May 14, 2007

• Monday Memories

  I would like to remember the thoughts I had when I first "met" each of my children and my impressions of them as the grow (have grown) up.

  Stephanie:  The first baby I ever held.  She looked incredibly like her father.  She had the most perfectly shaped head and lips as a baby.  Her toes and fingers were pretty and she had beautiful nailbeds, and still does . . . something she DIDN'T inherit from me!  She inherited some of my facial features and definitely my expressions.  She's always loved animals and, like me, has developed a taste for luxury lotions and candles!!!  As she grew older (teenager) she began to look so much like me.  A few years ago, I saw a picture of us standing side by side in a group and silently thought, "Well, I don't look so bad for my age.  But, who's that older woman standing next to her?"  Yes!  *I* was the older woman and she was heavier because she was 9 months pregnant!!!!!!!!!!

  Nikki:  Dark hair like her father and brown eyes like almost everyone else in the family.  She is the quietest child I've ever seen.  She's always tiptoed, doesn't bang doors or cabinets, and is so quiet she has scared me so many times by walking into a room only to watch me scream and jump out of my skin!  She's developed the most delightful, low-tone speaking voice.  When I talk with her on the phone, she is hard to tell apart from my younger sister, Nancy.  Her speaking pitch, tempo, and enunciation are so much like Nancy's.  She has some unique sayings that have been mimicked by others in our immediate family.  The way she says (through clenched teeth), "Da-addddd!"  or her impression of my (very old) cat Jesse-boy.  She makes fun of his horrible old-man meow by using her best scratchy voice to say, "Jaaaaaaasse-booooooooy!"  Now, everyone else copies her!

  Annamarie:  She looked just like Dora the Explorer!  Big round cheeks, cute little body, dark hair with bangs and hair that hung over her ears.  She resembles her Auntie JoJo in facial features, although we are frequently asked if she is Hawaiian.  As she began to speak, she mimicked everything I said and made me giggle.  She is my most considerate child and always worried about what she can do to make someone else feel good.  VERY sensitive and kind.  Also, she has the most even temperament I've ever been around.  She wakes up in a friendly mood!  Although, it takes her forever to wake up - just like me!  She is so thoughtful and sensitive to others and their feelings.  She would be a perfect caretaker and massage therapist!  Like Nikki, she gives a great massage.  She's a natural. 

  Marissa (Rissy):  For the first few months there wasn't a smile on her face!  She was so extremely serious.  Huge brown eyes that studied every move I made and every word I spoke.  It was the longest time before she would respond with more than slightly curled corners of her lips.  Itsy bitsy little thing - and still is, but more long and skinny, now  She was always a couple sizes behind her age in clothing.  She looks most like my baby pictures than the other children.  She has beautiful full lips (I don't) but her turned up nose is like me, as well as her coloring.  She has her dad's personality - a tease DE-luxe!  Her dad says she is a little Cher' in miniature!  She is very observant and bright.  She comes up with the funniest observations and things to say and her timing is always perfect to make us belly laugh.  She has a giggle and laugh that is so catching, she turns heads anywhere we go and makes others laugh.  She's the most self-motivated and the strongest willed child, which IS much like me.  She almost died at birth, and we were given a bad report of how she would probably be nothing more than a "vegetable" IF she lived.  (Can you believe people would really tell that to a parent?)  Our current pediatrician attributes her success in life to her huge motivational drive.

  Adrienne (Luci):  Huge!  A big, solid, dead weight baby with a big, round, almost bald head and big marble-like, round, brown eyes.  She reminded me of a little eskimo baby from my history books - all she was missing was the fur hood!  Another one that wasn't quick to smile.  Unlike Rissy, Luci was two sizes ahead of herself in clothing from early on and still is!  As a baby, she became attached to me more than any of the other children.  She has perfectly shaped eyebrows and HAD perfectly shaped lips until she and the brick hearth met, tearing a huge hold into her lower lip.  Now she is "unique!"  She has the most playful eyes and engaging way of expressing herself when she is having fun with someone.  Her smile is infectious.  Her hair is a Shirley Temple mop of curls.  She stands in front of the fireplace with an object in her hand and pretends she is holding a microphone while singing.  She could easily be the next performer in the family!  Has a pretty singing voice and never stops singing!

  It would be interesting for all of my children to write their impressions of me!  Maybe when they are all grown up - which will be a while!

   

  • 4:54 pm
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