It's true. What I read off a friend's blog about letting a child take you for a walk from time to time is true. Today I just had the chance to do something like that. And for that good thirty minutes, the time seemed to tick much slower;life seemed to move to a much slower cadence.
I was just going out from my office to the nearby 'mama' shop to get a simple item. Then as I walked on my way in those familiar grounds of SAV, I saw a familiar silhouette in the distance. It was Clifton and his really young daughter Naomi that I saw first, and knew immediately Noah must have been somewhere around.
Noah is this really adorable two year old boy that everybody loves in Chapel of The Resurrection. But then again, what's not to love about someone like him? He has been so consistently adorable since he was a baby, and it just keeps getting better. Of course, Noah's a big boy now and doesn't like to be cuddled and carried so much by strangers or in the presence of strangers, but you could still hold his hand if you have somewhere interesting to take him to. =) And hold his hand was just what I did after I had a short conversation with Little Curious Noah. It went something like this:
Noah (running up to meet me as I walked towards him) : Where you come from?
Me: (stooping down to his eye level): Hi Noah, I came from the office where I was working. (see you need to speak to them as though they were adults, perfectly able to understand what you were saying. Complete sentences help them make sense of how language ought to be used. Hee.)
Noah: Is it you came from church there?
Me: Yes I came from church. =)
Noah: Is children's church starting yet?
Me: No it hasn't started, what time is it now? (looks at watch) It's only three. What time does children's church start?
Noah: 9 o'clock! -_-" (anyhow bom want lor)
Me: No it starts at 4 o'clock right? Are you excited? (then I briefly thought he might not know such a big word)
Noah: No I not excited. (I was right)
Me: Oh? You're gonna have fun right? (he nods) I'm gonna have to go buy something. You wanna come along with me? (talks to Clifton) can he come along? (Clifton said it's up to him wor)
Noah: Then after that we come back to Daddy right? (so sweet!)
Me: Yes we'll come back to Daddy
Clifton: Hold UNCLE Vincent's hand ok? (sigh, gotta admit I'm getting old)
And so we went to get the item. His hand felt so tiny in my own bear paws.
Noah: What are you buying?
Me: I'm gonna get a nail clipper, you know what it's for? It's to clip your nails right? Noah clips his nails too right?
Noah (distracted by the stage play at the school hall): what's that? (they were screening star wars sequence of some sort)
Me: They're doing some sort of play. See? Big T.V.
Noah: Can we go in to see?
Me: (apologetically) They're busy inside so we can't go in. But I can carry you and you can see better. Can I carry you? (he lifts up his hands to indicate consent)
We go closer to the windows of the shutter doors to see better. His curiosity satisfied, we move on. At the flight of stairs, I decided to let him walk on his own but to hold his hand. He is after all a big boy now. He slipped once, but my hand held fast. We walk past the security guard post and the friendly Indian lady is there. She sees the both of us and waves. I say hi and she asks if we're going for lunch. No, we're going to get nail clippers, I reply. Noah says hi and bye too. Noah is fascinated with the new term 'Nail Clippers' he hardly can pronounce properly. To him it's Nail cwippers. He asks why I have to get one. I told him I don't have one. He says he has one at home. Next time I can get from him.
Me: Oh really? That's very nice of you. Noah is a nice boy.
Noah: I can give to you then you give back to me. -_-"
Me: (correcting his vocab) Oh you mean you're gonna lend it to me and then I give it back right?
Noah: Yes.
We cross the road.
Me: Noah we're gonna cross the road now. I'm gonna have to carry you. (He raises his hand and says ok)
Me: See when you cross the road you're gonna have to look left and right. Is there any cars? (Noah looks over my shoulder and quips 'No car') Then can we cross? (He replies promptly 'Yes'.)
We do this at least four times without missing a single step. By the fourth time he voluntarily asks, 'Can we cross?' He learns fast. I'm quite sure he'll ask Clifton or Ruth that the next time they cross a road together.
We pass by a drink shop. Noah asks 'Are you thirsty?' to which I reply that I'm not. He replies he isn't as well to me. We then pass by some durians and I ask him, Noah what's this? Without hesitation he says, 'Papaya!' I tell him it isn't and that it's a durian. Look, it's so sharp. Painful right? He says ouch in typical Noah fashion. The next time we pass by it he doesn't want to touch it anymore. But he still calls it a papaya.
We get to the shop. He sees a litter pincer and asks what is this. I ask him back. He ventures an answer.
Noah: It's to hang clothes!
Me: Oh ok. Try pressing it. It opens and closes! Can it clip my nails?
He doesn't even try. No! He says. Let's look for it then. He sees a wooden massaging beater. He's really curious about this one. What is this? I've learned never to tell them. They'll only ask even more. Ask them back and they're satisfied venturing an imaginative answer. I ask him back can it clips nails and offer him my fingers to try. He tries and it doesn't work. We move on. We see a rattan cane and he exclaims 'Umbrella!' -_-" I used the opportunity to introduce the concept of Discipline to him, a concept his mom taught him since young. He takes up another massage beater and this time when prompted he says it's a 'drum stick!' We finally find the nail clipper and he wants one too. I reminded him he has one at home already, and promised I'll get it from him next time and he can borrow mine if we ever need one. Friendship concepts start early man.
We make our way back and cross roads in typical Noah fashion. Anything you teach him becomes his. We spot one taxi and we talk about taxis. He doesn't like taking taxis cos he prefers taking the bus. I ask him why and he adamantly says he just likes it. If he tells that to a certain someone who blogged about buses, I'm sure he find some strong agreement and theories about watching the bus 'push trees'. =) We sing the song 'the wheels on the bus go round and round.' I end with the words 'all through the town' and get corrected. It should be all through the church he says. Amazing!
It's just such a blessing to enjoy such a time when just a few hours ago the weight of the world seemed to weigh on your shoulders what with LifeConcert over and there being a need to do follow up and all that. God knows of our needs. So much to learn from being with kids about slowing down and seeing things in a simpler fashion. They are never worried especially those who are well taken care of. And they approach all things with the same curiosity and wonder.
Yawn. I still owe a proper post on Vietnam, and why I prefer buses. Coming soon, if life permits.
Maybe I'll do a one year memorial on it or something.
My little feet left footprints
on Sunday, April 5, 2009; 1:07 AM
