"Wes, what did you do in Pre-K yesterday?" I glanced in the rear-view mirror at my five-year-old grandson strapped into his booster seat in the back as I drove him across town.

"I didn't have it. We went to the base!"

"You did? With your daddy?" I asked.

I knew June had been out of town that Monday, so I wasn't sure what the arrangements had been. 

"Yes! I caught a sunfish!" he said.

"Wow, you did? That's awesome! Did Rose catch a fish too?"

"No, she didn't catch any. Do you know the bad thing about sunfish? They eat other fishes' eggs, then there aren't so many fish," he said.

"Wow, I didn't know that, Wes." I said.

"Dad won a cake contest! He made your birthday cake."

"Really? The almond sheet cake he brought for my party, he made that again? I know he said it was a new recipe. I'm not surprised he won, that cake was delicious," I said, my tastebuds watering at the memory.

"You can get that bike out of your garage, because I can ride a two-wheel bike!"

"You can? You learned to ride a big bike all by yourself?" I asked.

"Yep!"

"Oh boy, that's great! That bike that we got from a garage sale might need some work on it, I'll have to make sure Silly Grandpa fixes it so you can ride it at our house."

This little conversation with Wes made me happy on so many levels.

First, the fact that he was so happy he caught a fish. I had a little boy named Caleb (Wes' daddy) that would have felt the same.

Second, the fact that he was so proud of his daddy winning the cake contest. I was proud of his daddy too, and this was the first I had heard about a cake contest. I was glad he had so much fun on this "take your kids to work" day.

Third, that he wanted to tell me he could ride his two-wheel bike all by himself. 

But the main thing I was thankful for was I could understand him! Wes has trouble saying his "S" and "R" sounds, among others, so he has been in speech therapy for over a year, and he's made so much progress. 

When I watched both of the kids on my one day a week, Rose would frequently "translate" for me if I didn't understand what Wes was saying. 

Last year, when Rose went to kindergarten and Wes and I were on our own, I had some struggles. I remember not being able to understand a certain word and he said, "Oh just forget it." That broke my heart. I want to know what's going on in that little brain of his.

So I am thankful that Caleb takes Wes to his speech class in Newton each week, even though it is horribly inconvenient. After his session, Caleb drives Wes to Wichita so Grandma Donna can watch him, then Caleb drives to Salina to his job at the Smoky Hill Bombing Range.

I'm so thankful that I get this time with Wes. Since Rose was born six years ago, Dave has arranged our schedules so I can have a day to spend with my grandkids. It's been wonderful to see them on a regular basis, and I can't believe it has gone so fast. Grandkids grow in hyper-speed.