Brooke’s 9th

From about 2002 through 2008 our camcorder was a Sony Digital 8. Looks just like this:

For future generations, this type of camcorder was the part of the last of a dying breed. You see, this camcorder used a type of media device called a “tape.”

So, when you recorded with the camcorder, it was placed on the tape. In order to watch the tape, you had to use cables to connect the camcorder to the TV. I know it sounds positively prehistoric, but that was the technology at the time. Unfortunately, some time in 2008, the camcorder stopped working. We bought a new one pretty quickly, since I was expecting Grant, and the old Hi-8 was quickly forgotten. At some point, we realized that we had a whole lot of tapes from the Lost Years that we had no way of watching! Thankfully, my industrious husband found a YouTube clip that showed how to fix the exact problem we were having with the camcorder. This was a few weeks ago, and since then we have had a great time watching the tapes from these years.

Today, we were watching the tapes from when Brooke was a newborn. Like all parents, I find myself saying things like “I can’t believe that was 9 years ago!” and “Look how much everyone has changed!”

For instance, when Brooke was born, Courtney and Rachel looked like this:

Erica looked like this:

Sarah looked like this:

Mick and I looked like this:

and Brooke looked like this:

Uh, I mean, she looked like this:

A funny little story about her hospital hat: when the nurse was getting her all cleaned up and ready, she first put on Brooke a hat with a red and white – or shall we say cream and crimson – ball on top. As any self-respecting Hoosier knows, these are the colors for Indiana University. Mick, being the major Purdue fan, and wearing a Purdue sweatshirt at the time, I might add, immediately began loudly clearing his throat. When the nurse looked over, he gestured towards his sweatshirt. She said “Oh! Well, we have those hats, too.”  :-) Of course, when we had visitors come in the rest of the day, everyone kept assuming our little girl was a boy since she had black and gold on her hat.

But she has always been a feminine little thing, so very few people have mistaken her for a boy since then. We won’t count the time we were at the State Fair later that year. I was pushing Brooke – dressed in pink from head to toe - in the stroller and the girls were flanking me on all sides. At one point, an older gentleman came walking up laughing and said “Please tell me the one in pink is a boy!” He was delighted with the girls and said it reminded him of his own big family.

Brooke’s birthday this year fell on a typical cold winter January day in Indiana. But we managed to give the house a festival feel in spite of that. Courtney spent quite a while getting the glass ornaments just right over the table.

The birthday girl requested Mocha Layer Cake. Thankfully, I’ve made one or two of those in my day, so I was more than happy to grant this request.

Like most girls her age, Brooke loves stuffed animals, dolls and horses, so she was very happy with her birthday gifts.

Sadly, Grandma and Grandpa weren’t able to come, since Grandma is still recovering from her broken ribs, but we were able to set up a Skype session with them so it still felt like they were able to take part in the birthday celebration.

Happy 9th Birthday, Brooke! We love you!

 

P.S. Look who tried to sneak in on our picture.  <tee hee>