~1st entry’s Explanation -2

Colic for 1st 3 months; -Nathan Cried and Cried and Cried unless he was eating, or sleeping, and some times was content to not cry (very Rare). My Gosh I can recall one time as we ate Dinner having the Baby rocker seat on the Table and him just screaming his head off. We just looked at each other and shook our heads.. He definitely was NOT anything like his Sister who was SO Content. Nothing but food seemed to comfort him. He hated to be held close, he would push away. When we took him for a 2 month Checkup, he Screamed through the entire Check up. And the Doctor had to practically shout! He told us it was Colic… WELL, It was great to have a name for it now. (I also wonder now if maybe he wasn’t getting enough to eat. He was a HUGE baby. But the Doctor knew what I fed him and never suggested we increase that.) At about 3 months he discovered his thumb. My Gosh what Night and Day! That thumb was a Life Saver for us all! Now I never wanted the kids to suck their thumbs cause I did till I was 21.. VERY HARD Habit to stop. I have smoked and had a drinking Problem, and Cussed, and stopping those things were not hard compared to stopping Sucking that Thumb. Sarah took the Pacifier so the Thumb was never an Issue with her. Nathan always spit the Pacifier out.

“Fooey!”; -This is another Sesame Street Phase. I can’t recall for sure who said it.. I think maybe Ernie or Bert. But Nathan used it all the time when things didn’t work out as he hoped. I think Sarah said it too. Age 2-5

Don’t hit me Titter!”; -We always referred to Sarah as “Sister”.. “Go get your Sister”, “Be Nice to your “Sister”, “Tell your Sister…….” Etc. So that’s what he seemed to think her name was. He couldn’t say “S” words. So it was “Titter”. We have that on Tape. Nathan was almost 2 years old and the kids were in the background playing in the Sandbox. We set up the Video Camera and was filming them play. We were periodically out there. During one of the times we were not out there Nathan was digging in to a Place that Sarah was playing in. She asked him to stop. He would not so she walloped him 3 times. He started to cry and said in his sweet little voice… “Stop it Titter”. It is soooo Cute to hear that on the Tape.

Couldn’t Walk & Eat at the Same Time; -Everytime we went to that Foodland in England, we would all get a Candybar and eat it on the walk back home. He just could not eat and keep up with us. So the walk back was SO slow.

“I’m not a Crybaby, I’m a Girl!”; -Oh this was SO Funny! And it really is too bad we don’t have this on Film… Now we didn’t call our kids Crybaby. We weren’t into belittling them. BUT… A couple of times Sarah was whiney over something and we Very jokingly said to her, “Cry Baby” Not really knowing what that meant she would say, “I’m not a Crybaby, I’m a girl!” So one day, Nathan did started whining about something and we jokingly said, “Crybaby” He returned with “I’m not a Crybaby, I’m a Girl!!!” We laughed so hard. Sarah laughed so hard. It really is a Shame we don’t have that on Tape. It was just Excellent!

Walking at 16 Months; -As Nathan grew he would never bare any weight on his legs. When we would stand him up his legs would scissor. Typically when you stand a baby up they bare weight on their legs. He refused to. At 10 month the Doctor had him Tested. And I had to have some sort of test too. They placed this needle at the back of my hand by my thumb and moved it around and it showed various things. They were thinking that in my family we had some sort of Weakness. They thought that Nathan might have Multiple Sclerosis. We were to come back in a month for the results. But in that month, Nathan started pulling hisself up in his Crib. Then at 14 months he started to hold on to things and walk around the room. At 16 months he took his first step. I took a Picture of him doing this. He was SO excited and happy, which of course made him fall.
All along I had no worries about Nathan Standing or walking. I told the Doctors that I was about 16 months or so when I started walking and that he was just going to be slow like me. And in this seemed to be the Case.

Your Bear-Bear; -This was actually the only Stuffed Animal that Nathan could have. My good Friend gave me this homemade bear. It had arms and legs and head that turned. Nathan wasn’t into tearing things apart, so I didn’t have to worry about that. And the eyes and nose were things that couldn’t be bite off. We called it, “Bear Bear” He loved that thing.

Atwater, CA; -Nathan was born in Atwater, California, Merced County on Castle Air Force Base. We lived there till Nathan was 18 Months. Atwater is located 10 miles north of Merced and about 120 miles South of Sacramento.

Eating a Mushroom from the lawn, Loving the Ipecac & Waiting for the Outcome; -My Gosh this kid was FAST in everything he did. Everything went to the mouth! I had to make sure the house was free from little things that could go in mouths. He was 7 months at the time. We were living in Basehousing at the time. My friend and I took the kids outside to play. We sat down on the grass, and as soon as we did, I spotted a Mushroom, but Nathan spotted it a second before me, and grabbed and put it in his month so fast! The moment he did that I got it right out. But I still called the Poison Control. They wanted me to give him the Ipecac. So I gave it to him and he drank it right down and wanted more! My friend laughed at the way he drank that stuff, and laughed knowing what the outcome would be and yet knowing that Nathan didn’t know what was in-store for him.. Poor little guy! Anyway all all turned out well.

~to be Continued~