I cannot wait to meet this bundle of joy!

Sat Aug 12  2006

HARRIS BLACKWOOD

Columnist

Bi Ba and Little Buddy

It’s not often that a suburban newspaper gets one of those hot inside scoops straight from the gov- ernor’s office.

This week, your award-winning columnist has

done just that. Sometime in December,

Gov. Sonny Perdue and his charming wife, Mary, will wel- come their sixth grandchild into the world.

The couple’s son, the Rev. Jim Perdue of Forsyth County, and his wife, Stephanie, are expecting their second child. Jim Perdue is the pastor of North Cross Baptist Church, which meets on Sundays at North Forsyth High School. Their first, 18- month-old Jake, was delivered by Dr. Clayton Cox at Northeast Georgia Medical Center in Gainesville. He did such a good job that he has been tapped for the gubernatorial grand- child gig for a second time.

Little Jake just may be a political prodigy. The young fellow is six months away from his second birth- day and can already identify political signs and bumper stickers belonging to “Big Buddy.”

For those of you who haven’t heard, “Big Buddy” is the name the governor is called by his grandchil- dren, and also by President Bush. The president thought it was so cool that he mentioned it in a speech.

On the other hand, the governor has a special name for Bush. He calls him “Mr. President.”

Jim tells me that when Jake sees one of Big Buddy’s signs, he says an emphatic “Bi Ba,” which is toddler speak for Big Buddy. We have it on high authority that the “Ba” part is clear and distinct and should never, never, ever be confused with “Big Guy,” the chosen moniker of Lt. Gov. Mark Taylor, who is running against the governor.

The governor told me this week that this early political thing may be genetic in his grandchildren and is hopeful that it will carry on to the new baby.

It first surfaced four years ago at a debate with Perdue’s foe and pred- ecessor, Gov. Roy Barnes.

“We took the twins to the debate,” Perdue said. “When we asked them what Big Buddy was going to do to Governor Barnes dur- ing the debate, they said ‘Beat him like a dwum (drum).’

“Now, Jake is identifying cam- paign signs in front yards and yelling out ‘Bi Ba.’ I guess Proverbs 22:6 is true: ‘Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.’”

Now to make things even more exciting, Jake’s little brother or sister is due to arrive about the same time as Big Buddy’s 60th birthday on Dec. 20.

I spoke this week with Mary Perdue, who is known as “Nana” to her grandchildren (just “Mary” to President Bush). She’s glad to talk about the state and her projects as first lady. But oh, there’s a gleam in her eye when she talks about the grandkids.

Turns out, there is a precedent for shared birthdays in the Perdue crowd. Their youngest son, Dan, was born on the same day as the gover- nor’s father. I know they love them all equally, but if Big Buddy and the new Little Buddy get to have a same-day celebration, it would be a pretty big deal.

“That would just be icing on the cake,” the first lady said.

Mrs. Perdue told me that Stephanie and Jim saw a sonogram this week and the baby is progress- ing just fine. Jake is getting ready for his first “big” job, the one of being “Big Brother.”

“Honestly, I never thought I would enjoy anything more than our own children,” Mrs. Perdue said. “But being a grandparent is definite- ly not overrated. It’s one of those things you can’t quite figure out why it’s so great.”