My dad scanned in some photos of me from the ages of my embarrassing diaries, so now I have illustrations. I added the two photos below to the I LOVE DAVID!!!! post and to the I LOVE CHRISTOPHER!!!! post, but since we’re done with those posts I’m also posting the photos here:
Swistle, age 11
(braces)
(turtleneck and vest)
(growing out bangs)
(undereye circles EVEN THEN)
Swistle age 12
(just got braces off that day)
(the orthodontist hadn’t told me he was going to)
(gave up on growing out bangs)
(unfortunately, double cowlick immediately reminded me why I’d been growing them out)
You still look the same! That has to be good for something, right? :)
And I have a cowlick on my hairline too – why is why I can never do bangs. Now, in 1987 when they did the high bang wave thing, I was HAWT.
I think you look like yourself now at age 11, but not at age 12. I wonder why.
LOVE the pics! My kids all have a double cowlick, lucky for them, they’re boys. I have widow’s peaks, which is exactly why I have bangs.
Cute pics! I’m digging your yellow vest (for real).
What does that shirt say?
The Goonies Are In
Aww, “baby” Swistle. I love it. And I agree, you still look very much the same. Boo on you who don’t age.
Jess- It might be the bangs. Or the braids.
T2ed- The t-shirt says “Tin Grins are In.” I used to wear it to orthodontist appointments. It looked PRETTY SILLY after he took the braces off.
What a cutie!
I love old pics! Ah, childhood…
You’ve got the same wonderful smile in both pictures that you have in “real life.”
Look at you! You are so cute! And blond!
Awww, I love this.
aw, i want to give baby swistle a big hug.
not that i’m sure you’re not totally huggable as an adult but after reading about her inner angst, i want to hug her and maybe split a brownie sundae.
I want my 12 year old self to hang out with your 12 year old self.
i think our 11/12 year old selves would have gotten along famously. although you @ 11 was FAR MORE ADVANCED in the ways of Boys and Love than my 11 year old self :-)
I think you look so different in the two photos. I’d agree that you look more like you do now at age 11 than age 12… isn’t it weird to look at the face of your previous self? I have pictures of me that are HORRIBLE! and I remember at the time thinking I looked cool, and that all the adults that had tried to guide me from looking like an idiot were UNenlightened. =)
If you’d gone to my school, you’d have been considered a hotty.
So cute!! Pictures of me at that age are…humiliating, to say the least. Hopefully there are very few left in existence, if any at all.
Oh Lord, you are so CUTE! I myself have banished all pictures of me from age nine to age fifteen from ever seeing the light of day again. Braces, glasses, huge, puffy hair, no fashion sense whatsoever… It is gawky to the MAX.
You are adorable – then and now!
Swistle, you are ADORABLE. So cute. I wonder how much Elizabeth will look like you in another 9 years. I think she already looks a lot like those pictures.
You look adorable.
Such a cute girl. Hey – I’ve had dark circles since before I hit puberty also, my mom alway said it was our delicate skin under our eyes (saying so to relieve the guilt of this that she passed down the gene pool). Have you ever found a sufficient concealer and base combination to be happy with? I’ve tried what feels like millions.
Awwww… how cute. I remember the days of turtlenecks and vests. Of course my vest was peach. And I loved it. Here’s hoping no one has evidence of this vest today….
I can totally see you in the 11 yo pick but not the 12. weird. I think the diary thing is cute too, not so barfy as Im sure they seem to you.
I LOVE SWISTLE!!!!!
We’re roughly the same age…and I have a picture JUST LIKE THAT TREE PIC! Sitting in the Y of a young tree. With braces, and a purple and white striped (big horizontal stripes) long-sleeved polo. And tapered jeans.
HA! Thanks for the trip down memory lane!
Marie Green- YES, I think it’s so weird to see these photos! I feel unfamiliar with my own self!
Desperate Housewife- I was very, very lucky and got my 12-year molars by the time I was 8—which meant I got braces at age 9 when they were COOL and TEENAGERY, and got them off before I was an actual teenager. That helped a LOT with the awkward stage.
Omaha Mama- It seems like all the concealers I’ve tried are either insufficient or cakey/cracky. I’ve mostly given up. I use a plain concealer stick (either a yellowish one or a “fair” one) for dressy occasions, but otherwise don’t.