omgz you guys call CPS! Hehe. This photo of my grandfather and eleven year old brother is very staged, but very funny nevertheless.
I’m sitting here listening to *NSYNC songs. Holy 1998, Batman! Sometimes I really feel old. In some ways, 1998 doesn’t seem all that long ago… recently moved, new baby brother, high school, starting to get interested in boys… but then, in other ways, whoa, 1998? That was almost ten years ago! High school Jenn is so far away from the (mostly) grown up Mom Jenn.
Now onto Mom Jenn things!
Ryan is going to have some serious identity issues when he’s older. Somehow we got to calling him “Bean”. I think it started last autumn, when we jokingly dubbed him Ry-bread (get it? Har har). Then one morning after dressing him in an adorable yellow outfit featuring bumble bees all over it, Dan called him Ry-bee. My mom overheard the “bee” as “bean“, and called him bean – especially since we dressed him in varying shades of green. And I don’t know how it happened, but here we are, seven months later, calling him Bean more than we call him Ryan. Alyssa even calls him Bean, though she does call him Wyan and Ry-Ry.
Here’s just how much this nickname has stuck: when I email or blog or IM about Ryan, I catch myself writing out Bean. Ack!
Alyssa escaped with only two nicknames – Lissy (Dan and I call her that) and Lulu (my mom calls her that). Although she hears Alyssa when she’s doing things she shouldn’t be, or when she needs comforting or reassurance, or when we’re trying to seriously get her attention.
And speaking of the little whirlwind… any tips on getting her to leave her hair alone? Every morning I painstakingly brush it and fix it with a headband or barrettes or put it up in a half-ponytail, ponytail or pigtails. The moment she’s out of my sight – usually within ten seconds of letting her go, fast as she moves – she rips everything out, and runs around looking like a little ragamuffin. I’m -this- close to getting her one of those horrid little girl bowl style haircuts, so her hair will fall into place when it’s not styled. Unlike now… it flies in every direction. The girl has permanent bed head.
My daughter’s name is Rhiannon but her nickname is “ReRe”. She goes through phases where she doesn’t like it lol. My 22 month old calls her “sissy”.. I don’t expect him to be able to say “Rhiannon” for a looong time lol.
Oh, and for some reason, my sister has gotten into the habit of calling my son Trey, “tater” LOL ..sometimes I wonder about her LOL..
As someone who remembers sitting on the stair with mum pulling at my hair every single morning, be thankful that she doesn’t have thick curly hair! Alyssa can totally pull off the bedhead look.
Omgosh 1998, that’s just terrifying. It doesn’t even seem like I was the same person in 1998, but some things about then are just so vivid they could have happened 1 or 2 years ago, not 9!
Not sure how you would prevent Alyssa from yanking everything out of her hair. Nothing ever stayed in my hair, and finally my mom gave up on it. Maybe trying to point out to her how cute or pretty she looks with her hair done up that way will get her to leave it alone?
Joe and I only use “Bean” when referring to each other. In high school everyone called us Joe Bean and Leesha Bean, so it just kind of stuck. We always figured that when we had kids they would be baby beans as babies, beanlets as toddlers/little kids and refried beans as teenagers and beyond. We even seriously considered changing our last name to “Bean” once we got married, but figured that might not be too healthy for our future kids.
On Jessica’s note, I agree that you should feel priveleged she at least lets you do it. I have a very sensative scalp and anytime my mom would even look at my with a brush in her hand I would start screaming, charming little imp that I was