Addie-doodle

In the early years of my childhood I remember my dad nicknaming most of his children "Bob."  This was either an okay thing, a great thing, or a terrible thing.  It depended on which personality in our family received the nickname in the moment of dad's teasing.  If the nickname was placed on one of the more laid back siblings the rest of us would respond with joyful giggles.  If the nickname was bestowed upon one of the more sensitive siblings the laughter bubbling up had to be forced back down.  If a snort was emitted it was in everyone's best interest to pretend it was an accidental burp or a sudden coughing fit.  No one dared to upset the offended sibling more than what my dad had done with the nickname "Bob."  We couldn't take the drama.  There were a few of my siblings who graciously took upon themselves the nickname knowing our dad was a teaser and by deeming us a "Bob" or a "Billy-Bob" he was signifying his fondness towards us.  I, unfortunately, was not one of the more laid back children. I had a chronic prideful heart and when my dad attempted to start a conversation with me by saying, "Hey! Billly-Bob!" I would become defensive and adamantly proclaim in near tears my name WAS NOT BOB!  I remember thinking on these occasions that it didn't make any sense for my parents to name me Britt if my dad was never going to use it.   

I am my father's daughter. Once Shyler and I started having kids I took upon myself the same role...the nicknamer.  Something about our children drives me to call after them with an affectionate name which is not their own. I will give only a few examples.  I have an insatiable desire to consistently call Dashle "Buddy" or "Bubs" and Coy is blessed to have a name that rhymes with most anything.  Emery received an onslaught of new names in her first year or two of life.  Now that she is almost eight I seem to have forgotten all the extra names I gave her and she is referred to as...Emery.  Addie, on the other hand is still the recipient to many diverse nicknames.  My favorite as of late has been to call her Addie-doodle.  For the last couple of years I have called my younger sister Brandice, "Bran-dizzle."  I think Addie's nickname possibly stemmed from this.  Eventually I moved from "Bran-dizzle" to just "dizzle" and thus it has become with Addie.  I often call for her with a simple, "Doodle."   

 Shyler was on-call the other night and apparently I was, too.  He was paged by the hospital and I was paged by Coy who was standing up in his crib shrieking in the dark while his beefy brother snored on in the toddler bed.  After Shyler left for the hospital around 3 a.m. I pulled Coy into bed with me.  This is what tired moms with more than a few children do.  It is sheer desperation.  ("If you're not going to sleep in your crib then come get in bed with me so I know you're safe and I can go back to sleep.")   I tried to sleep with one eye open to see if the babe was drifting toward slumber land.  He was staring in the dark while furiously sucking on his pacifier.  Out of all of my babies he is the first with an addiction problem.  Moving on...  I decided to stare into the dark, too. My thoughts began to wander.   I rested my mind on Addie and the need to chronicle her January birthday on the blog. I have been devoid of motivation to write very much in 2010. Go figure.  I tried to think of a way to put a creative spin concerning her birthday instead of the basic "Addie turned 6. We had cake and presents and I was a tired mom by the end of the evening."  (That is another topic for another time.  Why are birthdays so exhausting for moms?)     

Before I entered dreamland the irony hit me!  Where did the nickname "doodle" come from anyway?  Am I obsessed with the sound of consonant "d"?   Isn't it interesting this is what I have chosen to call her?   She exemplifies the meaning of the word with uncanny exactness!  That was the spin for mentioning Addie's 6th birthday in January.  So, here I am paragraphs later concluding how unusual it seems that the nickname matches the personality completely.  I have provided a definition below and highlighted certain parts that just shout "ADDIE!" 

 

Doodle

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia 

For other uses, see Doodle (disambiguation).

Various doodles

A doodle is a type of sketch, an unfocused drawing made while a person's attention is otherwise occupied. Doodles are simple drawings that can have concrete representational meaning or may just be abstract shapes.
Stereotypical examples of doodling are found in school notebooks, often in the margins, drawn by students daydreaming or losing interest during class. Other common examples of doodling are produced during long telephone conversations if a pen and paper are available.

Top 3 things Addie said on her 6th birthday:

1.  Checking out the new blanket I made for her:  "Actually mom I wanted a princess blanket."
2.  Upon receiving another LPS animal:  "I'm going to give this one to Emery."
3.  Seeing the finished product of her dad's hard work in the form of a BYU bank:  "Do you know it would be even better if it had a basketball hoop inside!"

Top 6 things we adore about Addie: 
1. Our most affectionate child
2.  Cutest, most contagious laugh
3. Always thinking...thus the daydreaming/easily distracted.  She moves quickly from one thing to the next.
4.  Compassionate:  Feels bad when someone is upset or hurt.  Quick to say, "I'm sorry."
5.  Scripture Master:
The other day she asked me about the meaning of the Passover.  Clearly, she already knew the answer.  I couldn't remember. I said, "Doesn't it have to do with Jesus administering the sacrament to his apostles before he died?"  She said, "No, mom.  It is about Moses leading the Israelites out of Egypt."   I think we were both on track.
6.  Sharp Memory:  This kid remembers every thing and anything down to the tiniest detail.  Don't challenge her! She'll always be right!  

We love you Addie!  Thank you for choosing our family!  Our family life is really good because you're in it!