I so wanted this post to be about a movie. I had hoped, somehow that I would take my mother-in-law to the video shop and she would pick out some obscure Japanese gem that I'd seen on the shelf a hundred times but never bothered to watch. We would take it home and it would become my favourite film of that era, or some other qualifier. Alas it was not to be. My mother-in-law was determined to avoid anything Japanese during her visit. They arrived last Friday. Sissy and I picked them up from the airport. I welcomed them back, and did you have a nice flight and all that. Ali simply said, "I want a rice cooker". Ali is no nonsense. I pitched my new movie idea to her, but she said it wouldn't get greenlit. She said it didn't have an ending, or at least a good one. Granted, I've only come up with a rough outline so far, but if I go ahead with this one, I'm gonna make sure I get in with the right people this time.
We dropped her mum in Manhattan with both her suitcases - the one with her clothes and the empty one, and went back to Newark. Foxy made it known right from the start that she doesn't do cribs, so she slept in the bed with Ali for a few days and I stayed on the settee. Finally, I realized that I could dismantle the crib and Foxy could sleep on the floor. On Tuesday night I came home from Costco with a rice cooker, and took apart the crib. Now Foxy is happy - happy as a bug on a rug, literally.
Monday night I was supposed to go to Costco, but I had a rare moment of forgetfulness and went straight home. I wanted to see my baby. It's a good thing too, because I wasn't even through my second bite of chijimi when I noticed a message on the machine. It was Ali:
Can you come and get us? We are in Bayou... at the Walgreen's. We'll be ready in forty-five minutes.
What? I checked the call display. 243. She was in Bayonne, and luckily there's only one Walgreen's in Bayonne. Why she couldn't go to the regular Walgreen's I didn't understand. The time stamp was 5:57, I checked my watch. The call was only a few minutes old. I scarfed down the rest of the pancake and grabbed my keys. When I finally got to Bayonne, sure enough they were in front of Walgreen's. She explained on the ride home that the cab driver didn't understand her when she asked to go to Walgreen's, but eventually figured it out but took her to the one in Bayonne instead.
Wednesday night, I was the last one to leave the office and the boss had given me the wrong instructions for the alarm. The key-lock is one of those ass-backwards kinds, and the security code is very similar to OP's address. All these details led to me not clearing the area before the timer reached zero. My ear drums were assaulted and I couldn't breathe for a few seconds - like when I jumped out of an airplane. Sometimes I forget to breathe. Luckily, my boss was next door so I only had to go get him to come back and turn off the squeaker. By the time I got down two flights of stairs and out the door the security guards were already there. Hallowe'en, right? My face was red. My boss fixed everything and the security guards went on their merry way.
Thursday, Bobby took us out for Korean food, Ali's mum's favourite. Foxy was such a good baby except for the time when Bobby jammed Foxy's head against a picture frame with a pronounced upswing. After her cry, she went right to sleep so it was a good thing. By the time my mother-in-law left the next day, she was toting two very full, heavy cases. When Ali told me that her mum and dad were already planning their next trip, I joked that they should come during Fashion Week next time. I think her mum might bring more than one empty case next time.
So my baby has Richie Rich legs. Which is a little weird because when she wears tights, she looks like the general image of the Mother Goose character Humpty Dumpty. I laugh and I laugh at my Humpty Dumpty baby which makes her laugh and laugh at whatever five-month old babies laugh at. Randy and his fiancée came by today and gave Foxy some baby Uggs. We haven't quite figured out quite how to put them on her yet. It's a good thing I clipped her nails today. That's a first. And by the looks of her toes, it was a first for her too. My mum always told me you're supposed to bite a baby's nails off, and I did that for one of Foxy's thumbs in Japan, but Ali is already using scissors on Foxy. One of her toenails was approaching the definition of a claw, so I'm glad I cut that one. I'm also getting quite good at changing diapers. Actually, it's only a half-change because I get a fresh canvas so to speak. Foxy comes straight out of the bath so I don't have to deal with any messy wipes or nutella-filled nappies or anything. I just learned how to get her to stop crying by holding her. She likes to be a little off-centre and below the shoulder but I have to do quad stretches at the same time. I guess she likes the up and down pogo action. She doesn't like to stand still. She is so my daughter.
