Tag: Babies

Friday 13th March 1953

Dearest Mummy,

The days seem to fly past each week & I get nothing done – each week I think I will write you a nice long letter & each week I find I am so late that I had better just send off one of these. I got your Air Letter mailed on the 2nd yesterday- thank you so much for it. The only B.P. in it was a query as to whether Cec ever reads your letters now! Sometimes yes & sometimes no! When there is a bit about people you meet & go & see etc. he gets very fogged as he can never remember who is who, & then he gives up, but mainly he reads them & enjoys hearing your comments! Talking of people you meet & relatives etc. you were asking in one of your last letters about whether to give Yvonne my address & tell her to come & see me or not. Well, I feel that maybe it is mean & inhospitable of me, but I think better not, Mummy. I am sorry for her & think she has had a miserable time & will find it very difficult to settle down over here, & if she were on her own I wouldn’t mind, but the sister with the rotten husband living here is too much! I think really we have plenty to cope with at the moment, & I’d hate to get involved in a family with a husband like that- poor girls- they certainly had poor luck, didn’t they?

I was very sorry to hear that Marga hasn’t been well & has gone into hospital for a check up. I do hope it is nothing serious & that she will soon be well again. She seems to run a lot on a sort of nervous energy which must take it out of her, so I do hope it is only a good rest that she needs. I think I must have got a baby congratulation card from A. Ettie, as I have her down on my writing list, but can’t find a letter from her at the moment! I got Christmas cards from Monie & Mill, but not Margs.

We have been doing a little entertaining recently, as I felt as if I’d never see anyone unless I did, so a week ago tonight we had Ruth & Keith to dinner. They are the couple in Cec’s Lab. who got married last summer – we had them to bridge in Eastview once. Then on Wed. we had Joan to dinner – she is Dr. Herzberg’s pretty secretary – I have met her at a lot of the Lab. “do’s” & like her – a lot of her slightly “sarky” remarks remind me of Dottie! Tomorrow Jim & Lee & Barry are coming over at tea time & staying overnight with us. Their old car isn’t running now & so it is very difficult for us to arrange just an evening & anyway, Lindy & Barry have such a good time together that we wanted them to have a little time to play. Lindy is always talking of “Dim, Lee & Barry” & Lee says Barry talks of Linda every day.

Lindy is beginning to get to the stage when she really will play with other children now I think (not Darryl!). But she likes to run & “catch-oo” & play trains etc. She isn’t very tall, but very sweet & cute looking & when we go out everyone on the street & in the shops still smiles at her & says “Isn’t she sweet”! She is very independent & likes to walk by herself when we are out. She will walk behind the pram & in front of me “helping Mummy push Charlie”! Then she will leave that & go trotting along & say “Dindy running – Dindy walk”! We went to Joanisse this morning in the rain! Such a business getting all 3 of us ready – a good 1/2 hour! Don’t you remember Mr. Dube? The little P.O.- drug store- toy shop past Joanisse on the other side? He was the man in the cutting I sent you, who was robbed. Lindy says “Mr. Dube” very nicely!

I was very disheartened on Tuesday. Charlie’s surgeon, Dr. Wilson, says that he will need another operation and suggested April or May so that he will be a little bit older. He says this one won’t be nearly so serious but I feel so upset for the little poor little fellow. He is so good & full of chuckles & little squeals & doing so well but I know it has to be done. Must stop- Lindy sends a “kisse” & “cuddle” and xxx from Charlie. Lots of love from us all- Cyn.

Sunday 22nd (?) Feb.

Dearest Mummy,

I find that it is 2 weeks since I last wrote & I hope that you haven’t been worried about us, because we are all fine and well now. I have been meaning & meaning to write of course, but last weekend Cec & I made a concerted huge effort & got our sitting room curtains finished & up & then the previous week Lindy was just recuperating & very fretty, poor little honey, & last week we took both children to Dr. W. for check ups on Wed. (Lindy 18 mths. Charlie 2 mths.) & I went for my check up to Dr. S. on Friday, & what with one thing & another I seemed to be making formula & finishing off chores just about every evening.

Thank you so much for both your letters- written after you heard about Charlie. Also for your parcel of the sheets & little jacket & the book & baby dolly for Linda- the sheets will certainly be a great blessing as Lindy’s flannelette ones are very thin but I am going on using them until they pass out & then will have the linen ones for the summer. I can see her being most intrigued with the stitching pattern etc. as any little hole or mark is always very interesting to her! Charlie looks sweet in his little green coats. He is really a dear little fellow now – as soon as his cough & cold got better & he stopped sicking up much, he gained weight (is 10 lbs. 4 oz. now) & his little face filled out & he looks very like those first pictures of Linda we took in Eastview, except that he is very boyish looking, but his tuft of hair on top & big blue eyes etc. are just the same & there is an obvious likeness. While he was sicking I didn’t put him in any of his new little jackets, but now I am & he looks very cute & sturdy! Dr. W. said both he & Linda are fine now – he thinks Lindy speaks very well for her age- she is stringing 2 & 3 words together now & chattering away. She says “Charlie m’ baby brudder” & “Wha’s matter Charlie?” when he cries! Also if she does anything funny she grins wickedly & and says “ ‘M a monkey!” Her biggest joy is “Helping Mummy”! She puts away the spoons etc. when I wash & dry them, & tries to pull the sheets straight when we make beds & is so sweet. She is eating pretty much what we do now- she doesn’t like veg but loves potato! She is the tidiest, neatest little eater – never drops anything hardly & if she does says “Oh dear” & picks it up!

Our sitting room curtains look beautiful! I am so pleased with them & they look really very nice I think- I like the pattern of the material much more now that it is up & the colours match nearly perfectly. Cec put up the railway affair & a pull, so that we just swish them together in a most elegant way & they really look professional & such an improvement in the room, after the great blank window for so long. It was quite a business as they are so big & heavy, but they look well worth our trouble we think. About the picture for my birthday, Mummy – Cec & I both think it would be very nice as we have so little in that way, & you know my taste well enough to choose something I know I would like, so we would love to have it – thank you very much.

I will try & write a long letter this week – this seems awfully scrappy & I feel I have so many of your ? to answer! Have you heard about Ruth having a baby?! Sooner than expected, I suppose, which is a pity, but still, I don’t expect they mind too much. She has been v. sick, poor girl. Must stop- Hugs from Lindy & Charlie & Lots of love from us all – Cyn.

Monday 9th Feb. 

Dearest Mummy,

It is 11 AM & Linda seems to be quiet upstairs for a minute or two, & Charlie- though not quiet, is just muttering a little – so I thought I would sit for a minute & write you a note.

The first thing I want to tell you is about the little red & white dress – I measured the red tartan one Gunborg sent Lindy for her birthday & from shoulder to hem it is 17”. Linda wears that now & though it is a shade on the long side- or was about a month ago – it is a good fit, so I really feel that maybe it would be a shame to send her your little dress. All the little dresses she wore last summer can be let down I think, & when she is playing I think overalls or a sunsuit will be most sensible. It is funny to think that she will be playing in the sand pile next summer & getting really grubby, isn’t it? At the moment she wears overalls or rompers all the time unless she is dressed up for some occasion and they aren’t many nowadays! I am so sorry to have been such a long time in answering you about the little dress – I am afraid I am a very unsatisfactory correspondent just now, but when I do write I try to tell you our news & then the letter form is full. I promise to get down to answering all your B.P.X.s as soon as life is more settled. I am sorry about the little dress – I am sure it is sweet & Lindy & I would have loved it, but I just feel that she maybe wouldn’t be able to wear it much & that Joan would be thrilled with it for her Sue. I got your nice letter on Sat. (with Bren’s enclosed- I heard from her last week too) & thank you so much for it. In it you mention making overalls for Charlie out of your fawn dress (it was in the parcel, so I just packed it) & I think it would be lovely. I will send a pattern, because the little old blue overalls of Lindy’s are just about falling to bits & anyway I think it might be better to have them a little bigger. I think Charlie is going to be a bigger baby than Linda was- he is long & full of energy! Kicks all his blankets off & wiggles & squirms! He is much better now- has only sicked up one bottle in about 3 days & his cough seems just about gone. He is such a cute little fellow now – he has been smiling & laughing & saying “Coo” ever since he came home & now he is feeling better he is very jolly. He has a little button of a pointed chin with a very deep crease above & it is very “pinchable” & he laughs when you do it!

When he cries, great big tears roll down his cheeks- remember, Lindy never cried real tears? – but he does. Lindy is on the mend too, but very fretty & fractious & wants a lot of attention. She has a real runny cold now, but no temp. & she is eating a few solids though not much. She is quite content to stay in bed with her books (Ba-ba is practically a ruin!) but I have had her up for an hour or so the last 2 days. She must be asleep now – goody! – I am sterilizing the bottles & must make the formula! We got an electric bottle warmer last week – it helps the 2 a.m. feed! Charlie slept till 5 last night tho’ – the first night since his op- he coughed etc. so much last week I was up a lot with him, but that is over- I hope! Lots & lots of love – Cyn.

6th Feb.  1953

Dearest Mummy,

I know you will be wondering how we are getting on, so here I am to prove that we are all still surviving – but what a week! Claire (the woman who comes to clean) was here today, & I had a sleep this afternoon, so I’m feeling quite chipper again – more like Cyn & not just “any mother”! Claire was in the hospital too, when Charlie was, so this is only the 2nd time she has been here, but she is a nice person & a good worker. She did out the sitting room thoroughly & did the floor & it looks lovely – did I tell you the curtains still aren’t up? I got everything done except the rufflette tape & ironing with Cec’s help & then going into hospital soon upset my schedule! Of course, we had to return the machine to Lee, so haven’t done anything more, but I promise myself that when things get organized again I shall hire a machine for a week & really do things! Claire also scrubbed the basement steps- of her own accord! – & did the passage & the kitchen, so we look very spic & span.

Thank you so much for your letter of 26th Jan.- and what do you think? On Tues. I got another A.M. from you & on reading it found you were thanking me for my letter telling about the plans for the Hallowe’en party! It was written on Nov. 8th & was the missing one I told you about- arrived Feb. 3! Before I forget again, thank you so much for the package with the darling little jacket for Charlie & the diary – both so welcome & useful. Charlie is doing pretty well in jackets after all- Nan sent him a sweet little Clydella coat (& Maud sent little blue bootees) & the other day Cec brought me a parcel home from Boris- the nice fellow we’ve had to dinner you know. Inside was a white knitted jacket & bootees & a note saying he whipped them up in his spare time! Actually he got his sister to make them, but wasn’t it sweet of him? 

Your little jacket is the one I really like the best though – it looks so cute & sturdy & masculine!! Please thank Jeanie for me – I’ll try & write to her but goodness knows when. I’m getting quite a few letters with tender inquiries as to whether I got their parcels- A. Trixie for one! She sent a little white jacket for the baby- and- sssh!– it is sweet but so big Lindy has been wearing it!

Now for our hectic week! Well I told you what a bad cold & cough Charlie had when we brought him home. On Sat. he began sicking up his bottle- sometimes whoopsed the whole thing up- sometimes just a bit- sometimes he’d be sick just after I fed him – sometimes an hour or so afterwards. This went on all Sat. & Sun. so Mon. I called Dr. W. & he said it was just the coughing & cold & mucus on his tummy. Then on Mon. night Lindy cried out & here she had been sick all over. Poor little darling, when we put on the light & she saw it, she just said “Oh dear!” in such a pathetic little voice! She was sick 2 or 3 more times before she fell asleep again & again on Tues. morning after she had some milk so I called Dr. W. and he said it was probably the same thing caught from Charlie & most likely ‘flu. She just lay in bed listlessly & slept most of the day & by evening had a temperature of over 101˚, so Dr. W. came out & saw them both. He said after examining them that there were no complications- to keep Linda on a liquid diet & in bed. Next day her temp. was down & today is normal, but she was getting to the fractious stage! She had cereal & fruit today though & is really much better. Charlie seems better today too but has kept me on the hop the last two nights – coughing & sicking up etc. so it has all been very hectic. Cec has helped so much – stayed part of each morning etc. but I feel I have done nothing but wash sick babies – sick little clothes – sick floors & sick me! Oh – & make formula! Dr. W. says feed Charlie again when he sicks up, so sometimes he has twice as many bottles. Hasn’t sicked up today tho’ & we all feel much better. Love Cyn.

Dr. W. says Charlie must have caught a cold from baby next to him in Hosp. Only 3 in the little nursery but 1 of the babies came in with a cold. 

Charlie’s operation scars are fine- don’t seem to bother him at all.

Wed. 28th Jan.

Dearest Mummy,

These are the rest of the pictures, so I won’t be able to write much. Thank you so much for your last letter of the 19th- I will get down to a proper answer to all your letters & blue crosses soon, but I am trying to write thank you letters gradually & it is taking all my energy!! Re. the pictures, I meant to tell you that Cec & I are sure that Linda remembers you- she repeats “G’annie” after us & keeps turning back to the to the pictures with you in again & again, & each time she looks she says “G’annie”. I don’t know if she realizes that it is she herself or not- she grins when we point & say “Linda” but looks as if she didn’t believe us! I didn’t realize until I saw those pictures how much her hair has changed since you saw her – it is long now – as long on her as mine is on me! – & beautifully curly! All around the sides & back & wavy on top- & we still put a bow at one side!

She looks very sweet & the long curly hair makes her look quite grown-up & not babyish. We are trying to take some pictures of Lindy & Charlie, but the weather is most uncooperative- dull & cloudy each weekend. It is cold & snowy – heavy fall last night & today – but very few of those sunny, clear cold days that we had last winter. Must stop now as I want to add a list of as much of Lindy’s vocabulary as I can remember, so that you will get some idea of how much she is talking. She will tell a story now, like “Daddy – car – snow.  Bye-bye Daddy”!

Lots & lots of love from all of us – XXX from Lindy XXX from Charlie

                                 Cyn

Cookie- Tea (loves it still)- Hot coffee- Spoon- Up-down- Hole- There!- Bam! (when she bumps herself) Bagoo (Pillow- don’t why!)- Thank you- Please- Mummy- Daddy- Dan- Nancy- Baby- Lee- Barry- Jim- Joanne (doll)- Tap- Water- Towel-  Coat-coat- Boots- Mittens (m’ims)- Hat- Boy- Book- Bow-wow- Dirty- Donkey- More- Milk (That’s what she calls the Milkman)- Button- Man- Lady- Egg- Soup- Apple- Snow- Knee- Toe- Mole (she has a tiny one on her foot)- Up we go!- No-no- Soldier- sailor- (on her curtains)- penguin- birdie- bunny- lamb- cow- horsie- cat- Open- Meat- Potatoes (‘tatoes)- Refrigerator (‘rator!)- Store- ski- Upsidaisy!- Dinner- Plane- Sky- Can’t remember any more just now.  She feeds herself entirely alone too & it is wonderful- I wash dishes & have my meals &  she goes ahead eating beautifully!

In fact, I had always been told my first sentence was: “Dan, ski,  up-si-daisy!” as I watched him from the window…