| 1977 |
| 1/1/77 | "David likes to sit on the big potty now". |
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| 5/1/77 | Te was watering the garden and loves to spray us.. |
| 7/1/77 | "David was washing himself in the bathroom sink. He had the plug in, had hot water running and when it started to overflow he couldn't turn the water off. I was in the bedroom and he came in and told me: 'Daddy, hot water'. So off I go to see what's up and there is water running out of the bathroom into the back hall. Gail had been using the sponge mop to apply stripper to the walls, so when I began to mop up I created the biggest amount of foam you have ever seen. David thought it was great fun. Same day, he had a great time putting away groceries. We have them delivered and taking the newspaper off packages is just like Christmas to him. He unwraps each one and puts it away or if he can't reach he tells me where it goes and I do it. Cheese gets a big 'Hurrah' ". |
| 19/1/77 | "David: 'There you are' whenever he does something". |
| 21/1/77 | "David can count up to 3". |
| 22/1/77 | "David spits (tries to do a raspberry or a Brooklyn (Bronx??) cheer) when he gets very upset with us. He had a rough month teething and threw a few tantrums. He is a very happy boy now. In fact, he tells us: 'My happy'. He talks now, sentences, changes tense properly etc... He likes to carry Renee from the crib to the kitchen in the morning. Let me put it to you this way, he HAS to carry baby, we can't". |
| 22/1/77 | "David's eye color is still undescribable". |
| 27/1/77 | "Trish and Doug teach David to stick out his thumb and say 'Nice one!' ". |
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| 29/1/77 | "David calls a hedgehog 'hoghog'. He can buckle and unbuckle his sandles, He can unbutton, but not button. David says 'naughty boy' for when someone does something naughty: He doesn't understand the boy bit yet". |
| 5/2/77 | Just the other night David was putting potato chips on a wooden block and then smashing them with the hammer. I figured it was better than having him bash the walls or furniture |
| //77 | "David does talk and he is so cute in his mannerisms which go along with the verbal mutilation. The family was down watching my team play last night and he gave a running account of the game while I was on the court. You could hear him telling everyone things like 'Daddy got basketball'. He loves the game and is my number one fan. ...his favorite activity? He does everything, but mostly he likes to help. 'Mom, my help Dad!!' We picked up a poodle pup, Beethoven, and Te plays alot with him. The dog is so gentle....David has gotten a couple bites when he deserved them". |
| 18/3/77 | “David to me when I get home: 'Daddy, gone school?'. Me: 'Yes'. Te: 'Mom, daddy gone school'”. |
| //77 | “David got a toy rolling pin - so he was 'cooking' with play dough all night”. |
| 12/4/77 | Wish I could remember this one, but I don't: “got the rubbish bin cover stuck on his head”. |
| 13/4/77 | Te's sentences are beautiful now. He is getting to talk too much. |
| //77 | "His vocabulary seems to double day by day. The words and sentences he comes up with are amazing. Gail has made up a school bag for him and he spends hours drawing, reading, cutting, pasting etc... He can draw rectangles!!! The other night I drew him a cowboy and he drew one too and he put in eyes, nose and mouth. And in the right spots. All on his own. His perception and coordination are great. One day David decided to go to school, so he took his 'school bag' and went. Gail found him about a block away. He goes to play centre regularly now and the last time he built a boat. Gail says that he did the whole thing himself". |
| 23/4/77 | “David picked half our crop of feijoas - won't be ripe for another month”. |
| 12/5/77 | "David has already cut himself shaving and he isn't even three yet. Luckily, it was just a small cut on his chin. He could have killed himself. He says 'allbody' instead of 'everybody' ". |
| 6/6/77 | “David talks the whole time at meals and doesn't eat, so Gail sets the timer (on the stove) and when the bell goes he is done “eating” whether he has eaten or not”. |
| 9/7/77 | Birthday: Emergency truck from Eva. Plow from me. |
| 14/7/77 | “Miss” for “kiss”. |
| 15/7/77 | Drew a good picture of a bee. 'Put your hands stick up' then he shoots you with his deadly weapon (he doesn't own a single gun) |
| 29/7/77 | Built a train at play centre (wood corks and bottle caps). |
| //77 | "David has reached the 'WHY' stage". |
| 4/9/77 | “David cooked my breakfast for father's day”. |
| 10/9/77 | Aldies took David to Doug's Mother's farm for the day”. |
| 14/10/77 | Went to town with Te and while I did my "banking" he tidied up the "mess" in the place. |
| 13/11/77 | “David promoted from the stool to a chair at the dining room table”. |
| 1978 |
| 31/1/78 | “Hang on, Dad; hang on”. |
| 12/3/78 | Speaks beautifully - logical sentences. |
| 20/5/78 | To Sanders where Lia and David did a job on Ne's hair. |
| 26/6/78 | "David really likes kindy. He came home with a notice pinned to his back and thought it was so neat he wouldn't let us take it off to read it". |
| 9/7/78 | Birthday: “Planted a tangelo tree by sandbox for him. Flashlight from me, 3 Matchbox trucks from Gail, card games from Joyce and Zominoes from Eva”. |
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| // | "Normal 4 year old: very selfish and prone to tantrums. He won't do what he is told". |
| // | “David cut Ne's lip with a pair of scissors”. |
| // | 9/12/78David in a “trike-a-thon” at Kindy. |
| // | "David latched onto the gun I bought him for Christmas and even wanted to sleep with it". |
| // | "...still very bright mechanically and has developed some thought processes and at the moment is very concerned about his rights within the family. Everything has to be fair". |
| 1979 |
| 27/1/79 | Flies kites with Kevin and Timmy Michewski. |
| 9/7/79 | David's Birthday: "Gail bought him a used large trike and we put on a gizmo that made motorcycle noises. On the eve, after he was in bed, we placed it in the lounge under a sheet and placed all his wrapped gifts in the room.
Next morning, I had my camera ready to capture his joy as he pulled off the sheet. Asked him to go into the lounge and turn the radio on.
But he walked right past the big sheet covered item, like it had always been there. On the otherhand, Ne follows him in and pulls the sheet off amid squeals of joy.
Even then it didn't twig to David that it was his. We had to explain it to him. He was so thrilled with the roar power gizmo that he just wanted to play with that and didn't want to open the other gifts.
He got a dollar bill from Grandma Eva but had no concept as to its value, so I took the kids to the shop, had them chose a candy and bought ten pieces.
They still had money so they got a bag of Twisties or something and still had 20¢ left for another trip to the shop. Back to the gifts.
He got a large winter jacket, magnetic board & letters, and books from Grandma Eva. We aso gave him books, a toy guitar, felt tip pens and a school bag.
At 11:30AM his party started and he had a great time as each child came and gave him a present. Dominoes, balsa airplanes, large plastic car that he loves to push, and a couple wooden puzzles. As soon as everyone was here they stood at the table in the back yard and ate and ate and ate. Hardly said a word.
After some games came the cake which Gail had crafted into a dumptruck filled with Smarties". |
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| 10/7/79 | "He loved his first day at school, but after the second he didn't want to go anymore. He says he likes the teachers but he doesn't like the kids. They all seem to be naughty". |
| //79 | "David now dries the silverware in exchange for 20¢ a week which he puts into his bank account through the school on Thursdays. He is a 'half-past 1-er' at school. He wants to be a 'half-past 2-er' ". |
| 10/8/79 | David gets done: Mater Misarcordiae Hospital for tube in each ear, adenoids out, septum moved and arteries in left nostril cauterized. He went under the knife at 2PM. He came to around 5PM and fell immediately back to sleep. He hadn't even taken the sedative that was on the table to help him through the pain. Nurse felt that he was so deep that he wouldn't wake for the night and she sent us home. We brought him home next morning. He was bright and cheerful but very tired". |
| 25/9/79 | Snail race at school - David's does a U-turn. |
| // | "When I kiss him goodnight he says: 'Goodnight lovely Daddy, pretty Daddy, nice Daddy' ". |
| 13/10/79 | David spent the night at Fornusek's. |
| 6/12/79 | David takes part in a sports display at Opaheke school. |
| 6/12/79 | “We are really pleased with David's attitude toward school. He was promoted early and is an eager reader. He reads, he copies, he writes, he types (we bought him a typewritwer) all the time. He has a natural talent for figuring words out and will casually read an upside-down page. |
| 11/12/79 | After supper we went up to the park and played catch with David until he was hit in the face. |
| // | "David promoted to next class. But the day he was to start he hid in our hedge and Gail found him at 10.30AM playing with Timmy (Michewski, across the road)". |
| 14/12/79 | "David and Ne get on real well, always talking. David can really express himself and spends alot of time explaining things to Ne. One day when we were walking to the shops he tried to explain the difference between 'today', 'yesterday', 'tomorrow' and 'a long time'... it was funny because he was so serious and she was listening so carefully. Later on he said: 'You're a chatterbox... do you know what a chatterbox is?'. Ne: 'No'. David: 'Someone who talks too much' ". |
| 16/12/79 | "David says to Ne: 'There you go again, crying over nothing'. Quite often. Funny because he crys alot, too, for nothing. He is quite keen on jarts and we play it often. Only trouble is he is such a sore loser, he has to win and no one can make fun of him. He has such a low threshhold for tears. We are trying to teach him that you can have fun even when you don't win. He is very competitive". |
