| 9/7/74 | Born at 6:59 PM after a short labor. 6lbs 14oz. Papakura Maternity Home. Dr G.S. Purvis.
Can't remember what names we had been considering, but after seeing him it was decided that Tevita fitted, so he became "Te".
But to all our Pakeha friends he was "David". |
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| 17/7/74 | Brought home to 29 South Street. |
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| Sept 74 | "big smiles when he is eating". |
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| Oct 74 | Gail back to teaching, so I bring David to Mary Benson each morning. |
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| 17/12/74 | "David opened a bread bag and took out a piece to suck". |
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| 22/12/74 | "Went to Orua beach with Larks. David enjoyed eating the black sand". |
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| 28/12/74 | "David fell from top of speaker box onto his back...later in the evening he amazed us by playing his piano with his feet". |
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| 1975 |
| 1/4/75 | "likes to stand, hanging onto the sewing machine case". |
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| 11/1/75 | "He has learnt to sit up from a sprawl and loves to stand in the crib and watch the tape reels go round".
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| 6 months | 16 lbs 14 oz. |  |
| 19/1/75 | "Definitely crawling - no problems". |  |
| 10/2/75 | Next door neighbor, Lusi Mariasoucce, begins babysitting David. |
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| 27/2/75 | Patticake |
| 19/3/75 | 1st tooth breaks through |
| 30/3/75 | Chocolate egg for Easter |
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| 1/4/75 | Zoo. "He was more interested with fences and the leather strap on the hired stroller".
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| 4/5/75 | "'Stole' a banana at the fruit store". |
| 6/5/75 | Fiji. Slept first night at Woodward's in a dressor drawer placed into a closet. |
| 14/5/75 | David learns to wave “goodbye”. |
| 21/5/75 | Hawaii. "He had his first red licorice and liked it. He can get off bed now." |  |
| 24/5/75 | On flight from Hawaii John Denver gave David his son's (Zach) plastic lei. |  |
| 26/5/75 | David turns blue after swimming in motel pool in San Fransico then runs a 103.8°F fever.
Memorial weekend and doctors on strike. So cancel rest of trip and fly directly to Mpls. |
| 19/6/75 | Stands. |
| 25/6/75 | "sings whenever the radio is on". |
| 9/7/75 | First Birthday. Wading pool from Towns. Toys and clothes from Grandma Eva.
Hand-made sweater from Pat Alderson. |  |
| 22/7/75 | “David got into the paint thinner and thinks paint is food”. |
| 24/7/75 | “David had his first sucker and loved it”. |
| 27/7/75 | Picnic at Pioneer Village in Montevideo, MN. |
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| 13/8/75 | David brings me everything in my den whether I want it or not. |
| 24/8/75 | Uncle Chris won a red bull at a State Fair concession, which he gave to David. |
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| 13/9/75 | Dawson, MN. "David kept wandering off down the alley. He can unlatch the gate now". |
| 16/9/75 | "...spent most of the time washing batteries from the radio". |
| 17/9/75 | "David kissed me goodnight - but I don't think he knew what it meant, he was so serious". |
| 25/9/75 | David stops using bottles and moves onto cups. |
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| 4/10/75 | "David got Gail and I up to dance with him during 'Hee Haw' ". |
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| 7/10/75 | "David cut his first molar and knows where his teeth are". |
| 8/10/75 | "David stuck a key into a power point... He walks, with help, down the stairs". |
| 31/10/75 | Halloween. David a magician, complete with mustache. He was frightened by a ghost when we took him out to some trick or treating. |
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| /11/75 | "He tried to empty the toilet bowl with his tennis shoe". "He can say 'up' ". |
| 6/11/75 | David crawls into kitchen sink and turns water on - so I of course got the camera. |
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| 12/11/75 | David's first snow experience. |
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| 13/11/75 | David tries to empty toilet bowl using his tennis shoe. |
| /12/75 | While Mom and Dad were in Florida, Grandma Joyce took David to a barber and he lost all of his beautiful, curly locks. |
| 25/12/75 | David gets a Fisher-Price safarii train set from Uncle Chris. |
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| 1976 |
| 10/1/76 | 29 King Edward. "David loves to run around in circles through the kitchen and livingroom. He tripped and got a big goosebump on his forehead when he came down on the fireplace surround". |
| /2/76 | When Gail burns toast she tosses it out for the birds. But the birds have to get up pretty early to beat Te to it, eh?
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| 29/2/76 | "David continues to be a joy. He loves to throw rocks into our fish pond and has recently discovered that the wood piled up for winter fires floats very nicely.
Just starting to get hints that the words are forthcoming from him. He can count to ten and can get to "D"." |
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| 20/3/76 | He taught himself how to use scissors. He can put a jigsaw puzzle together.
"He has a mouth full of teeth and has reached a high level of understanding even though he is weak in communicating verbally.
Fingernail clippers are no trouble. He is mechanically minded and has manual dexterity of a high order.
Even though he is a very good boy we still have to keep an eye on him or he is in things exploring to his heart's content.
One of his daily chores is to put out the milk bottles.So far he has broken two, so I carry the bottles most of the time and he puts the tokens into them. Whenever he wants to get away from us he runs and hides under his cot and when he goes there we don't force him out no matter what, so he'll feel he has a safety zone. He still isn't very big but is very muscular.
But most of all he is a clown and we have tremendous fun everyday". |
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| 19/4/76 | "He is very tidy and neat. He loves watermelon. Going without a nap these days". |
| 20/4/76 | Zoo II. "liked the polar bear best". |
| 26/4/76 | We put in sandbox off the back deck. He didn't want to get out the first day, next day when I came home I found sand all over the house. |
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| 28/4/76 | "Gave him 2 crayons and he coloured all the boxes in my room and the rug". |
| 14/5/76 | David went to see the Wombles at Southmall with the Joneses. |
| 14/6/76 | He said: 'telephone'. |
| 9/7/76 | Birthday. "Gail made a cake shaped like a train.
Rhani (Alderson's dog) brought David's gift (blocks) in around her neck. Rugby ball from Sanders. Sea plane from Breezes.
Airplane and books from Grandma Eva. We gave him a broom. Womble toys from Dicksons. Pat taught David how to say '2' with a swing of his arm, so now he does it all the time." |
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| 22/7/76 | "Watched Nadia Comaneci get 5 perfect 10s at the Olympics, so David decided to learn to do sommersalts". |
| 24/7/76 | David can put his pants on now. |
| 21/8/76 | Pookoo = 'Peek-a-Boo' |
| 28/8/76 | He can read the words 'Mommy' and 'Daddy'. |
| 28/8/76 | “David had chicken pox and we didn't even know it. I was suspicious but Gail thought it was fleas as he only had spots in certain areas rather than all over. He is a bit of a bully.
There are two friends that Gail visits and both have boys older and bigger than David. Both boys hide in fear when they know that David is in the same house.” |
| 3/9/76 | "He is as happy as ever. I love to clown around with him. About the only thing that he fears is fire and electricity". |
| 3/10/76 | "David smacks his hand and says 'Naughty' when caught doing wrong". |
| 30/10/76 | "David is suffering with his last two molars and is keeping us up most nights. David never causes any trouble and does what he is told and in fact is very self-reliant, so that he rarely has to be told what to do.
Give you an example: What two year old do you know who will bathe him/herself. Tell David (or rather ask him) to take a bath.
He needs a little help with removing his clothes, but he can get into the tub, put the mat down, put the plug in, turn the water on, play with his toys, wash, put his toys back, pull the plug and roll the mat back up....
and in the meantime we can be in the livingroom watching TV. He isn't very good at drying himself yet, but what can you expect???". |
| 6/11/76 | Te took off on his trike and (again) we found him on the corner on his way to the store. |
| 7/11/76 | "He likes to say 'MY' but is not overly possessive. He is very polite when asking for something. His chin is about 2" above our kitchen table. Gail says he is tall". |
| 13/11/76 | Pukeware farm for a gala. There was a hovercraft zooming over a paddock. David thought first it was a lawnmower and then decided it was a boat. |
| 14/11/76 | "David says 'Doin there Dad?' a lot and his eyes have turned hazel. He is getting uppity and gets on the verge of throwing tantrums if he doesn't get his way". |
| 25/11/76 | Gail had a Tupperware party, 10 women came. I couldn't convince Te that he was not a lady and didn't belong in the lounge. So he threw a tantrum, the first I ever seen from him. |
| 28/11/76 | "Whenever I belch David pats me on the back and says 'Oh, dear' ". |
| 15/12/76 | "A box (from Eva) arrived with a wagon in it. David got scissors and was trying to open it - kept saying 'Big book' ". |
| 24/12/76 | Christmas gift highlights: 2 wagons, many Tonka trucks, Fisher-Price safarii jeep set and Lincoln logs. |
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| 28/12/76 | "Gail's got a band-aid on her big toe, so Te just brought me a band-aid claiming that he had an ouwie, so I thought 'this'll be good' and sure enough he claimed to have one on his big toe too. So now he has a band-aid just like mom and they limp around the house together". |
| 29/12/76 | Universal Book store clerk told Te not to play with the typewriters and he got all upset. |
| 31/12/76 | Te spits at us when he is upset. He carried Ne from crib to kitchen today. |
