Oh my god. You were the kid version of Forrest Gump, and also the Soggy Bottom Boy who wasn’t George Clooney or John Turturo. How did you do that? Time machine? Accelerated aging?

By Backpacking Dad on 06.25.08 4:33 pm

cute neil! when u traveling here…just a few hours by car!

By stepping over the junk on 06.25.08 4:33 pm

My mom let me have my first perm when I was five-years-old. “Annie” didn’t really hide anything for me…and I’m pretty sure the chemicals caused permanent brain damage.

By Pants on 06.25.08 5:05 pm

I loved this.

By Angella on 06.25.08 5:30 pm

When my beautiful baby girl was three months old, her lovely little ears seemed to suddenly pop out from her head and her big blue eyes seemed to open even wider. A bit too wide She looked perpetually surprised or alarmed. And the popped out ears made her look like a fruit bat.

I used to take those satin baby headbands they sell for babies and pop them over her ears to hold them flat in portraits. But don’t tell anyone because I’m her mother and trivial things like angle of ear attachement are not supposed to influence maternal adoration in the least.

P.S. She’s almost 11 now and no longer looks like a fruit bat.

By V-Grrrl on 06.25.08 6:34 pm

Aw, you’re so cute. My Dad had his ears pinned. I have no idea what that means, but it sounds horrid. I’m so glad that my kids didn’t inherit whatever gene calls for ear pinning!

By anymommy on 06.25.08 6:55 pm

AnyMommy — ear pinned? Is your father still around? If he is, you must ask him what the hell that means!

By Neil on 06.25.08 6:57 pm

My ears aren’t big, but they stick out. That’s why I always wore my hair long enough to cover them, until about 10 years ago, when I said what the heck - they are what they are.

By kenju on 06.25.08 7:19 pm

if I remember correctly, you grew into them nicely.

By Anonymous City Girl on 06.25.08 7:25 pm

I love post secret.

By Non-Highlighted Heather on 06.25.08 7:31 pm

You are adorable. Exquisitely made.

By Dana on 06.25.08 7:35 pm

very cute, you know what they say about boys with big ears right?

they can hear you better.

By piglet on 06.25.08 8:39 pm

You know what they say about “big ears”? That you usually have big hands and feet too…and whatever Mrs Kramer said.

By Artful Kisser on 06.25.08 8:42 pm

And I always did too because some boy I liked in 5th grade told me I had big ears.

By sizzle on 06.25.08 9:26 pm

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-349917/I-ears-pinned–fell-off.html

By cruisin-mom on 06.25.08 10:18 pm

so were your ears so big a life jacket wouldn’t fit over them?

By better safe than sorry on 06.26.08 3:07 am

I think you were adorable! It’s terrible thing the things we see about ourselves that others pay little mind too.

By Lady Jaye on 06.26.08 3:45 am

Cruisin — thanks, I didn’t know “big ears” was such a common issue.

By Neil on 06.26.08 4:45 am

So basically you never did smile did you?

By Finn on 06.26.08 5:46 am

Big ears = non-issue. Thanks to Barack Obama, you’re now de rigeur.

By Nance on 06.26.08 6:24 am

Finn — back before I talked to girls, smiling was deemed uncool.

Nance - You are right. I’m going to vote for Obama, not because he’s black, but because he has those big ears! Who would ever believe that the Democratic battle would have been between a bitchy woman and a black guy with big ears? Now, that is America!

By Neil on 06.26.08 6:52 am

How flippin’ cute were you?!

By MammaLoves on 06.26.08 6:59 am

I love people’s “flaws” most of all. That’s why I don’t like plastic surgery, it takes away the things that make people the most interesting.

By churlita on 06.26.08 7:17 am

You’re living proof that people can grow into their ears!

By Atomic Bombshell on 06.26.08 8:01 am

ahahahah!

By ali on 06.26.08 8:17 am

my dad used to say the reason he played basketball and not football in school was because the football helmet wouldn’t fit over his ears. that is what this picture made me think of. and i hadn’t thought of that old family joke in years!

By natalie on 06.26.08 9:29 am

Oh my - you were cute as a button!!! And judging from current pics you are utterly proportional these days… that said, how traumatic is anything that makes us feel ‘different’ when we are kids? Well, I guess it depends on your neurosis quotient- so in my family ‘high’. I had a giant head - there is nothing that can be grown to cover that defect. I just walked around with it.

By Zombie Mom on 06.26.08 9:45 am

Um, yikes, after reading that article from Cruisin Mom, I learned a new word - otoplasty. Google ears pinned. Scary. Dad claims it’s legit, but he always defends his mom. I think he fears her spirit.

I am very glad no one performed cruel procedures on your ears, Neil. You look perfect. And, I’m with Churlita, flaws are what make us who we are.

By anymommy on 06.26.08 11:16 am