the bravery of chief little knees

(for your convenience and reading pleasure -- baby talk -- translation is provided in parenthesis)

 

the very first time i changed my nephew's diaper, i dubbed him chief little knees. and every diaper changing thereafter, the ritual was the same: covering his face and tummy with kisses to the songs of his giggles and coos; the final note always being, kissing his chubby little knees and telling him, "if you were born a native american, you would be hailed, chief little knees!" well, that autumn weekend was no different. sunday morning arrived and i thought it would be good to do something new and funderful and completely out of the ordinary. like, go bye-bye and have breakfast at the park!  anthony was thrilled at the idea, but was not quite ready to get dressed. and, unless he could hurt himself; or it is, for some reason, absolutely necessary, i am not one to force a child to do anything he is not ready to do. so i allowed him to express his independent nature, and have some more naked-time, while i got his little diaper bag packed for the morning.  the naked little indian was chattering away in his room, "bah-bye!  bah-bye!!  bah-bye!!!", talking to his little stuffed animals; preparing for great adventures with "b" (bear) and "gu-willa" (guerilla). when the next thing i know, i hear, "aunnie!  aunnie!!  aunnie!!!" ("auntie! auntie!! auntie!!!") as the little nudie-pattuttie comes running out of his bedroom with tears in his eyes, absolutely terrified of something.  i took the brave little warrior in my arms and walked into his room where he started to cry, pointing with his little index finger, "dat!  dat!!  dat!!!" (that! that!! that!!!"). and there it was.  larger than life. on the floor. appropriately beside his winnie the pooh bear airplane. a most enormous poop! how something that large came out of a little guy that tiny is beyond me!  after much hugging and kissing and drying of tears, [and flushing of toilets], i assured the precious little one that he was not in trouble and that he had not done anything wrong. and brave chief little knees enjoyed the remainder of his morning, [with a diaper on], running around... having breakfast and playing in the park, eating "nannas" ("bananas") and "nacks" ("snacks").

~ janean christine mariani