Posts Tagged ‘DearMonkey’
Torches and waterslides
Well, Monkey, it’d been over a month since the last time you swam in a pool, and I thought it high time we went for a swim. In fact, it was so overdue that I felt it was also a good time to go for a Surprise Weekend. And that’s a big deal, because it’s been almost a year and a half since our last one.
Why so long? It’s been a number of things. First, I worked a lot, and too hard. It wore me down and I was almost always too tired to do things that we should have done. It’s a poor excuse, Monkey, and I’m sorry that it’s all I have to offer. Second, doing things in Costa Rica was always just that much harder than it really needed to be, at least when planning for us. You can only go to Arenal so many times, and getting to the coast never seemed to be as easy for us as it was for others. After a while, we planned all of our weekends, rather than letting one of us surprise the rest.
Needless to say, I wanted to change things up a bit.
There and back again, a Monkey’s tail
This is a joke you might not understand until you’re older, Monkey. For now, it’s one many of my friends will have a good chuckle at…
You’re asleep right now, in your own room, on the mattress from one of our sofa beds. A month ago right now, you and we were standing in the immigration line, waiting to enter your country of origin, and go to your new home. I can’t say “home” the way Mommy and I say “home”, because for you, this isn’t your home. Costa Rica is more your home than here.
You still look at video of our condo in Santa Ana, and you ask when are we going home. Because that’s what you know more of. We left Canada when you weren’t even a year old. You learned to walk in Costa Rica, to swim, to talk. Almost all of your friends are in Costa Rica, you went to school there. You ask for “schoolday”, and talk about your teachers.
But you came a long way to be able to say these things, and have these memories.
The trip home
Well, Monkey, we’re home now. I know it doesn’t seem like it to you, because you’ve lived in three different homes since you were born. But this house, the one in Calgary (where we’re currently adjusting to serious sub-zero temperatures and drying out) is a home we hope you’ll come to know and love.
It’s not Costa Rica. It’s not always warm. It’s not filled with the sounds of parakeets, or tropical rainstorms, or filled with Spanish-speaking voices. This is the Great White North. It’s chilly for most of the year, leaves are seen for only five months, and the only monkeys you’ll see are at the zoo. It’s going to be an adjustment for you, and for Mommy and I, too.
It was a long road to get here.
Brother or sister?
Well, Monkey, today we’d hoped to find out whether or not your sibling-to-be will be a boy or a girl. At this point, we don’t know if you’ll have a little sister or a little brother. All we do know is that whatever the sex of your younger sibling is, they’re healthy and moving.
In fact, they’re so healthy and moving that they made it difficult to get a good view of them on the ultrasound. The doctor/ultrasound operator couldn’t see “boy” or “girl” because the baby kept moving so much.
Moving around constantly and being difficult? Yep, that sounds like a Sowrey, alright…
I hate to leave you in the morning
The smile on your face outshines the sun
As I walk into your room
The sweet sound of “daddy”
You tell me of your dreams in a language I don’t speak
But the wonder is clear
Changed and ready for the day to come
You gigglescream from your room
Searching for Mommy, kitty, Horton, Mog, Ya Yas
You used to sign for milking a cow
Now it’s “juice”
You are always excited to eat
You bring me books
You bring me frogs
You bring me toys
You want me to play
You want me to stay
You want me today
But I have to go to work
I have to leave you
I see your childhood slipping away
We eat
Together
For a few short minutes
Make coffee
Gather lunch
Brush teeth
Fill bag
Carpool in five minutes
Mommy sits with you
Reading
Colouring
Laughing
Hugging
Have you forgotten me already?
Am I but a ghost in your life?
Quick hug
Kiss
Royal wave
“Bye bye Daddy”
I hate to leave you in the morning
Day of the Ya Ya
Well, Monkey, today was your Ya Ya day. In case you don’t remember what “Ya Yas” are when you get around to reading this, this is your name for The Backyardigans. And a couple of weeks ago, Mommy noticed there were commercials on TV for a live show, about a half second after you screamed “YA YAS!!”.
Naturally, that evolved quickly to us getting tickets for the show, which was today. I think both Mommy and I had an idea of what we were going to get into, but having never been to an “infantil” show before, there was a considerable amount of guessing.
Los Terribles 2
Well, Monkey, you’ve hit the period of your life that Mommy and I kind of hoped you’d side-step. Until recently, you showed every sign of being a Perfect Angel™ and not following lock-step with most other children. But perhaps we were being too naïve, too optimisitic. After all, despite my initial (self-mocking) perspective on your conception, you’ve pretty much blown through every expectation.
In fact, up until a couple of weeks ago, you seemed pretty much hell-bent on being the perfect child. I had visions of you always coming to us for permission to watch TV or use the computer, letting us know the moment you found something on the internet that you shouldn’t be seeing, letting us know before you go outside to play with your friends, looking for approval before even thinking about dating, letting us help decide where you go for university…
Well, kiddo, based on your behaviour the last weekend, I’ll be lucky if you let me watch Backyardigans with you. Yeesh.
Happy 2nd birthday, Monkey
Today, you turned 2, Monkey. It’s almost hard to believe that it’s been two years, and yet those two years seem to have disappeared in a blink. You’ve spent just over half of your life (to date) here in Costa Rica, and I wonder if you even remember Canada. One day, I suppose, we’ll be wondering if you remember Costa Rica.
Your day started off with all of us getting up early … well, early for a weekend, anyway. We had to make breakfast, cut up fruit, make hibiscus tea, make salsas, and decorate the louge area up by the pool for your birthday party! I wonder if you’ll remember this, too?
Well, even if you don’t, we took lots of pictures and movies.
Snot and coffee
Well, Monkey, the last week’s been quite the slog. Last Saturday, you started showing signs of being sick, having caught something from one of your schoolmates. It basically turned you into a bonafide snot factory. (One upside: you’ve learned how to wipe your own nose. Now if we can just figure out how to make you blow it, too.)
The bug hit me next, kicking in on Tuesday, and then taking me down on Thursday and half of Friday (I didn’t sleep at all Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday nights, partly due to your coughing and partly due to feeling so crappy.) Mommy caught it next, and her illness really kicked in on Friday, and is just coming out of her illness today.
The group of us effectively played “Sick Family Robinson”, holing up and trying to keep our wits, all the while trying not to spread the sickness to Grandma.
Parenthood, round two?
Hey Monkey, today is an auspicious day. Today, with some luck, you’ve officially started being a Big Sister. Today, Mommy and I found out that we’re going to be parents again.
Well, not that we aren’t already parents. You’ve been the light in our lives for (almost) two years, and each and every day with you has been such a joy. Really. This isn’t some crazy platitude that parents are forced to tell their children to make them feel good. This is truth, as honest as it gets. You are wonderful. You are more perfect than either your mother or I could ever have dreamed.
Which sometimes makes me wonder what your sibling will be like…
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