For a Decade (I have prayed for you: Demitri's Story)
He is already in bed. Penguin pajamas on. Bathed and fed. He enjoys brushing his four teeth with
water. His name is Demitri. He is 14 months old.
Tonight we played before he went to bed. Big brother, daddy, mommy, and Demitri. On a table in our
bedroom, two frames hold five pictures.
Black and white.
These are Big Strong Man's and my engagement photos. Tonight Demitri pointed at the largest of the five.
Big Strong Man kneeling behind me; Me sitting down, hands in my lap. Demitri pointed and looked at me. He did this again and again.
He turned to me and smiled.
He understood.
"Momma", he said in his sweet not-quite enunciated way.
That moment is what lead to this post, which was long overdue, regardless.
Almost ten years ago I was a Barista at Starbucks. Sunset and Mohawk, Echo Park, L.A.
Located inside of Lucy's laundry mat.
Joe was my boss and he was wonderful at what he did. A great guy.
We had many regulars come greet us at our counter, some on a daily basis. Two of these regulars were fathers and friends.
Each had one son: McKinley and Remington (a.k.a. Demitri).
Even then, almost a decade ago, I knew that I wanted to name my son Demitri.
Both names were fantastic, but Demitri was AWESOME!!
Demitri means: brave, from the Raven farm. (Raven has many meanings, one of which is "the loudest song-bird");
Home (I personally love the reference to home. I pray this over him often, the attributes of a real home: peace, relaxation, comfort, acceptance, joy, belonging. A place to be yourself, and where you
are always wanted. A warm place, full of love and stability. That place where you long to be.)
When Big Strong Man and I were still dating, we had one of those "what if" conversations. It went something like this:
What if we get married someday...!
What if we have a baby...!
If we have a baby boy, what would you want to name him...?
To the last question, we knew that if we were ever blessed with one boy, we would name him after Big Strong Man's and my fathers. Our firstborn's name was a way of binding our two families together.
The conversation proceeded to "what if we have ANOTHER boy...?" Enter Demitri.
When I first asked my husband, I also really liked the name Zephania.
Big Strong Man turned that down immediately.
Next came Demitri. To my great surprise, he loved it!!
To him it meant Wolverine, as in X-Men, as in Marvel comics. To him, this name was a guarantee a
cool kid (but we know they are all cool, regardless).
We were sold.
That was five plus years ago.
Demitri graced our lives in 2012.
Born with skin much darker than his brother's; brown hair; brown eyes. Gorgeous.
Today he has four teeth, can say "momma", "da (dad)", "ball".
This week he started his first three syllable word: "banana".
He gets giggles from us every time he says, "I did that", which he has been saying often and in his sweet 14 month old vernacular.
In tonight's tub, Demitri figured out that if he places the plastic toy fishing rod at such an angle, it will stay in the spout. Over and over, he did this.
I marveled at his hand-eye coordination and later, with the engagement pictures, his cognizance.
This kiddo is great. He loves to give kisses, and will bite you if you are too taken with his sweet
dimples to keep your head on straight.
He's my sweet baby boy. My Demitri.
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Demitri and I at the ball game
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HIG March 19 2014
My Second Little (cheese)
He approached me on the floor. I was watching a short clip on my phone. I hate being on the phone in the presence of my Littles.
Wearing his big brother's black boxer briefs over the cloth diaper which was clearly made for a girl (pink and yellow owls) but we purchased regardless because it was on clearance.
Huge left dimple on his face when he smiles.
Eyelashes that are longer than my fingernails.
This little man comes to me, full of life and energy and says "chee". He wants some cheese.
This is extra adorable because just minutes prior, he walked up to me as I was putting lunch away and directed me to the fridge. I opened the door, entertaining him, to see what may spark his interest.
Cheese.
Torn off piece of sliced cheese number three.
"Momma. Momma. I want cheese." This time he enunciates so clearly.
It makes me giggle. I am so proud.
So little and yet so big.
As I type, he looks up at me, piece three still in this hand, and repeats, "I want cheese". I get down to his level and giggle while pointing at the cheese he holds firmly and remind him that he already has cheese.
He giggles to himself and walks away.
Satisfied.
Demitri at two
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-gomommyblogger
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