Thursday, March 19, 2009

Desi Candor

While reading the Children’s Friend one Sunday afternoon with Sister Welling (during a visit to Astana) she pointed to a picture of the prophet and asked Desi who it was, “Thomas Baracka?” He replied.

What will you do with those nursing things when you don’t have a baby anymore?

“I’ll give you 3 birthday hugs Zoe! “ After Nathan gave her 3 birthday body slams and I gave her 3 birthday spankings.

“Mom! Blow on my tongue!” After eating spicy noodles.

When we visit Almaty we get to go to church in a branch with a primary. I was prepping Des for the eventuality of separating for our classes and he sighed, “I wish Ayden and Porter got out of your belly too like me and Zoe.” He wished he had his primary friends with him!

“My eyes are making me close my eyes.” He was getting sleepy on the bus in Almaty.

After watching the “Little Mermaid” with Des&Zoe (thanksmom!) I jokingly turned to Des and asked him if he was going to have a happy ending. He replied confidently, “I’m not going to have an ending to my dreams!”

Zoe and I made a deal – we’re brothers now.

Mom, I’m warm everywhere except my freckles. [I thought of you AuntieHolly when he said this!]

I want to go back to Alien World where there’s no mothers.

During a Family Home Evening Q&A session, Des raised his hand enthusiastically and shouted, “I know, I know! Zoe doesn’t know anything, she’ll just talk about ballerina stuff.” [I can’t tell you how many parts of me bristled when he said this!]

Des put his arm over Zoe’s shoulder, “We’re buddies.” He thought they both looked alike after gooping their hair with gel and brushing it off to the side.

While watching the trailers leading up to a movie, Desi laughed and said, “That is funny-delicious, I wish i could eat that movie!”

The best present I love is kisses.

When Des is overflowing with littleboyengery he usually chants, “I like to move it, move it Africaanski!”

“Karate chop action!” Then he usually kicks a door open or something.

Out of the bedroom I hear Desi shout happily to Zoe, “Thanks for saving me you darling girl!”

I had a dream and mom gave me a lollipop and I was licking it all pretend-y and then I woke up licking my hand.

Zoe en Voice

I want ponytails – I gonna be so dressy!

After brushing her teeth she inhaled and exhaled happily and said, “My breath feels clean and nice”.

“I want hairback.” She has a hairy back and she loves to have Nathan, who started it as a joke, tug on her little hairs. It calms her.

I love you Desi so much!

I asked Zoe what her nickname was and after thinking for a minute she replied, “It’s in my mouth and it’s soso big!”

I had a good dream about ponies.

In a voice of protest: “Desi sing happy birthday to me – i don’t want him talk to me!”

“My nose snuffy!” Then after a bitty puff into a tissue she sniffed and said, “ahhhhh . . . . yummy!”

After getting a little wound on her finger she told me, “I saw my blood and it was scaaaaary!”

That is a yummy kiss!

Mommy, put pink clothes on me please!!

During playtime with Desi, Zoe did something to upset him and she followed him around for 2minutes asking him in a cheery voice, “Desi do you like me? Desi do you like me? Desi are you liking me?” Des told her he needed a little rest and then maybe he would (after that he asked her to fetch him a beverage.)

Jesus can turn me into a baby with his magic wand.

“I love to eat my cry. I love it!” Salty tears are tasty.



Sunday, March 08, 2009

The world is my oyster . . . that is unless I don’t speak the language

A long year has just passed.

We uprooted ourselves with great difficulty from New York. It’s hard to leave the place and people you love for the unknown, those friendless places. The four of us gathered close to each other, fenced in by our 17 parcels of possessions, and have tried to accustom ourselves with this part of the earth.

I can’t say I’ve done well or that I know what this lingering year has meant to me and my family relationships. Have I grown the way I should? How do I compute the self-discovery regularly accompanied by self-loathing? The dreamy and provincial alongside subtexts of the lonely and nightmarish; the simplicity that has absorbed our lives and bloated it with hollowness and boredom? I look at all this and wonder if I am to understand that this reduced place – without imagination, without ambition – is what happens when I do not have people around me in abundance. People that I can exchange life and air and words with.

But still, all this time we’ve spent here and I have not settled in on what to think about it, what the ruling will be. I can’t completely evaluate it, I suppose, while still in the middle and muddle of it. I do hope, really hope, that the soft tongue of memory and distance will in the end produce a pearl, which will be luminous and valuable to me.