New Do

Niko has been pulling at her hair lately.  She ends up with an endless amount of hair plastered all over her face, hands, clothes, just everywhere.  I'm constantly pulling hair out of her mouth and eyes.

So I decided that it's time I gave Niko her very first hair cut.  I just didn't have the heart to cut her hair until now. But she did have a crazy amount of hair, that loudly emphasized the unsteady jerky motions of her head.  I don't know the first thing about cutting hair, and I didn't think Niko would last more than one second in a salon chair.  So I gave it a go at home.  I heard from someone, a long time ago, that to give a nice natural hair cut, simply pull all the hair back into a ponytail and then chop it all off at once.  So that is what I did.  What I did NOT expect was to find Niko sporting a perfect graduated bob after the chop.

She looked ridiculous.  It was so exaggerated.  She looked like she went into Vidal Sassoon with a magazine clip out of Victoria Beckham and demanded, "I want this look."

Niko's bangs were super long.  Pulling them straight, they reached passed her chin.  Without exaggeration, after the first chop, her hair looked exactly like this photo above.  I couldn't stop laughing.  It looked absolutely ridiculous to see a graduated bob on a baby who doesn't look a day over 9 months old.  

So I had to fix the Posh Spice situation.  I then blindly snipped here and there while Niko whipped her head wildly left and right.  She ended up with cute short bangs and a brand new do.  

To the woman in the Cheetah Faux Fur… Thank you!

A couple weeks ago, I decided to walk around downtown with Niko.  Niko loves crowds.  In densely populated spaces, like the bus, the airport, or the streets of downtown, her eyes brighten, her body straightens in alert attentiveness, even her neck is visible for brief moments.  So I took her for a casual stroll through downtown, a fun mother/daughter walk.  

On this afternoon, the streets contained the quiet excitement of people shopping the New Year sales.  The murmur of enthusiastic conversations was heard in the cadence of different languages.  I stopped at a street bench to give Niko a feeding.  I shared a bench with a woman.  I didn't really pay any attention to her but I felt the familiar weight of inquisitive stranger eyes on us.

"How did your daughter get blonde hair?"

I looked up and answered, "My husband's mother is blonde."  I didn't think that a complete stranger needed the full I-Cell education.

She looked dissatisfied.  She twisted her lips, "Hmmm…."  I can tell she wasn't going to let that simple answer stop this curious conversation.  She looked at me as if to say, "Come on lady, what else have you got for me?" 

Oh should I have said this?  "You mean you haven't heard of I-Cell Disease.  I-Cell children usually have fair skin and light hair despite parent colouring."

Instead she asked me, "Have you heard of [something-something-sia]?"  I wish I can remember the term she used.  I'd look it up.

"No, what is that?"

"It's a condition where a pregnant mother, under extreme stress, can cause birth defects.  Because your daughter looks like she's got down syndrome."    

Um ok, not only are you suggesting that this was potentially all my fault, but it was entirely preventable?!!

"No she doesn't have down syndrome.  She has another disease." 

"What does she have?"

"It's called I-Cell."

"Who told you that?"

"The geneticists at Kaiser.  We've also received DNA test results from the leading lab in this country."  Why am I even bothering with this explanation?

She gave me this incredulous face, raised eyebrows, twisted lips, narrowing of the eyes.  "Oh Kaiser told you that, huh?  That she's got what?  I-Cell?  Uh huh.  So what does this disease do?"

"It prevents her body from growing."

"They told you that, huh?"…...  

What the?  I couldn't tell if I was furious or elated that someone could be so bold and direct about this line of questioning.  The conversation carried on for another few minutes.  But I stopped paying attention to the conversation.  Rather, I became more interested in her appearance.  She had on a cheetah faux fur coat, black velvet leggings, and dazzling glittery ugg boots.  I worked my way back up to her face.  Since she was inspecting Niko, I figured it was fair game to apply scrutiny to her appearance.  Her head was topped by a pair of blingy Chanel sunglasses, her lips were painted crimson red.  When she spoke, I envisioned a pair of red twizzler vines swirling, turning and twisting until they were tied in knots.  Her eyes were lined in thick black, and her cheeks wore diagonal lines of bright fuchsia, as if she painted her rouge on with sidewalk chalk.  She looked to be in her mid-thirties, though she spoke with the directness of someone in her late eighties.  I secretly admired her loud look, her unapologetic presence, her hutzpah for imposing herself on a complete stranger without the fear of projecting insult.

I then realized how refreshing this conversation was.  She was curious about Niko and she asked me direct questions without shame from her nor expecting shame from me.  So many people throw sideway glances and dodge my eyes.  The minute they detect that I've shifted my guarding eyes, they sneak more peeks at Niko.  Sometimes I want to ask them, "Can I help you?  Do you have any questions?"  But I like to avoid awkward moments.  It is what we have learned from being a part of a civilized society.  

This woman threw out common courtesy.  Her appearance suggested a bold and perhaps prickly personality.  But I prefer unabashed curiosity over sneaking glances, as if looking at Niko is wrong and shameful.

Here we have Niko pounding away at Mila's old baby piano.  This girl carries no shame.  So I would love to be in a world where people are not ashamed to look at her.  After all, she brings joy to all those who truly look at her.           

Winter in Santa Fe

We just came back from our annual trip to snowy Santa Fe.  Well actually, the snow was thin and scarcely visible this winter, but we had a magical time as usual.  In fact this was perhaps the best Christmas, mostly thanks to Niko being such a sweet and easy girl.  Last year, she was an entirely different person.  She cried most of the time, she never slept for more than half an hour, and she required constant attention and soothing.  No such person this year.  She was content, curious and made everyone fall in love with her.

Unlike her wimpy mother, Niko adores the cold.  Her favourite napping condition is out in the snowy mountains, the higher the altitude and colder the air, the better she slept.

Every year, we sit on this tree trunk for our snack stop during our hike.

I'm not quite sure if Niko enjoyed the sledding.  I think that she preferred her little cocoon pod in the stroller.

While inside the house, Mila and Niko liked playing inside their little teepee.

Peekaboo with Niko inside the teepee.

In Santa Fe, people line their houses and streets with candlelit luminarias, rather than strings of electric Christmas lights.  It's a breath taking sight.  Luminarias are brown paper bags, filled with sand, and lit with candles.  On Christmas eve, most people turn off all exterior lights, and the streets are only lit with countless rows of luminarias.  Parades of people walk the streets to enjoy the luminarias.  Many people light bondfires outside their homes to welcome walkers to warm up by the fires. 

To stabilize the paper bags, the tops are folded down.  It sounds simple enough until you realize the tear-factor, and you've got 100 more bags to go.        

Niko was keeping me company as I took to my task of luminaria origami.

She also enjoyed swimming in the crunchy sea of luminaria bags.

 

Here is what our luminarias looked like when lit.  

When exposed to a different environment, I notice the most change and maturity in Niko.  She was babbling like crazy.  She was really making an effort to communicate with us.

 

Besides rolling around on the floor, Niko got this jumper thing as a gift.  It took her a little while to get used to it, but then she absolutely LOVED being in a new vertical position.  She was acutally jumping (getting real elevation under her legs!) by the 8th day and looked damn proud.  I wish I got a video of her jumping.

It's a sweet picture to see Niko in her jumper next to the Christmas tree.  Kiril's mom gets a native New Mexican tree every year, and the required height is a tree that scrapes the ceiling.

Being someone who's never put any weight on her legs, Niko currently doesn't know how to place the soles of her feet down on the ground.  She's on the tops of her toes like a ballerina. 

HAPPY NEW YEAR!  Here's to more fun in 2014!