Grammy Tanda and I went to a cultural performance with our son and his wife and their daughter. Our granddaughter, baby Isabella, is now 5 1/2 months old.

It was lots of fun; singing and dancing by several groups from Latin America. The problem is that the baby was supposed to be sleeping. There was just way too much excitement for one little girl — with the loud music, interesting movements, and colorful costumes.  So on the way home, she became cranky. Even Grammy singing Isabella’s favorite song wouldn’t calm her down. (She still loves you Grammy.)

Then I remembered I have thousands photos of the family on my Apple iPhone. (I figure it’s a grandparent’s duty to carry around as many bragging photos as possible.) So I said, “lets see what this high-tech grandpa can do!”

I whipped out my iPhone, chose a photo album with cute photos of the grandkids, and put it in slideshow mode. I held it in front of Isabella. She looked at and calmed right down. She was fascinated with all the photos of her cousins! 

Now, the baby is at that stage where she loves reaching for things and grabbing them. She put one hand on each side of my iPhone and held it there, mesmerized by the pictures on the screen. Well, she is also at that stage where her first teeth are starting to come through, and she likes to put things in her mouth. So she started “chewing” on the corner of my iPhone. I gently pulled it away, but she’d seen enough of my slideshow for one evening! She would rather chew on it. We went back and forth for a minute; a power struggle over who would win this high-tech duel! Luckily, we were about home by then.

If your baby is “beautiful and perfect, never cries or fusses, sleeps on schedule and burps on demand, an angel all the time,” you’re the grandma.  ~Teresa Bloomingdale

I’m happy to report that our high-tech grandbaby had a nice warm meal from her mom, and a pleasant night’s sleep. And in case you’re concerned, I’m also happy to report that my iPhone still works, ready to come to the rescue again at a moment’s notice. I love technology!

Keep on smilin’, Shayne

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Our eighth grandchild was born in April. Baby Isabella is a calm, cute, chubby little girl. She is starting to smile and coo more now. It’s amazing how exciting having a new grandchild is. The eighth one is as awesome as the first. It will be especially fun having Isabella and her parents live close by for awhile! Our other seven grandchildren live in three separate parts of the country. But we stay connected in many ways using technology. For example, I showed my son how to easy it is to publish a new online photo album for Isabella on his family website. We love technology that helps connect us together as an extended family!

Grandchildren are the dots that connect the lines from generation to generation. ~Lois Wyse

In upcoming tutorials, we will be showing how to easy it can be to use cool technology to connect with your grandkids. Stay tuned….

Shayne and Tanda Packer