Friday Night Family Heirlooms: My Baby Book

My Baby Book

While cleaning out my family trunk, I discovered my baby book. I actually  had forgotten that I even had one until I found it just recently. What a pleasant surprise to re-discover!

My Baby Book!

My first DNA was still even there – taped to the inside of the book’s cover. Mama saved a few clippings of my first haircut at three months and secured it in the book. My first haircut was in July of 1952.

My first hair cut!

I laughed at the “shower page” – as mama wrote “I got many nice things.”  When I asked her if she remembered and could she elaborate, she said “I received many cute dresses for you, that’s the only thing people gave back then, not like today.” I also was given a silver cup and bracelet by Mrs. Rhodes and a baby ring by my great uncle John William Gossett. I still have all three!

My silver baby cup!  It didn’t look as nice until hubby cleaned it and pounded out many of the dents. Seems I must have banged it quite a bit!!!

Mama had it in her head that she wanted me to share her birthday of April 6th and went to the hospital on that day – telling them she wanted her baby born today; they sent her right home, and ten days later I was born. On the day before I arrived, Mama cleaned the entire house, top-to-bottom; when my grandmother arrived, she yelled at her to stop doing all that work and my grandparents took her to the hospital – she had been in labor all day but continued to clean.

My footprints!

Dr. Tracy W. Middlebrook’s  delivered me on April 16th, a Wednesday at 1:40 a.m. at the Minnie G. Boswell Memorial Hospital in Greensboro, Georgia.I was born; I kept mama up late that night. I weighed in at 6 lb’s, 14 oz. – length was 18 inches.

She wrote that I was born with a full head of black hair – what happened to that? In my book mama writes how cute I was – Awe! Also written “Jeanne is two months old now and trying to coo; she laughs and gets mad if you don’t talk to her. I made her a sun-suit today.” It seems mama sewed for me from an early age!

My first bottle was on day 2 and the formula recipe she used was – 5 oz. powdered milk, 10 oz. water and 2 tablespoons Karo  white syrup. Gee, I wonder how that tastes? I might just have to make that one day and have a taste test! Why can’t we make formula today instead of buying all that expense formula? Are there really enough vitamins pumped in it to make it worthwhile and more healthy than what I grew up on? My daughter was quite intrigued seeing an actual recipe for baby formula and going to ask her pediatrician about it.

At two months old I was already drinking fruit juice – we don’t give fruit juice at that early age today. She also gave me pablum from one week old! The pediatrician’s don’t tell you to feed cereal now until they are sitting up and able to swallow in an upright position. Maybe we slept all night having cereal at that young age!

The “Important Day’s” page was…”I took Jeanne most anywhere now, she has been going every since she was six weeks old. She likes to ride in the car.” I laughed at that one – made me sound like a dog – she was taking me for a ride! She wrote about taking me to visit Miss Donah Brown and Polly Bryan (married to Great Uncle Charlie Bryan) and Miss Katie Walker, she was her best friend’s mother.  Mama often spent the day with Miss Brown – she had no children and loved for mama to bring me so she could hold and play with me.

I turned over on my back for the 1st time on a Friday, August 8th, crawled at around five months, and later on November 15th, I sat up alone and a few days later pulled myself up to stand. Sitting up alone at age seven months sounds a little early to me, but who knows.

I progressed to walking as I held onto things and finally walked at around one year old while we were in Rusty Morgan’s furniture  store – where my father worked. Mama says I was walking around holding onto the furniture when I just let go and walked all by myself in front of them.

About that time in the book, mama’s written words end! Like many of us – we fall off the wagon – too busy caring for the baby. You mean to, and want to, but so much to do!