Memories...

My kids have been asking a lot about what they were like as babies and toddlers...and we have been laughing pretty hard about some of their antics...here's a little trip down memory lane for you...

Jake was a nightmare. He cried all the time. One day on the way to the mall with Tammy, after listening to him cry all day, we realized it was silent. We were shocked. Literally, we didn't know what to do. But, good news, we figured it out because the not crying only last 10 minutes.

One day, Nana and Papa and Kristin and I don't know who all else watched Jake for me when he was a tiny infant. He screamed the whole time. After awhile, Kristin looked at him and said, "so sad fatso, so sad."

I used to drive Cameron Larsen and Brett to school in the morning sometimes. When Cameron would get in the back seat, Jake used to start screaming and frantically trying to bust out of his car seat. He didn't react to anyone else like that...just Cameron...and Cameron is such a nice kid!

Jake used to wake up at the crack of dawn. Having nothing better to do, I started taking him on walks around the neighborhood. He cried a lot of the time, but sometimes I could get him to quit by having him count the basketball hoops. Thankfully there were a lot of them. He could shoot a perfect shot by the time he was 2~Later when I walked with Lisa Peacock, he would scream most of the way still. It was mortifying and I thought that the neighbors would think I was abusing him or something.

Jake had a huge crush on his Aunt Katie. He loved to sit next to her or on her lap or just be near her. Justin used to mess with him and sit by her and hold her hand and Jake would get nuts!

Jake didn't like stuffed animals in his room as a baby. I would mess with him by putting one in. At naptime, when he would realize there was one in there, he would open the door, chuck the animal out, and shut the door. When I asked him why he did that, he said, "he was yooking at me." A la la la.\

Jake used to like to make up songs. He would sing mostly about basketball...

When Jake was in preschool, they used to have various members of the community come and visit (firefighters, policemen, dentists, etc.) Jake called them "visitors" and he DID NOT LIKE THEM. He refused to sit with the other kids and listen. Instead, he had to go with the teacher's aid, as far from the "visitor" as possible. Every day he would ask if a "visitor" was going to be there. He was terrified of them.

Carter wasn't allowed to have anything in his room besides his bed; nevertheless, he managed to break a second story window and then throw the shards of glass against the bunkbed and laugh hysterically at the noise it was making.

Carter's passie had to go at a year because it was giving him a rash. When we were anywhere near a baby with a passie, he would walk up, take it out of their mouth, put it in his and take off.

One Sunday, Justin and Katie were in town and we were at Carrie and Marks for something (baby blessing?). Katie and Justin had to leave and Carter when running down the street after them and asked Katie if she would remember him...

Katie was helping Carter get dressed after swimming one day and he asked Katie..."Katie, do you were underwear too?" When Katie said that she did, Carter replied, "big ones?"

Carter would fall asleep immediately as an infant if you would burrito him and put his passie in...

I could take Carter anywhere in a stroller for any amount of time and he would just sit and smile the whole time...

When we lived in our UCLA apt., I found Carter playing in the oven, standing on top of our computer desk, and various other dangerous and crazy places. So, we had to turn the door handles around on both doors and lock them from the living room side and put a gait up in front of the kitchen. He was confined to a space about 14 feet by 20 feet....

I knew it was time to switch rooms when I found Carter and Bella in their room playing "the naked game." No idea what that is...but we switched right then...

Bella has a dora pillow case. She only likes it one way, with the head and face facing the right way. When I would put her to bed, I would turn it the wrong way and mess with her. She ALWAYS noticed and turned it the right way.

When Bella's hair grew in, it was very whispy and stuck straight up...when it finally grew up, Somebody (she who shall not be named) asked me if they could cut my daughter's mullet. The nerve of some people!

Bella has always had a strong personality, and so does her cousin Camille. At a family vacation when they were 3 or 4, one of them bit the other one and the other one bit back and neither has bitten again!

Bella was wearing a red shirt and khaki capris to school one day at kindergarden. The teacher said Bella, you look like you work at Target. Without missing a beat, Bella turned to the girl next to her and said rolling her eye, "Like a kid could work at Target."

Malia is the only kid I have who actually liked naps and would ask for them. That didn't stop until about a year ago...oh, the beauty of a good napper.

I went back to school when Malia was 3 months old. She wouldn't take a bottle. I left her at Nana's house. One day a week, my lab was hours long. Not once, did she ever wake up during that lab class. A serious miracle...

Malia started stealing my diet cokes when she was less than a year old. I have a picture of her drinking out of a jumbo sipper when she was barely walking...Smart girl.

Malia really believed she was going to get married to Preston Minnick at family camp last year. She even asked me to go get her a wedding dress.

Malia's favorite thing to bring on our morning walks (still with Lisa!) was her blankie (old blankie and new blankie) and books...She still loves books!

None of my kids would eat bread (AT ALL) until they were at least kindergarden age and even now, they are not huge fans of it. WEIRD.

Okay, now I have some in print...before my brain gets too foggy and I totally forget about everything funny...