You see that photo? That’s what I had to endure Christmas day and the days leading up. The poor thing was a sniffling, coughing, cranky handful! Christmas was still beautiful despite the infant-induced headaches. The best gift I received? An imprint of Nia’s hand that she made at her new daycare. I got all teary-eyed when I unwrapped it. That precious and tiny hand. And she’ll be 1 in less than two months, I can’t believe it!Of course Nia didn’t know what was going on. My dad bought her a keyboard. She also had a few other gifts, but it seemed her favorite thing to play with was the wrapping paper! Does this remind you of the
wooden spoon? Hahaha!!
It was a great day! Our family had an ‘Asian Christmas.’ We were a little sick of the traditional dishes of collard greens, yams, dressing, etc. So we suggested everyone bring an Asian influenced dish. There were egg rolls, fried rice, crab wontons, and much more. It was nice to mix things up a bit.
I hope everyone parties safe tonight.
2008 is gonna be my year, but more on that in my new year’s post.
Cheers!
Single motherhood, getting acclimated to my new job, wrapping up school, and just plain tiredness, have all contributed to the delay of this post. Several days ago Vegan Momma tagged me in a post titled “What’s One of Your Favorite Photos?” There are no specifics listed so I’m assuming this selection can be any photo I like. It was really difficult to narrow it down, and I can’t say conclusively that my selection is my absolute favorite photo of all time. But the picture makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.
This is me (age unknown, but I’m guessing around 2-years-old) and my daddy. We were in
my grandma’s kitchen in West Memphis, Arkansas. Every time I look at this picture I wonder if he was trying to get me to look at the orange, eat it, or…I just don’t know. I get nostalgic looking at this photo, remembering the many looooong road trips to my grandma’s house; spending summers with her; the huge backyard; her dogs, Vincent and Lady (who had one eye, the other was scratched out by a cat) whom she called her babies. All such good memories. So yes, this is one of my favorite pictures.
Been busy lately, wrapping up with school, starting a new job, and other projects. But primarily, the babe! Whew, she’s a handful…a happy handful 
. Got some exciting news to report. Nia signed her first word! Yes, I’ve been teaching the little darlin’ sign language, and last week she surprised me by doing the sign for milk. I was so shocked because I didn’t think it would happen this early. I mean, I did begin teaching her around 5-6 months, but it caught me by surprise nonetheless. I can’t take all the credit for her new nonverbal skill. First, I got the idea from my sister who began teaching her daughter at 9-months. Credit also goes to the Signing Time series. Currently, I only have a few taped episodes from the weekly broadcasts on PBS. As soon as I can afford it, I’m purchasing the entire DVD set. Expensive, but worth it! Not only is the series educational in terms of teaching kids sign language, but the creators also incorporate positive messages in the catchy tunes. Like, “Proud To Be Me.” We love that song ’round these parts! Check out the remix below.
Winter time is steadily approaching and Nia has outgrown her 6-9 month winter jacket. She’s only worn the thing a few times, but it seems every day the squeeze gets tighter and the sleeves shorter. It’s really starting to look ridiculous. Today my mom surprised me with a new coat for her. I new I couldn’t afford one for another couple of weeks, so this made me very happy. It doesn’t look “girly,” but the coat is something I would totally buy. I mean all the pink clothes passed down or purchased for her are really starting to get on my nerves. I’m grateful for it all, but if I see anymore pink clothing I may just puke!
Since the day I brought her home, people have mistaken Nia for a boy.
Fair enough. I know when babies are that young they tend to all look the same. When I pierced her ears at 6 months, I thought the “oh, he’s so cute” phrases would cease. Apparently there are many people out there who think it’s common for little infant boys to have both ears pierced. Anyways, I’m gonna bundle my little sweetie up in her nice, new, warm winter coat. And when someone asks, “How old is he?” I’ll just coolly say, “She is 9 months old.”
On the first day of NaBloPoMo, I stated that I would primarily focus on the subject of single motherhood for this month. Well, I often struggle with how far I should go when posting about my personal life. Since my blog is not anonymous, I don’t reveal too much. But I’m wondering if there are single mothers (or fathers) reading who can relate to my situation. My story is all too common, and it’s really unfortunate. My daughter’s father does not support her, neither emotionally nor financially. This whole concept is foreign to me (as it pertains to my personal life) because although my parents divorced when I was young, my dad was a central figure in my life. My fondest childhood memories are of outings, road trips, and just fun times in general, had with my daddy. I get my love of nature and music from him; my quirkiness, free-spiritedness and argumentative rebellious personality all come from him. As a little girl, I made him mud pies and he would happily (pretend) gobble them up. He would never get angry when I spit in his trumpet after trying so hard to squeeze out a note. My sisters and I would walk on his back after he returned home from a hard day’s work. And we felt so proud that we were making daddy’s back feel better by massaging it with our teeny little feet. I love my daddy. And even during those difficult years, when there was tension between us, he’s never failed me. He’s always been there for me, even when I didn’t make it easy to be there for. He is my definition of a man. So you can see why I would be so confused. How could a man (or woman) not be available for their child(ren)? More than anything, it is very disappointing. I don’t dwell on this often. Every now and again the hurt bubbles to the surface. But it’s not hurt because of my situation. I am more than capable of providing the love and security that my sweetie needs. I feel pain knowing that she will not have that beautiful father-daughter relationship that I was, and still am, truly blessed to have. Sometimes I get really angry. But time heals all wounds, and with each day I learn to push through the anger and begin to understand it’s his loss, not ours.
I have a huge family –6 sisters and 2 brothers– and I love them all very much. But have you ever thought about how we’re expected to show love, devotion, and allegiance to these people with whom we were randomly thrown together?
Recent Comments