Here’s an photo array of Leila living the good life, courtesy of proud parents and grandparents over these last months. Enjoy…

Leila has been introduced as the newest, smartest, most gorgeous/promising/kindest/loudest/healthiest/sweetest addition to the families Magalong, Salfity, Neset, and Klotzback in many years. The introduction was last February and it’s only gotten better. I, of course, am speaking as a great-grandmother and we can apply these superlatives with great honesty based on the happiness we feel for all involved…but sadly also, with a great sense of distance. In my case, 87 years of distance.

Even though Leila may look just a little alarmed here, we must remember she’s being raised by very serious responsible people…who seem to believe they are astronauts. Maybe they’ve been too long in Elon’s town?

I’ve had the pleasure of a few days in her company but tiny babies are fragile strange little creatures to me, so while most admiring, I’m afraid I wasn’t very hands on. Actually she seems to be already be developing a view that it’s the world that’s the strange place and she is happy to fit right in…

As I’ve mentioned before, my goal is to live until she’s seven years old because I believe she’ll basically be the Leila, the forever person by then. Much will change naturally as she grows, experiencing new people, places, situations, but not the core human being. So, if we can hang out a bit in these next years, I’ll truly know her. In the meantime………..

I’m greatly looking forward to the process of knowing her as much as I can. I won’t be babysitting and she won’t be spending summers on the farm with me but with plenty of books, notebooks, and magic markers, basically haunting Barnes&Noble and office supply stores, we can be good friends, can’t we? I keep bringing up books and papers because I can’t swim, take her to the zoo or Paris, or teach her to drink kids’ coffee (well, maybe the latter….)

She is anticipating Kids’ Coffee.