Briton Part 2 and More

Four years ago, I thought we had finished adding children to our family. When I found out I was pregnant with our sixth child I was in shock! I had plans to do things that did not include little people and honestly, I was simply mentally moving on.

And then came Briton. The cutest, most adorable little boy in the world! From the get go this little guy had us wound around his little finger. He has always had his own pace in life. He began walking at 15 months, while the majority of his brothers were cruising between 6 and 9 months!! He refused to take a bottle - to the point that he screamed blue murder if I dared to try to convince him to take one. His nights were so short - 10 hours long! This made the days with him very long. But it was all worth it. He was simply a very sweet little boy.


Briton was such a placid little baby that I was able to take him to Cassidy's acting jobs. The people on the sets loved him!


One day, I was talking to a few people that were standing around and they were oohing and ahhing over Briton. This one guy was taken with Briton, so I asked him if he wanted to hold him. He immediately reached out for him and then kissed him. He told me that his baby girl was at home in England and he missed her. I figured he was one of the carpenters of the set because that was the main guys I was talking to.

It wasn't until a little later, when he was gone, that I discovered he was one of the two main actors: Paul Bettany playing opposite Harrison Ford, in Firewall! In case you aren't sure who Paul Bettany is, he is a huge actor: The Secret Life of Bees, Inkheart, Iron Man, The Da Vinci Code and much more.


This was the movie where Cassidy played the main boy actor's double.


Briton had plenty of big brothers to dote on him. They loved to take him for spins around our big kitchen on his little toy bike. One of these spins spun out of control and he slid across the floor. It wasn't until the next day that we discovered that something was wrong with his wrist. I took him into the hospital and they xrayed his arm. Nothing wrong, so they said, and sent him home. I ended up returning to the hospital and told them something was definitely wrong with this baby! They rexrayed and discovered that his wrist was broken.

They put a short arm cast on and I told them I didn't think that was a great idea! Well, I was right. I was back the following day with the cast in hand. This time they put another one on - the same kind! Duh! I was back the following day - cast in hand. This time the doctor decided to put on a tensor bandage, complete with metal clips. I left the hospital and was back within hours, after my son gagged on the clips that he pulled off the bandage with his teeth! (The hospital policy changed from then on about putting tensor bandages and clips on little babies! Truth! No kidding!)

This time the doctor listened to me and put a full arm cast on. They called him Houdini cause he could remove any cast they put on him. *laugh*. He was only 14 months old.

Briton has always been a rough and tumble little guy! He had three sets of stitches within about 6 weeks! Each time he fell and smacked one of his eyebrows while trying to learn to walk! The last two times they just glued his eyebrow together!

I'm Stuck and Can't Get Up!

For some reason from when Briton was one year old til he was about 2.5 years he rarely walked. He was always on someone's back. He was constantly being piggybacked. From Dane, to Cassidy, to Austin (who was only 6 years old), he was always attached to someone.




When Briton was three years old, he decided to cut his hair. After a year it had grown back and it was so sweet. He had nice long bangs - finally!

Three Year Old Hair Cut

And then the other morning, Sunday morning no less, I discovered he had cut his hair when he was in his bed the night before! Of course, being last minute, I had no time to repair his hair before we left for church!

Four Year Old Hair Cut

Repaired Hair

I am sad that Briton is getting so big! He keeps us laughing, and one day I will post a video so you can hear his unique language that keeps us guessing. If you could see this child go you would understand why we shake our heads - even Raine just looks at me and shakes her head, cause she finds Briton so amusing.

One day, I came into the girls' bedroom, and I sat down on one of the beds to talk to them. I was there about five or ten minutes, and suddenly, from beneath the other bed, immerged Briton. Crazy kid! Neither had told me he was there and who knows why he was under there! *laugh* One day I will blog some Briton stories cause there are so many of them. Who would have ever known that the quiet little boy he was would turn into the crazy little dynamo that he is now?

And it is hard to get mad at him cause so much of what he does is for fun or because he is just plain goofy. He adores the girls and they eat up all his silliness. He watched the Air Buddies, Space Buddies, and Snow Buddies movies and then proceeded to be a puppy for days. Do you know how much mischief children get into that believe they are puppies?

Here is an example of how he melts my heart. Last night, he was feeling sick. Out of the blue he got ill (after six months with not a cold in our house!) He spent the evening on the couch with his bowl and blankets. Later that night, when I went to bed, he woke up and was feeling thirsty. He has a bed in our room and so he went into our bathroom and then went back to bed.

I was brushing my teeth to go to bed and as he walked by my closet he reached to turn out the light. Each night, when we put him to bed, we turn on the closet light cause he is scared of 'behs' (bears).

I said, "No, Briton. I need the light." (cause it was the only light illuminating my bathroom.)

He looked at me and said with concern, "Oh. Behs? Behs (bears), Mama?"

How sweet is he! He figured I must be scared of the bears, too! *grin*

This morning, Briton wanted me to open the magnet set. I said to him, "You aren't going to put it near your mouth are you? "

He looked at me and said, "Oh, germies?" (NEW WORD! *smile*) We all get so excited when Briton learns a new word that we can understand. I look over at Dane and he is grinning. He knows Briton's accomplishment.

I then tell Briton that he can choke on ithe magnets. As he walks away looking into the open box, he smiles and says, " 'weet." (sweet!) Too cute!

This morning, I was getting ready to take the kids to the coast tomorrow. I am taking all the kids, except Savannah and Briton. They are too little and they would not appreciate the theatre. Though Briton can't enunciate that we are going, he can understand that the car is involved. He keeps asking to go in his typical sweet voice. No whining, simply trying to figure it out.

"OH, Dada, oh ver mahr?" Oh, daddy is going in the car?

"No, Daddy is not going."

"Mummy, me ver mahr, yes." Mummy, I am going in the car, yes?

A little later, he tried another approach.

"Bye, Mum, me ver marh." Bye Mum, I am going in the car.

He headed up to his room, and I thought that might be the end of it. I wondered what he was up to. About ten minutes later, he arrived back downstairs dragging his backpack and wearing a big smile.

Toys and Underwear - the Essential Travel Items!

"Yes, me go ver marh, mum?" Yes, I go in the car, Mum?

I didn't answer, as I was writing his words down. He got a little more earnest trying to ensure he was actually going to get to go, since he had packed his own bag.

"Mum, me go ver mahr! Yes!" He never once lost his happy little voice. And I wonder why we all adore him?! (Oh, yes, he has his miserable moments, when he gets tired of not being able to communicate, but usually he is so happy.)
He then got all excited, probably from my lack of saying No, and said, "Bye Mum, me go ver mahr." He proceeded to walk around all morning with his backpack full of toys and a pair of underwear on his back.

Thankfully, we will be leaving in the morning before he is awake. I would hate to see his little heart break. I have told him that he and Daddy and Savannah will have a fun time together.

He didn't let his back pack out of his site, even when he was sleeping. And the moment he woke up: "Mama, me ver mahr?" With such a sad face.

I am so thankful that God sent our little Briton! Yes, he keeps me hopping, and yes, he probably could be a lot more structured and calmer, but then life wouldn't be quite as fun!

So to finish, let me add to my birthday post of yesterday:

For Briton's birthday this year I had the boys think of things they could do for him, rather than wasting money on dollar toys (junk) that was just clutter around the house.

I think it was a great idea and will continue to do this because of the joy I saw in Cooper, as he rushed upstairs to make Briton's bed. Then Colt decided to give Briton an ATV ride and have him help him plow the driveway.

Ready For His Ride

It lasted for about two swipes of the driveway before Briton decided he would rather be in the warm house. But it was the thought that counted!! *smile*
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