Saturday, May 2, 2009

Another Garrett Memory...

I woke up this morning remembering how Garrett would get up.

He wasn't big on sleep. He was usually the last one asleep and the first one awake. Many times we would tuck the boys into bed and 20 or 30 minutes later we would catch a glimpse of blonde hair and beady eyes peeking around a corner. We usually had to tuck him in bed 4 or 5 times every night.

In the morning he was easy to wake up (on the mornings that I got up first). I would go into his room and sit carefully on his bed and his eyes would pop open and he would jump out of bed like he was waiting for me and just pretending to sleep.

On the other hand he did like to take naps as long as he had a sippy cup. I remember him being really little-2 or 3- and asking for milk (signing it of course) and his blanket. I told him if he wanted milk in a sippy cup he needed to go take a nap. I gave him the milk and he picked up his blanket and went to his room and took a nap!

One vivid memory for me (this is what woke me up this morning) was Garrett getting up before anyone in the house. He was often awake at 5:30 or earlier. He would come into my room and stand at the edge of my bed (We have a really tall bed. He was eye level with me when I was lying down.)and stare at me. Often I would open my eyes to find us nose-to-nose and it scared me to death! If I didn't open my eyes with him just looking at me he would whisper "mom, mom" in a very soft voice. It would always startle me. He would do it sometimes if he woke up in the middle of the night. Rarely would he cry from his bed, he would come quietly into my room and whisper "mom, mom" and really get my heart thumping.

I sure miss that!

Garrett Stories

It's funny how time does strange things. Sometimes it seems to fly by and at other times it crawls so slowly. It seems like this year has gone in just a blink of an eye, but while we were trudging through it, it was a long year.

In this last year I've tried really hard to write down stories and memories I have of Garrett so I don't forget them...so I don't forget him. I've had other people send me their memories of Garrett and I treasure them. I put them in a safe place and pull them out when I want to laugh, and cry-of course.

Miss Marsha, Garrett's first preschool teacher and a friend sent me a letter today with some really wonderful memories she has of Garrett. Two full pages of memories-I love them. It was such a great thing to read today.

These are a couple of them:
One day when Bekki was dropping him off for preschool, she told him, "Tell Miss Marsha what you want to be for Halloween." And Garrett said matter of factly, "The Holy Ghost."

I can't think of Garrett without thinking of his cute blonde hair. His haircut fit him perfectly. And when I think of his hair, I think of the day he found one of the girls tiny little hair rubber bands on the floor during play time. he brought it to me and asked me to put it in his hair. I tried to talk him out of it, but h REALLY wanted it. As soon as I put it in his hair (he had a darling little pony tail sticking up on the top of his head), he immediately started showing off for the class making everyone laugh. He was having the time of his life making them laugh.

My friend Angie wrote of Garrett:
Whenever we would be outside and Garrett would see us, he would put on a huge grin and come running toward the kids. He would see me and say, "Hey Mitchells Mom!" It always made me smile to hear him say it.

One Sunday Morning I was getting Mitchell ready for Church. I was trying to talk him into wearing a stripped snap shirt. He kept telling me no, I don't want to wear it. I finally asked him why he didn't want to wear it. He said,"Because I really want to sit by Garrett today and he doesn't really like stripes so if I wear that shirt, I won't get to sit by him.

Our neighbor Nancy who lives across the street had some good stories:

Sister Yardley had some strange allure for Garrett. He loved to go over and talk with her. He would often look out the window and say "Mom, Sistey Yady needs me to go over to her house and help." She was so nice to let him come over and play. She said he always picked up after himself and then would tell her he needed a cookie before he went home.

On several occasions after getting out of the shower I couldn't find him. I had left him watching cartoons and he wasn't there. After searching the house I frantically ran across the street and found him happily eating Sisty Yady's cookies. I had to really get after him and tell him not to leave the house without telling me!

I could go on and on and on... I probably will sometime.If you have any fun (or silly, or scary, or sad) stories of Garrett I would love to add them to my collection. Please send them to me. It would make my day!