Wednesday, December 30, 2009

March 20, 1942

Dear Mom, Pop and Tom:

Well, here I am at last. I don't know where the days and weeks go to so fast. It seems that every time I manage to get this typewriter home I have some typing to do for the Primary. I have turned into their official typist, seems to be the only one in the Church.

I want to thank you first for the lovely gift to Bobby. It is the sweetest little outfit I have ever seen and he looks so cute in it. A friend of Blanche's is knitting him a baret to match it and I hope we manage to get home to show him off in it sometime this spring or summer. It's his Sunday-go-to-meetin' suit and that reminds me that some Sunday when he has it on we should take to meetin' and have him blessed--he hasn't really got a name as yet. He's just at the stage where he's proud of new clothes and knows we think he's pretty cute. I had a little birthday party for him and invited three other Mommies and their babies in for the afternoon and the Mommies sure did have fun. Mildred Cahoon, whose baby is the one in the last picture I sent of Bobby, brought her movie camera and took pictures of them. I haven't seen them as yet but they should be good. I bought a decorated cake and ice cream and a good time was had by all. Colleen Morrow, the three year old, gave him a toy; Blanche gave him a little 0ne-piece knit suit; Judy gave him two pair of little summer seersucker pajamas and Billy Cahoon gave him a corduroy suit. I bought his first pair of long jeans and a little sweat shirt. They are little overalls really and he needed them for crawling-he gets so dirty his knees won't come clean and when they do they are red from floor burns. Dad gave him house slippers. Speaking of "Dad" he calls every man he sees Dad and it's mighty embarrassing to "Mom". Mrs. Armstrong sent a little navy blue wool coat, double-breasted and it has little gold buttons and navy insignia on the sleeve. It has a little hat with visor and about next fall it should fit pretty well and he'd better be walking so he can wear it. He is certainly well-outfitted now but he had just reached the point where he was down pretty low on clothes. His things have to be washed so often and he's growing fast. And buying baby shoes is no joke. That last word remind me, Do you know how to tell when a Scotchman is in love?---"By the tilt of his kilt." Isn't that cute?

Getting back to Bobby, I am going to have a nice picture taken of him now and will be sending it along to you soon. We are giving him inoculations for children's diseases. We should have started at six months but I didn't have the heart to do it. So far he has just one shot for diphtheria. He has one more in three weeks. Thenk he has tree shots for whooping cough and a smallpox vaccination. We had it done at five in the afternoon, brought him home, gave him his supper and put him to bed. He went to sleep immediately and slept the night through without a sound. Aside from being a little grouchy, it didn't seem to bother him a mite. I forgot to tell you that he's a regular member of the family now. He has just three meals a day, drinks whole cow's milk from a glass and has one nap after lunch. He even eats such things as round steak(scraped) and cottage cheese. And, of course, he also eats a lot of other little knickknacks like the daily newspaper and wet washcloths. He's a lot of fun and good company. He chases me around the house all day in his Taylor-tot and he is full of mischief and loves to ease. When he first started drinking milk from a glass he choked on every gulp. Now he does pretty well and when he has had his fill he pretends to choke on it or he waits until I get it to his lips then hits the glass and that ends that meal.

Judy had her lip operated on last week and it looks much better. It left It left just a tiny little dcar and I think it will go away entirely. Blanche took her up and cared for her for two days and it was more than she could stand. When Mary finally took her home, Blanche was sick for a few days. Judy walks nicely and is a pretty little girl. Oh, I almost forgot--I had the scare of my life the other day. Bobby was in his bedroom in his Taylor-tot alone and he whimpered a little. It was the sort of cry he generally uses when he gets stuck somewhere and can't make it move. Then he stopped and it was awfully quiet. I went to take a look and you'll never believe it but he was standing on the floor holding to the back of the cart. He had apparently run alongside of his play pen, reached up with both hands and got a good hold on the pen, then stood up in the cart and either stepped out or the cart moved out from under him and he hung tight and found himself out on his feet. At any rate he was out, all in one piece and looking awfully pleased.

Well, I could go on for pages telling you little things about him. I wish we lived closer. We went to Seattle last Saturday and came back Sunday. Our friends at Sand Point wanted some meat for dinner and the markets were all closed by order of the unions. They own that town. We didn't do anything but enjoyed the outing. tomorrow we are going down to Elams to entertain some soldier boys. Thelma is busy doing re cross work and is having three or four boys in for dinner and cards or something and she wants us to help with the fun. I do feel sorry for them, though. There is a whole regiment stationed here and I can sympathize with them--there is certainly nothing to do in Yakima in the way of entertainment--unless you go to someone's home.

Tom, I enjoyed your letter and you had better write often or I won't send you cookies when you are at Fort Lewis. That will be swell as long as you have to be in the Army. You will probably be even closer than that when you go out for ski practice. And you can come over and spend your days off with us. Hope they make you a general someday.

Mom, if I get a little pattern and some seersucker, would you run up some little sun suits for Bobby this summer. I want them for everyday and seersucker is so easy to keep up and you just can't buy them in anything but materials that need ironing. They needen't be fancy, just something to cover his little diaper and a couple of straps to hold it up.

Pop, I just thought I'd tell you that I read Bob's letter before he did and surely enjoyed it. You needn't think there is any privacy in this house. And it seems to me that I write two letters to everybody's one down that-a way. Anyway mine are the longest and I don't leave out things you are just dying to know, like what is Gwen's baby a girl or a boy? I wish someone would tell me.

Well, it's getting late and chilly. We have fire in the morning and then let it go out, the afternoons are just wonderful. But about ten in the evening it starts to get cold. Everybody write. And thanks again for the nice gift--I'll see that you see him in it. Good nite. Much Love, Louise

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