The oldest was a very bright young man. Even now he is no dummy but his desire and capacity for learning seemed boundless. Today there are two things that stand out to me about him but they have nothing to do with his intelligence.
One time we were visiting my in laws in Florida. They have a pool. My wife and I were going to take a night time swim. He wanted to go also and wasn't happy he had to go to sleep instead. He was in bed on his knees and leaning over and hugging his pillow. So it his butt being up in the air seemed accentuated. He was crying, "Its not fair. Grown ups get to go to the pool but little boys have to go to sleep."
All of a sudden he stopped crying. Then my wife said he's asleep. I couldn't believe. He did. He fell asleep in the middle of wailing about the unfairness of the situation and his butt was still up in the air.
A few years later he and I were wrestling on the floor while we waited for mom to get home from work. In the process something happened and he got hurt. He started to cry but stopped because he wanted to keep playing. We played for a minute and mom walked in. He started crying again about how he got hurt.
The next child was a girl. She was a very happy child. I have a video of her happily playing. Her baby brother was just a few months old and his diaper was just changed. I asked her to go be with her brother who was still lying in the middle of our bed. She climbed up on the bed and hugged her brother. Then she gave him a kiss but he had slobber on his face. Then she said, "Yuck! Baby babas!" (Spanish is our second language and babas means slime but it means spittle to us)
Several years later she showed us how she stands by her morals. She was spending the night with a friend who had a large group of girls there. They decided to go and TP some houses. The mom was part of all of it. My daughter didn't think it was right and wanted nothing to do with it. Even the mother added some pressure to participate. My daughter stood her ground and called us to come and bring her back home.
The next son, like his older brother, nearly killed my wife at childbirth. As a result, he come home from the hospital about a week before mom did. That left me to care for him. Call me crazy but he had the unique ability to poop in brand new diapers. Every time. I put on a new diaper he gave it a fresh new deposit. This happened at least 2 times per day. In exasperation, one time I pretended to put on a new diaper but put the wet one back on. All the while I asked if he was happy with the new diaper. Then he pooped and I didn't have to change him again. It made me happy. lol
When he was three years old he once wanted to help me put gas in the car. As you may know, active three year old boys get bored easily. As I chased him around while the car was being filled, I was getting exasperated. When the car was full and I paid the bill, I strapped him into his carseat and drove away. Only to find I was still hooked up to the gasoline dispenser.
Needless to say, I was horrified. Thankfully, it was made to disconnect. On the bright side, I used this experience in a humorous speech contest and competed at the state level. It has been well received each time it has been delivered.
The baby, my little girl who is set to graduate college next spring, always had to do things her older siblings did. She is our foodie and even has a food Instagram where she posts photos of different foods. Also, she wants us send food photos. One thing I appreciate about her is her childlike approach to things she loves. When she knows she will eat a new food she has wanted to try or go to a restaurant she has wanted to visit, her excitement bubbles out of her.
One memory of her will always stick with me. That is the first time she pooped in the toilet. When she was finished, she got down to look at what she did as I congratulated her. Beaming, she said, "Look daddy, snakes!" I looked and said, "Yeah, sweetie, but they look like rocks to me."
Soon my wife and I will be empty nesters. We are blessed
