Tuesday August 10, 2004
Interesting coincidence we noticed today. A few days ago our 2nd tv broke (the one in the bedroom) Zach got the tv for college, within a week or so of starting college. We have had it all these years, moving it across the country and back, and now, within a week of him completing college, it died. Kind of poetic.
Zane was so cute tonight. Zach’s aunt Y called tonight and wanted to see if Zane would talk to her. He didn’t respond (which is typical), so later, she asked to try again. This time she sang to him, and he sang back to her…back and forth. It was so spectacular. I had a great time talking to her about life. I really miss having her around. She was an original flower child and is very, very well educated and inciteful. I gave her my blog address and if she might be peeking in on me (so, are your ears burning…hee hee).
Well…in the time I took to write this entry, Zane has taken off both shoes, both socks, his overalls, and his shirt is on its way off. I better go before he gets to the diaper. lol.
I don’t think I’ll ever forget my first verbal/musical encounter with little Zane, my great-nephew, because it reminded me of a similiar encounter with his father years ago. When Zach, my only nephew, was about 4 years old, I sat him down at a piano. I very slowly played the first verse of “Mary Had A Little Lamb”. To my surprise, little Zachary, without hesitation, played the first verse back to me. That wasn’t good enough though—Zachary, in a challenging manner, went on to play something else for me. It was the beginning of a relationship, that has encompassed years of symbionic interchange of intellectual give-and-take.
Tonite, since I have never spoken to my great-nephew Zane, I asked Jennifer, Zach’s wife, to put him on the phone. I told Zane “Hello Zane, this your Auntie Von.” Silence……….Zane had left the room.
I knew, from prior experience with his father, that if I didn’t capture the attention of this easily-bored, multi-focused, ego-centric, spirited ball-of-fire, that I was destined for the wayside, like others, labeled by Zane, ”Not-Worth-My-Time.” I wasn’t going to let this spirited, 2 1/2 year old product, of my only nephew, get the best of me. So, I asked Jennifer to put little Zane back on the telephone.
Not only was I going to capture my great-nephew’s attention and solicit communication with him, I was going to impress him with my ability in a second language. When Zane got back on the phone, with perfect pitch, I sang, “Ba, Be, Bi, Bo, Bu, el burro sabe mas que tu”. Zane promptly sang the verse back to me. Not to be bested by this little curtain-hanger, I quickly sang a verse of “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” but Zane refused to be beat–He didn’t even let me finish, before he spat the words back at me.
I could feel that this smug, 2 1/2 year old Whipper-snapper, was confident that he was going to get the best of his great-aunt. Ah, but I had experience in this area, where he had none. Just like his father before him, he was testing the parameters of our relationship and my position of adult superiority. The contest was on and it was neck-and-neck. I knew his focus and resolve had to be waning and I felt, that if I could get just one more verse in, he would crumble in defeat.
I confidently sang the first line of “Ole McDonald Had A Farm”, and quickly found my adult-ego deflated and lying on the floor, when Zane triumphfully declared, “Ei, Ei, O”!!!!
It is good to see you here Auntie Von! I love hearing the story about Zach. I had never heard that before and it is really neat to hear stories from his childhood!