07 AprJournaling Your Children: Did I Tell You You’re Cute?

January 1, 2004

Glory,

            You are only nine months old now. This is the earliest I have every started on any of my children’s journals. Normally they are about two-years-old when I start. How do you rate? It seems I am much more aware of you as a baby than I was of any of the other children. Maybe I was as fond of the other children as babies, but I just can’t remember. Or maybe it is just because you are so cute. You are so dang cute right now I can’t stand it. I’ve told you that many times. You have a round face with big, dark, round eyes. Your hair is dark with a definite red tint to it. You are a little ragamuffin as you crawl very quickly all over the house. You have two top teeth and two bottom teeth that you show off all the time because you smile so much. When you smile you are so cute I can’t stand it.

            You are the luckiest baby on earth because you have six of the most wonderful brothers and sisters. All of them (except for Jory) carry you around all the time. Jory is just too small. Autumn is almost too small, but she carries you anyway with both of her arms clasped around you, leaning back, and still your toes almost drag on the floor. You don’t seem to mind. You fall asleep in the baby carrier on Tory’s back often when he is babysitting you while playing Rifts with his friends. Everyone is always in your face kissing you and bumping foreheads with you because you are so cute they can’t stand it. You have great patience with all of this grinning and turning away, or bumping foreheads, or slapping at them.

            You love to help me with my jobs. I was under the sink putting in a new faucet and there you were, clinging to me while excitedly watching what I was doing. Of course watching wasn’t enough. You had to grab all my tools or the crusty pieces of hose and suck on them. You did everything you could to get under the sink with me. I had to call for help. Someone would come and take you away and set you down. In a flash I would hear the pat pat of your hands and you came crawling back undeterred.

            You could walk now if you wanted. You have taken several steps many times. But then you decide you could get somewhere faster and with less peril if you just crawled. Did I tell you you are so cute I can hardly stand it?

            You still sleep with your Mom and me in our bed. I’m sure you will like everyone else until you are two or three. You are small now and don’t take up much room. Sometimes you will wake up before me, after your mother is out of bed. You will sit up and coo a little and then plop on me. Then you will lay your cheek on mine and coo some more. I love it.

            I guess it wouldn’t be fair to say that you can’t scream and cry. When you get tired in the evenings and Mom is making dinner and everyone is trying to do something you will get passed around a lot. Then someone will try to put you down, but you will have none of it. You can scream pretty loud. But dang it, you are still so cute I can hardly stand it.

I love you, Dad.

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As I searched for ways to capture the wonderful trivial moments of my children’s lives I found a simple, easy method: once a week I take a few moments to write some brief observations on a child’s life. I’ve done this for all eight of my children. There is nothing special about what I’ve done. I simply sit down and take a few minutes to dump a few details and feelings about a child and what’s been going on in our lives. If it was any harder I wouldn’t have done it (scrap booking anyone?). What I have now is a montage of our lives mostly of things that have long been lost to my memory. I say “our” lives because even though these blurbs are about one of my children, it inevitably catches a picture of me in the reflection. Each Sunday I send my kids one entry from their “journals” and we are reliving our lives together. Anyone can do this. You will find it worth it when your children are gone.

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