My oldest "baby" turns 31 today! I don't feel old enough to have such an old kid, but I do! I am grateful to Christopher for being the first of my boys to make me a Mommy, and for patiently enduring our everchanging parenting techniques as we raised him. He knows all of our stories and is the center of our earliest ones. My favorite memories of him? Well, he was a cute baby. I used to have a hard time paying attention during church, when he was newborn because of all of his funny faces and noises. Don and I would giggle at him often, earning stares from people around us which made us giggle more. I remember taking him with us to see Close Encounters of a Third kind and standing in the back of the movie rocking him the whole time. Afterwards, I said to Don, "I can't believe I paid $3 for a movie and stood in the back the whole time!" :) Chris had colic, so I spent most of his first five months walking the floor with him at night in our small apartment, so that Don could sleep at night and the neighbors wouldn't knock on the wall. (Many times I was tempted to knock on their wall...and not over a crying baby either!)
Christopher walked at 10 and a half months and said "I love you!" at 11 months! He could sing at 11 months, too, we found out after we finished singing a song, and he was holding the last note! We were astonished at his genius, and we told everyone about it. He carried a little lunch box full of matchbox cars everywhere we went.
He also had a cute little monkey named Junky Monkey and a little ape named "Troubles". We moved the lunch box, Junky Monkey and we thought we moved Troubles when we came across country with Don, Chris and me in the cab of a Uhaul, towing our Chevy Nova. Turns out Troubles had been left at NeNe's house,so he was discreetly mailed to us, and we renamed him "Jumper", since he jumped to our house all the way from NeNe's. Chris never lacked for confidence, except when it came to learning to swim. I peeled him off of me at the Bolling AFB base pool when he was 8, determined for him to get swimming lessons. I'm still convinced it probably took 4 or 5 instructors to throw him into the deep end, but Chris was proudly jumping off of the high dive 3 lessons later. That's the way he did things. The first backpacking trip with the Fairfax Youth Group, though, didn't turn out very well.
I made him carry a LOT of canned food--don't ask me why--a leather jacket, and he wore his Dad's combat boots! They left poor Chris at a wayside somewhere, and Don went and picked him up. I'm surprised that he and his brothers still go on an annual backpacking trip this time every year for Chris' birthday. Surprisingly, I'm not allowed to offer food suggestions.....but they do let me and Don meet up with them at the end.
Chris has always amazed me with his determination to set goals for himself and his ability to inspire his brothers. They are all best friends, especially Chris and Steve. I can't say how happy and grateful I am for their relationship with one another. I don't worry about what will happen to them when Don and I aren't around, because I know they will look after one another.
Thank you for being the first to make me a mother, Chris, the first to give me a daughter-in-law and the first to make me a grandmother. I am honored to be your mom, and I appreciate your patience with me. Remember that when I'm old and pretending to have Alzheimers and moving Dad and me in with you! (I think I promised that to Nathan, though--well, we'll probably move around.) :) Love, Mom
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