Antics from the Kiddies

Originally posted Feb 25, 2005

Good morning! My dear mother is finishing up her visit with us and is headed south, INTO the snow for Lake Charles, LA for a spell. So, what better time than now? Let's have some stories about the kiddies to send her on her way.

Isabel Marie has taken a cue from her Ate (elder sister) and has been quite the playful one with her Lola (grandmother), whereas the last visit from Mom, Isabel took a long time to warm up to her, this time, Isabel presented herself right away and commenced to play ring-around-the-rosies and other such games. Mom was surprised and pleased beyond measure (but she contained herself well, unlike me, see the following).

Diane took the girls shoe-shopping, and, they returned home before I left for work (I exercise in the morning, you see). In walked Elena Marie with her new shoes, and I just had to burst out: "ELENA MARIE, YOU'RE WEARING SOOO CUTE PINK, PINK SHOOOOOoOooooOoOOooOooES!" So, Elena Marie, not being able to contain herself, either, ran off to her room, peals of laugher bursting forth from her, to hide herself and her brand new pink shoes from her papa.

Meanwhile, Isabel needed to remove her pink sneakers, so we sat down to do just that. Isabel was very helpful: she would raise her leg as high as she could (from her seated position), which turned out to be a whole 2 millimeters, to help me in my task of removing her footwear. As she did this for each foot in turn, she would look at me with an expectant, suppressed, smile on her lips: "Do you see me helping, Papa?" is what I assumed she was thinking.

But it turns out that Elena Marie hasn't been feeling all that peppy: instead of sitting down for lunch, she had me hold her in my arms and rock her "to sleep" ("I'm sleeping, Papa. Look at me sleeping, Papa. Papa, sing me to sleep on the rocking chair" -- that's Elena Marie sleeping ... right). And she actually did sleep through supper (we went out to Thai Pilin, the best Thai food in the U.S.A. -- unfortunately, tonight (last night?) the drunken noodles were not at all spicy (both Mother and Isabel disagree with me -- Mom asked to try my dish, much to her chagrin, and Isabel grabbed a string bean from my plate, only to return it right away after tasting it as a look of intense discomfort crossed her face), only waking after we finished as we walked out into the cold, driving snow. The poor girl was shaking so badly as I put her into her carseat that my heart must have missed a beat or two in my anxiety for her.

She'll be fine, she and Mother invented this new game called "Oh, where is my granddaughter?" Elena Marie would run to her room to hide, and Mom would sing out this call, which, after a couple of essays, would bring Elena Marie bounding into the room, bursting out, "Here I am!" in very short order. This game seems to have many rounds to it and is a source of delight to all (three) participants (Isabel would join in by following or leading her Ate in these disappearances and reappearances, smiling joyfully the whole time).

So, God speed, Mother, your apo (grandchildren) had a great time with you on this visit.