Birthday Boy…

First and last children get to be onlies for a couple of years…

if they’re lucky and especially if they’re first and last all in one!

You were lucky!

The oldest of four you spent one-on-one time with Pops and me for two and a half years.  I’d say you were VERY lucky!

You got the best of us, unfrazzoled, undivided and unjaded and since this whole baby raising lark was new to us we made up for our inexperience by making up our own rules and staying out of the can…that grouchy Oscar’s can!

We experimented, had fun, laughed a lot and worried some while we were working things out as parents and we  watched you blaze the trail, sometimes soggily, always charmingly, and with great ambition as you learned the balancing trick of locomotion and the art of parental control by doing that wRap thing around your little finger.

You were and always will be the oldest and boldest who forged the way where no baby had ever been before

-2525 Collins-.

For twenty-nine months you were the centre of Pops and my lives and we all flourished.

Having no fore-runner I dressed you as I wished…

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and…took you out in public looking like Mr. Peppermint’s  son.

We laughed with you when you started getting a tad fussy at feed time, Pops joined you in a bit of male bonding,

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the microwave dinging was the only thing that stopped the racket!

For adventure Rocky Rocking Horse was your steed of choice,

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he didn’t seem to mind you drooling all over his mane and as long as Pops kept one hand firmly on your back, you rode the open plains and protected the house from intruders together.

You were an International traveller long before your siblings were twinkles in you father’s blue eyes.

You went to England to show off your walking skills and your first words,

“Nan, nan, nan, nan, nana,” while toddling across your grandparents’ lounge in London.

You rode the underground, a double decker, a black cab and city train,

visited Hampton Court and posed for the mandatory photo in front of Big-Ben on a blustery September day,

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so that everyone back home knew where you’d been.

Back state-side for your second Christmas at Gloria’s we encountered a slight hiccup when a group photo was staged for the record…as one does when young children are involved.

You were not amused but I managed to hang onto you and my smile while the camera flashed and you flailed!

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I have the names of all the children written in my photo album but I don’t recognize any of the Moms except, of course,

Glori-Oke-doria!

The three of us had fallen into quite a routine with you as our leader.

There were rules you wouldn’t break, like not getting out of your crib once you’d been tucked in

and only eating in the kitchen because Marmite, your favorite spread, made a mess everywhere…

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…especially on faces and crushed strawberry carpets.

I still have the cake stand and Aloysius and I think that’s a digestive biscuit tin in the background (?).

There were lots of other places, besides the counter and the table to eat and we encouraged you to be creative in your choosing.

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A good perch was the top of your piano eating cereal from a Sesame Street cup looking pretty in pink!

I kept up with your height on the wall near the pantry,

your dailies in your calendar and

your milestones in your baby book.

I recorded your events on the Beta video camera and took hundreds of snapshots with my camera, not yet digital, of you doing what you do best, posing in memorable places.

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When Pops was working you’d talk to him at lunchtime on the red ‘gellagone’ whose cord stretched a long, long way,

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even into the living room….those were the days before cordless and cell phones…

Feeling old yet? I know I am!

Your third Christmas was exciting because you knew about presents and had perfected the art of looking smooth in anything I dressed you in!

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It was the festive season after all and we had to look the part in what was to become a tradition,

The Christmas Tree photo!

You still hadn’t had your first taste of chocolate so no sweeties on the tree…yet…

Little did you know this was to be your last nativity without a sibling.

When we finally broke the news that you were going to be a big brother,

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you were so excited you looked as though you were going to wet yourself!  We were very relieved that you were potty trained because the thoughts of double (double, double) diapers was something I could hardly bear thinking about.

You helped us set up the baby crib and tried it out for size and sturdiness,

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and by the time little brother came along we were all old hands at this baby raising lark and had a willing helper and advisor to mess things up.

Then we were four,

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which didn’t phase you in the least even though you had to share the limelight.

You knew how to shine and you knew you had been the best and were now

The Favorite!

As my first child you will always hold a special place in my heart,

thank goodness you were easy otherwise I may have thought twice about having three more!  They owe you big time!

I love you and wish I could give you a big birthday hug today;

I suppose it will have to wait for Thanksgiving.

Until then,

Mumsienne xxxx

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ElRay

2019-10-03 23:23:33 Reply

Oh Gosh! What a world ago, you have such a good memory.

Jenn

2019-10-04 02:01:35 Reply

I love this soooo much!!!

    Vivienne

    2019-10-04 15:29:47 Reply

    I love it too…thank goodness for pictures to jog the memories!

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