JOHN YATES
When I was born, I was a little grumpy. I was born a week late, because I wasn’t ready to come out! Then when I came out, the doctors poked and prodded me. I wished I was back in Mommy’s belly! After a while, I started to enjoy being out in the world. Sometimes, I liked to kick back and relax. I was pretty happy lying on my back with my legs crossed and staring at the ceiling. I guess I wasn’t in any big hurry.
I like to play with balls. When I was little, I used to call everything that was round a ball. A tomato was a ball, an orange was a ball, everything was a ball. Noah used to point to round things in the grocery store and ask me what they were. I would say, “Ball”, and he would laugh!
I also loved to bounce. When I was a baby, I would bounce in a baby bouncer. When I turned five, I got a big red ball bouncer for my birthday, and I loved it! I bounced all over the house.
Another thing that I liked was trucks. One of the first words that I said was truck (“truh”). Our neighbors at a campground in Florida had a big diesel truck, and I used to run over to it all the time. I liked all the heavy duty trucks.
Our neighbors also had a dog named Chia. I liked to run across the street and pet her. In Houston, we had a dog named Blackie. When we went for a walk, my job was to hold her leash. Sometimes, she would hear another dog barking or see a cat, and she would pull really hard. She was a big, strong dog, but I wouldn’t let her go!
Uncle Randy used to call me on the phone, and I would say, “Heavy duty, Uncle Randy!” Uncle Randy used to laugh. I liked everything heavy duty.
Daddy used to play a cuckoo clock game with us. He would hold us upside down, swing us from side to side, and then lift us up and down while saying, “cuckoo, cuckoo”. After Daddy played the game with Noah, Noah would say, “That’s enough.” After Daddy played the game with me, I would say, “Do again!”
I liked it when we went to the pool. I would jump off the diving board over and over again!
When I was little, Mommy or Daddy would pretend I was a bee and chase Noah. They would hold me with their hands and chase Noah while making a buzzing sound. It was really fun. When Noah wanted to play, he would ask Mommy and Daddy, “John, be a bee?”
I really looked up to my big brother Noah. He liked to collect bugs and hatch butterflies, and so did I. He was more gentle with the bugs than I was. Sometimes, I would squash them!
Mommy read a book to us called Hope For The Flowers that had pillars of caterpillars in it. I called them “Catapillah pillahs”.
I liked to share with my brothers. Mommy and Daddy were always happy that I would share with them. I didn’t think much about it.
When I was five, I played T-ball. Daddy was the coach, and he said I was good at running around the bases. I liked playing T-ball, but sometimes I would get a little distracted in the field, and a ball would roll right past me.
Whenever we played T-ball, there was usually a soccer game on another field. The soccer parents were really loud, and they would shout during the game. One week, Daddy said that all of the soccer kids seemed to be named Tyler or Taylor. The next week we saw two kids walking along, and I said, “There’s Tyler! There’s Taylor!” Daddy and Noah really laughed!
I liked physical play, and I liked to be around people. Mommy and Daddy think I would have made a good football linebacker or a good construction foreman.