tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-196137472011-04-21T20:14:55.860-07:00joyfishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03235437841324350150noreply@blogger.comBlogger121100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19613747.post-1136012972860743942005-12-30T22:57:00.000-08:002005-12-31T00:11:44.873-08:00

We are in bed.It is morning.Gabriel opens one very grown-up-looking eye and he is still latched onto my nipple. Yes, I know he is two years and eight months, but...in Japan kids lead the weaning. We are not Japanese, but we both like it. His Ghanaian dad thinks it is way too village that we still breastfeed, but he doesn't live here. And opiates get released in our bloodstreams upon suckling, and

joyfishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03235437841324350150noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19613747.post-1134987850679339432005-12-19T02:22:00.000-08:002005-12-19T02:38:36.256-08:00

more on this...

joyfishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03235437841324350150noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19613747.post-1134945422778001732005-12-18T14:08:00.000-08:002005-12-19T11:56:10.990-08:00

"Mommy!" exclaims Gabriel."Yes?" I say."It's raining and WE DON'T CARE!"Water drips down the tip of his nose and collects in his curls.He stands on our back deck, waving his arms and legs, as sheets of rain fall from the sky. Thunder roars.I stand inside.The other day, we had a play date at the San Francisco Zoo. As we crossed the Bay Bridge, the sunny sky turned into grey, and a light drizzle

joyfishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03235437841324350150noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19613747.post-1134688522770584512005-12-15T12:33:00.000-08:002005-12-18T23:22:10.570-08:00

Gabriel and I are surfing the Internet.He sits on my lap.We're on the Thomas the Tank Engine site. We are looking at a page that lists the names of all the different vehicles that are part of the Thomas cohort. We click on George, a steamroller with a face vaguely like a North Jersey gangster. Mistaking George for a train car (well, it’s hard to tell in two dimensions, and anyway, the steamroller

joyfishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03235437841324350150noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19613747.post-1134290726530136552005-12-11T00:37:00.000-08:002005-12-11T00:48:12.476-08:00

We are driving. I just picked up Gabriel from his father's place. We are going to a holiday party at Gabriel's preschool. Gabriel is wearing new Sesame Street sneakers his father bought him, with red and green and yellow flashing lights."Mommy," says Gabriel, in the dark car."Yes," I say, turning the corner. "I am Nicky the dog.""Oh?" I say."Yes, I have curly hair like Nicky the dog. But I am not

joyfishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03235437841324350150noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19613747.post-1134088679196649372005-12-08T16:23:00.000-08:002005-12-08T16:39:50.466-08:00

The other evening Gabriel kicked and screamed on our hardwood floor, frustrated because his Thomas the Tank underpants had gotten twisted when he tried to put them on.I tried speakly in a gentle, cajoling voice to calm him.I tried reasoning with him.I held up the underpants.You can try to put them on again, baby.Nothing worked.Apparently I didn't understand the gravity of the situation.Gabriel

joyfishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03235437841324350150noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19613747.post-1133946048226786162005-12-07T00:51:00.000-08:002005-12-07T20:35:05.973-08:00

joyfishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03235437841324350150noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19613747.post-1133916617965081822005-12-06T16:37:00.000-08:002005-12-06T23:42:58.056-08:00

Yesterday when I was putting Gabriel's pants on, he turned to me, face scrunched up, and started counting on the fingers of his right hand. "I have four grandmoms and grandpops," he announced.His father's father died years ago, so I was about to correct him.Then Gabriel, while counting his fingers, said: "Grandmom Patience, Grandmom Honey, Grandpop Larry, and Great-Grandmom Esther!"Great-Grandmom

joyfishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03235437841324350150noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19613747.post-1133844796349982252005-12-05T20:38:00.000-08:002008-02-04T13:01:08.903-08:00

His full name is Gabriel Enam Pernell. His dad, Jahsway, forgot he had nixed the name Gabriel in about month six and when I brought it up again at month eight, liked it. Enam was selected from the few male Ewe tribal names that Jahsway's brother Richard would come up with, but I liked it since it started with an E like my grandfather Edward, and it meant "gift from God." I don't really believe in

joyfishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03235437841324350150noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19613747.post-1133843861963806282005-12-05T20:36:00.000-08:002005-12-05T22:49:44.356-08:00

Mommy: "So, Gabriel, when I was a kid I had this dog with red curly hair and he even slept in my bed!"Gabriel: "Where is it?"Mommy: "Well, he got old. Because he got old, he died."Pause. Look of deep concentration.Gabriel: "But...you're not dead."

joyfishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03235437841324350150noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19613747.post-1133843016510636692005-12-05T20:22:00.000-08:002005-12-05T20:24:57.240-08:00

This morning, I heated up a samosa from Vik's and tore off a piece for Gabriel. He held it in his hand, examined it, and then tasted it. It was quite spicy, but he ate the whole piece."Mommy, is this Ghanaian food?" he asked.

joyfishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03235437841324350150noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19613747.post-1133839709436096772005-12-05T19:21:00.001-08:002005-12-05T22:38:40.136-08:00

"I am not Gabriel," announces Gabriel, age two-and-a-half.I am driving."Who are you?" I say to my son, as I steer the car through Berkeley traffic, narrowly missing a truck as I crane my neck toward the back seat.Pause. Face scrunches up in concentration. Face suddenly brightens."I am the Mommy and you are the Gabriel."We play that for awhile, and so he is driving the car and I am sitting in his

joyfishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03235437841324350150noreply@blogger.com1