My Little Copycat*

My lola's birthday was yesterday, but we only got to visit her today. She was, of course, glad to see my mother, my sister (especially my sister), and myself. And we were really glad to see that she was well.

But what I found really interesting about this little trip of ours (besides the different route we took to get there and back home) was Shaira, my cousin's two-year-old daughter.

She's a sweet little thing with a chubby face, large eyes that are black as coal, plump limbs, and energy so boundless we can only complain about it. When she's up, she leaves you hoping she'll get tired real soon. But you're still bound to get tired just watching her before she tires herself.

And she adores me. That's my favorite part. :)

I was not allowed to sit anywhere else in the house but on the floor with her. I was introduced to her puppet Wabbit, her latest, and therefore her best-loved, stuffed animal (a gift from her bully-of-a-cousin Aiken who I also love.. and bully :D ). And major sign that I was loved: she turns up her chubby cheeks to me, bats her eyelashes, hands me her plastic cup, and says "tubig please." Yep, only her favorite people get to be asked. And I made a total of five trips to the kitchen in 10 minutes, getting a sweet "tik yu" each time. (Don't ask me where she put all that water, I don't know either.)

She follows me everywhere and does everything I do, to the delight of relatives all around. She handed me one of lolo's straw hats, put another one on her own head, and we strutted around in them for a while. I sit, she sits. I cross my legs, she tries to cross her short stubby ones (not that mine are long. well, they're definitely longer than hers). When she noticed that I had slippers on, she took mama's slippers. when those proved to be too big, she took lolo's, then finally lola's. i touch my nose, she touches hers. i rub my tummy, she rubs hers. i pretend to sleep, well she won't fall for that one.

In the middle of it all, my cellphone rings, and of course, little copycat had to have her phone too. so she snatches my sister's. everyone was laughing and i didn't even notice. she had the phone to her ear and was repeating after me, saying only the last word of each statement. the relatives' favorite was "char!"

I was on the phone for almost five minutes and she followed my every gesture. touched her face, lifted her legs on to the chair, flicked her hair, rested a hand on her knee. i only noticed what she was doing when i started fumbling with the belt loop of my shorts and she couldn't find one on her pajamas.

i love my little niece.

When she wasn’t copying me, she was all over me like I was some climbing tree, whether I’m standing, seated, or flat on my back. And my small bony self was expected to support every move of her plump, heavy body.

The only time she ever sat still was when my mother drilled her on the names of different body parts (where’s your nose? And etc) and the sounds made by farm animals (unsay tingug sa baka? And etc). She answered all of them correctly, mind you.

And then it was time for us to go. But first, I had to walk her back to their house which was a short distance from my grandparents’. Along the way, she told me, in garbled and disjointed words, of the cobra she saw under the footbridge – a story I understood only because her grandmother had told us about it earlier.

Once we were inside the house, she closed the door – meaning I had to STAY inside. She was all over me as soon as I sat down. And even when her eyes were drooping, she wouldn’t stay in her hammock. She sat on my lap and planted wet kisses all over my face. She hugged me and said “adabyu ta lai (when she was younger, her mother referred to me as “tita ganda.” She apparently does not remember).”

That’s how it was decided that I wouldn’t leave until she fell asleep, which was around thirty minutes, introduction to 10 stuffed animals, and two milk bottles later.

(*this is a repost from an entry dated august 3,2009)