her." :)

It would be easy to downplay the relationship between Alexa and Grant; afterall, she was only three years-old, and Granty was just shy of his six-month birthday when he passed away.  Giraffes and song aside, there is a bond between Alexa and Granty that I won't ever be lucky enough to be privy, but the knowledge that it exists is more than enough for me.  I cannot wait to hear her share the stories with Ani....

The last pics of these two...
there's no denying the love.