Motherhood, 4 Kids & Partial Nudity

My youngest child is 10 years old TODAY!!!

He will always be the baby.

It won’t matter if he is 45 years old.

He will still be the baby.

I have a story for you guys about the kids today.

It’s about all 4 of my children.

My firstborn was a son.  He looked like the Gerber baby.  Because he was born before the advent of digital cameras, I don’t have any baby pictures of him to put on the blog.  Sorry.

Sorry for the blurry pic….  This my first born when he was 2 years old

But I was told, over and over, that I personally possessed the spitting image of the Gerber Baby.

Little old ladies would come running across grocery stores just to look at his face.

I think when it’s your child you just don’t see it.  He was my first child and I was trying to figure out motherhood and before he was 10 months old I found out I was expecting his sister.

So, I was dealing with 2 in diapers, nursing a new born and chasing an 18 month old around the house.  I was busy, but my firstborn continued to attract attention because of his face.

Like any good mother, I took my babies to the professional photographer for those silly photo shoots at different intervals.  Our favorite place to capture these milestones was MotoPhoto.   Every year they had a baby contest & if you put your child in their nationwide photo contest you got a free photo shoot & some pics of your children at no charge.

Because I’m cheap – I always opted for the contest and the free photos.  I have 4 children – I think they are all pretty cute.  But only one of them continued to win nationwide photo contests & send random people running across rooms…. my firstborn.

We jokingly would refer to him as, “Gorgeous child.”

My second child was a baby girl.

She was born with more hair than I have ever seen on a baby.  Not only was she born with a ridiculous amount of hair for a newborn, it was jet black.  My husband and I were both blondes as children.  Her astounding amount of jet black locks made her look like an Indian Princess.  No, we did not call her, “Indian princess.”

We affectionately decided that she was our “Little Monkey.”

Just to recap:

We now have “Gorgeous Child” and “The Monkey.”

Number 3 came along and it was another girl.  This one had no hair.  None at all.  She was bald until she was 3 years old.  Actually, she wasn’t bald, but her hair was so white you couldn’t see it.

When her hair was wet it was clear.  My brother (thought he was hilarious) and asked me every time he saw her if she was an albino.  No.  She’s not an albino, she’s just blonde.  Really blonde.

She was a tiny thing.  Underweight for her height and began walking when most children start crawling.  Walking soon turned to climbing.  Climbing soon turned to trying to die.  She would climb anything in existence.  This child could get herself on top of anything.  Tables, counters, cars, you name it.

She lovingly became known as, “our little Billy Goat.”

Over the years we have never forgotten her early days when she was part goat.

My last child was born and it was brutal.  He was the biggest of all my babies.  He weighed 9 pounds 3 ounces & tried to kill us both on the way out.  It was rough.  We both looked like we had been hit by a truck the day he arrived.  Ugh.

He started out big and grew like mad.

He was a joy to have.  He was quiet.  He was laid back.  He was easy.

When you have 3 older children the 4th child provides entertainment for everyone.

He was my cutie & we all loved him.

My 4th child grew and grew.  I never thought much about his face (he never won a contest or sent a person across a grocery store).

Number 4 is kinda known for his indecent exposure.  I’m not sure what happened, but this particular child has been difficult to keep clothed.  He has been the only one of our 4 children to spend his entire known life on our farm.  The other 3 started life in civilized, suburban neighborhoods.

Our 4th, and last, is like some sort of wild, uncivilized, wood-dwelling, bush child.

I don’t know if it was that he didn’t HAVE to wear clothing, or that he didn’t want to wear clothing, or that he lived in the middle of nowhere & no one cared if he wore clothing.

He’s just always partially nude.

We laugh anytime we go to the pool because that’s the only time you’ll see him in a shirt.  Really, he hates sunblock and if wearing a swim shirt keeps him from being doused in sunscreen – he’ll wear it.  Anywhere else on the planet, he’s half naked.  At the pool, he’s fully clothed.  Hilarious.

I can’t explain it.  I try to get him in clothing.  I do.  He starts every day dressed.  I promise.  By lunch I’m lucky if he’s wearing pants.  Even when it’s cold out.  The boy has something against clothing.  Good grief.

So, it was spring.  One of those weird spring days when there is snow on the ground because it hasn’t all melted yet, but it’s sunny and warm because…… it’s spring.

It didn’t matter that the ground was covered in snow –

my 4th child was running around half dressed….

We had someone come out to do some bobcat work that day.  I was chatting with him about the scope of the project when my youngest child cruised by wearing …… a pair of jeans & not much else.

I apologized to Mr. Bobcat & that’s when he said,  “I believe that’s the best looking kid I’ve ever seen.”

Huh?

He’s naked.

He’s insane.

He’s a complete goofball.

I was stunned.  I never really thought about it.

As a mommy I am usually looking at hearts and obedience and character and vanity and pride and other qualities that need addressing in my children.  Not their faces.

The day Mr. Bobcat told me that #4 was good looking kinda caught me off guard.   I chuckled.

Later that day I shared with my older children what Mr. Bobcat had said about their younger brother.

This is when my oldest daughter chimed in ……

And I Quote:

OK, Mom……. so the 2 boys are:

• GORGEOUS CHILD &
• THE-BEST-LOOKING-KID-I’VE-EVER-SEEN-IN-MY-LIFE…….

AND we are:

• THE GOAT……….. & THE MONKEY

Happy 10th Birthday, Buddy!

Mommy loves you bunches!

XO