January 30, 2005
Moon Song
I think it must be around a year ago (or maybe a bit less... I have to consult N), when Azmina learned the word "moon". And after the word "duck", which is most possibly the first word she ever spoke, "moon" is definitely her second favourite word. One of the first proper book she learnt was "Goodnight Moon" by Margaret Wise Brown. She began to use the word "moon" everytime she could, in inappropriate times.
"Azmina, where are we going?"
"Moooon."
"Azmina... where are we going?"
"Mooonnn."
"Where?"
"Moooonnnn."
And during a sing-a-long:
N: Baa-baa black sheep, have you any...
A: Woooollll....
N: Yes-sir, Yes-sir, three bags...
A: Fulllll...
N: One for...
A: Mama...
N: One for...
A: Papa...
N: And, one for Az...
A: Meeennnaa...
N: Who lives down the...
A: Moooooonnnnnnnnn.
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Frozen
Sometimes I think that last weekend's blizzard was not at all fair. For the amount of suffering that followed the blizzard, we didn't really have THAT much snow. Not when you compare it with the blizzard of 2002. There hasn't been any snowfall after this year's blizzard, and the period of time when the snow was fun and pretty was quite short. Blink, and you'll miss it. It was gone in a few days. The freezing temperature however, meant that the snow (now turned to ice) stayed on for several days. Buses were late in the beginning of the work week, sidewalks slippery and narrowed because of the ice, and the temperature was steadily going down. It was 5 degrees Farenheit when I left for work on Thursday. At a temperature nearly 30 degrees below freezing, you can even see a pigeon's breath. And the M15 express bus, was faithfully late, freezing the behinds of irate commuters.
Piture above is taken today. It shows a frozen lake in central park. More snow please.
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January 27, 2005
Sub-zero
How cold is it outside?
Colder than the time I walked into Starbucks and ordered a "Baaa-nana nut loaf".
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Fish
People who know me can tell you that I don’t eat fish. It’s the regular cooked ones that can make me sick. I can take McDonald’s Fish Fillet easily, but not other kinds of fillet. Fish fingers are ok, while fish cakes are not. Too fishy if you ask me.
I can actually take cooked salmon, but it would usually mean that I would have to stay off fish for about a month or so, to recover.
I am not sure whether I could actually enjoy this.
Grilled Salmon.
Put in hot grill / pan / skillet thing. Grill for a few minutes making sure not to overcook. Put in some chopped red shallots in skillet.
Posted by quickness at 01:47 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 25, 2005
YO MOMMA
A few people have said that Farizah looked more like her mother than me.
I suppose that's a good thing. We were at an airport's check-in counter one day, and being better at negotiating with airport staff, I would usually be looking after tickets, passports and stuff. When I told the person behind the ticket counter that my family was just 7 feet in front of her and to her right, she said, with a stern voice, "I NEED TO SEE THE PEOPLE TRAVELLING WITH YOU, SIR!"
That was when I realised that the reason I was tasked with this unpleasantry was because N was so much better at looking after Azmina than I was. When she saw N, she was immediately surprised. Surprised at how seemingly mismatched we were in appearance. When she saw Azmina, she just had to ask me, "Are you sure you're with them?" Still puzzled, she turned to N and Azmina and asked, "What are you doing with him?"
I kept thinking, "This is good, just entertain this woman. Don't say YO MOMMA.... Don't say YO MOMMA.... Don't say YO MOMMA"
And I didn't. And everything went quite smooth... as easy as her momma, wearing an I-DA-HO t-shirt.
Posted by quickness at 02:45 AM | Comments (2)
January 23, 2005
Before the storm
Night before the blizzard.
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January 21, 2005
Reflection
I can see myself here.
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January 18, 2005
Babies without hair reminds me of turtles
What the photos don't show is what happened in between.
Half-way into shaving her head, Farizah felt very uncomfortable and let out the most distressing cry we have ever heard. We ended up using a new triple blade shaver to hasten the process. The trimmer was as useful as an old toothbrush without a handle. We quickly lathered up her head and shouted at our own hands for not being able to do the job any quicker.
A quick look-up in google tells us that Farizah has cradle cap, a common form of dermatitis on the scalp of newborns, which should subside in a couple of weeks.
I swear, if I was given a stopwatch to measure my pulse, I could just count the poundings within my skull.
Posted by quickness at 03:07 AM | Comments (0)
January 13, 2005
The Anti-Milkaholic
I think there is a gene responsible for an affinity to milk and a gene responsible for disliking it. I am missing the former and have the latter. Azmina, on the other hand, is seriously missing the former and have bucketloads of the latter.
As time passed by she grew to loathe the bottle, and started to take hers from a glass... WITH A STRAW!!! Which is a hassle since it means we have to stop whatever we were doing and find a stationary place to pour cold milk into her cup, disguise its flavour with some nesquik powder, hold her, and wait while she sips a mere 4 ounces in 20 minutes. 4 ounces - that's half of what someone half her age would take in half that time.
I can't remember when I stopped drinking milk. I remember when I was 7, thinking "What the hell is wrong with this milk? It's a drink that comes in a carton, yet, it's flat and unsugared". I have seen ads telling children everywhere how good milk is, and so I gave it a go once in a while but I consistently got this feeling that I was being conned.
So Azmina, her milk substitute had been diluted apple juice before going to bed, and under her pediatrician's instructions, we changed it vitaminised, essential-mineralised, orange juice.
If his father's genes has its way, she can expect to stop drinking orange juice by 13, freak out at the thought of having fish in her food, enjoy sweetcorn, think having peanut butter is an inviolable human right, and would make a meal out of cream crackers and hot chilli sauce to satisfy a spice craving.
Posted by quickness at 07:37 PM | Comments (0)
January 12, 2005
Relative Calm
"Relative Calm" is how the UN sometimes describes the Blue Line in the Middle East.
Farizah can scream harder than Azmina. And just how loud is Azmina's cry? Our old neighbours once registered their concern to the building's management, asking them to look into the regular midnight screams that went on for 2-3 hours at a time. Fearing possible child abuse, they got one of the staff to inquire about the matter as I was just leaving the main elevators one morning for work. I said, "My daughter have difficulty sleeping", while trying to mold my face to say, "You don't know anything about difficult babies!!!". Yes, it had drained every ounce of my remaining energy to even think of a clever answer.
Back to Farizah. This was taken back in 28 November. It was 3:48 p.m. Fed? Check! Burped? Check! Diaper change? Check! Ambient temperature? International Ideal Temperature for Fussy Babies +/- 0.01 degrees!! Luck of a billion-dollar lottery winner who lived to be a hundred years old after leading a fulfilled life without a single sad day beside his hot wife? Check!
Relative calm. Whatever mistakes that I felt that I have made. Whatever disappointments that might have filled the rest of the 23 hours and 58 minutes of the day. This wills me to go on. This is my drug.
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January 09, 2005
Peep for my Peeps
The television shows that your children watch is often reflective of how far they have grown.
I don't really mind letting her watch t.v. as long as I know what she watches.
I am constantly in awe of how good these programmes are, if not for their amazing ability to get your child hooked. Children's t.v. programmes don't make it into Azmina's top 3 for very long - she normally outgrows them after a number of months. For this, I am glad that she would not grow into those people who supported Bryan Adam's "Everything I do, I do for you" song that managed to stay in the British charts for 17 weeks in the early 90s.
Her current favourite t.v. programme is called Peep. It's about a group of friends: a blue duck named Quack, a young bird named Chirp and a newly hatched chick named Peep. With lines like "You shouldn't put things that you find in your mouth; it might be someone's hobby", and "I am a one-and-a-half Peep-feet and a hat taller than you", and "Oh my poor blue head", I think it also caters for parents. Hell, I find myself talking to the t.v. less than during Azmina's other programmes.
It's not all laughs, however; Azmina got quite distressed when Newton the turtle got stuck in a box. Picture above shows her tears even after seeing the episode like 26 times.
Boohbah is also quite good, though it's steadily slipping from Azmina's top spot. It seems to have a greater child mind-numbing ability than the much-talked-about-handbag-totting tellytubbies. But with spongebob square pants getting so much heat these days, I wonder why Boohbah seemed to be relatively acceptable. I suppose Boohbah is not really rude without a shaft ...and another ball. And it makes everything ok once you put eyes, two hands and a pair of legs to something like that.
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January 08, 2005
B-I-N-G-O
What would happen when your two-year old daughter saw the film "Finding Nemo" before ever listening to the children's song "Bingo"?
Answer: She would think Nemo is spelt B-I-N-G-O.
There is a phrase where it goes, "B-I-N-G-O... and Bingo was its name-o". As far as Azmina is concerned, "Bingo was its" could easily mean "that's how you spell". Just as we had trouble a few months ago in teaching her the difference between the letter M and N, she still thinks "name-o" and Nemo are one and the same.
At times, I would ask her what B-I-N-G-O would spell, and Azmina would answer Nemo (as opposed to name-o) every time.. without fail... in full self-confidence.
The choice between correcting your child and leaving them for your amusement is one of the perks of being a parent.
Posted by quickness at 01:29 AM | Comments (0)
January 05, 2005
Sisters
The other day Azmina cried at the thought that some harm could fall unto her sister.
“NOOO!!!!” she shouted, pleading, breaking into tears.
That was one of the first instances she used the word other than to mean defiance or “not at all”.
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