When Little Girl was born I started writing those popular monthly letters. “You are getting so big! You are learning how to X! I love you so much!”–you know the drill. (Over on the left there you can find their category.) Then sometime after she turned one the letters stopped materializing, and the notes I would make for them, like this from 21 months:
watches our mouths to see how we say words, starting to repeat what we say a lot, ask what things are
playing with baby doll a lot—checking diaper, feeding it, giving it something to drink
“no” to every question
very independent at the playground, can climb ladders on your own
likes to wear headbands and take them off
stayed notes. But then the lists got to be, somehow, too much work, and I would instead occasionally email myself virtually meaningless, at this remove in time, information, like this: “had a dream, asked for a video in sleep.” What? And these days I don’t even know how many months old she is to begin with (even though I know as of today she has just three months to go until she turns three, the math is way too hard) and have given up the whole enterprise.
I guess I’ll just have to piece together the rest of her childhood from whatever I was complaining about in my blog.
19 May 2009 at 10:24 pm
I had a journal from late pregnancy through about the first year of life. I only kept it because I thought it would be important for her to know what kind of issues I had. And, given my relationship with my mother (which is tolerant and friendly at best, tolerant and irritated at worst), I wanted my daughter to know how much she was wanted and loved. Once I finished the pages in the journal, I stopped writing. This year, I bought another journal, and I write down some things that she does that really make me laugh…like her eclectic taste in music (Rob Zombie, Johnny Cash, Barney, etc).
Of course, in my best passive aggressive manner, I have never filled out her baby book. My sister in law chose one that she liked, rather than the one on my registry. I would have taken it back (since another friend got me the one on my registry!), but I didn’t know where she bought it, and she would have been offended. So, it sits in a drawer…
I think kids will like any kind of information about themselves when they reach a certain age.
20 May 2009 at 12:18 am
I know what you mean. I wrote those letters for A until she was 2, and Boo never got any. Your formula is hilarious–they are all exactly the same! (Mine included.) I tend to skip over them now.
20 May 2009 at 4:58 am
I’ve intended to do these kinds of things. In the past I’ve even made a scrapbook or two, but I can never find the time to make one since I’ve had her. I’ve discovered that I’d much rather use my limited free time for totally selfish endeavors such as reading!
20 May 2009 at 12:09 pm
Shit, you got me beat. I didn’t even write those sappy letters during her first year. I suck.
21 May 2009 at 9:37 am
ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. try having kid #4. i’m not even sure what he was doing last week. i cannot even IMAGINE having like, 8 of them.