Sydsie and the Chimichanga
For the uninitiated, a chimichanga is not a dance or a type of Mexican dog. It's a Mexican dish, resembling a fried burrito with a corn tortilla shell. It's one of my favorite food in the world, but only from certain places. There's a Mexican restaurant near my house that we frequent whenever the mood strikes for a killer margarita and a chicken chimichanga (or fajitas on occasion). Our last visit was last Thursday.
I just found out early this morning that my daughter's name was Sydsie. As I had been doing on almost a daily basis for the last 2 weeks, I asked Sydney what her name was. Finally she answered me this morning. I asked the question: "What's your name? Is it Sydney?" to which she replied clearly: "Shid-shee!" Aha!! We were getting somewhere. Words were flowing from her more and more each day. Tracie bought a book with 100 objects pictured inside along with the names of the objects. We had been coaxing Sydney to repeat the words after us. Some came easy. Others were tough or not yet part of her vocabulary. We said "fish." She said "feeshhhhhhhh." Good enough. We said "apple." She said "obboll." Awesome!! We said "banana." She said "Aaaaaaaaaa." Also good enough (I guess).
And so, her name was next on my priority list. My daughter had to know her name. I made sure I asked every morning since Thanksgiving. Now that she had repeated her name, it was time for validation. I waited until Tracie woke up and ready to listen to Sydney. I cornered Tracie and Sydney in the closet.
"Sydney? What's your name? Is it Sydney?" I asked after I had gotten both their attention.
"Shid-sheeee!!" Sydney replied.
Well, Sydsie it is. Good enough for us. Tracie thought Sydsie was a cute nickname.
So the story continued with Sydsie going to the Mexican restaurant for a little fiesta last Thursday with us. Tracie's mom thought it was not a good idea. After all, what Asian baby would eat Mexican food? It tastes nothing like our food. We knew Sydsie liked cheese quesadillas because she loved cheese and had tried the cheese quesadilla before. I also remembered vaguely that she tasted my chicken chimichanga before and did not spit it back out. That night, Tracie and I both were in the mood for the chicken chimichanga and decided that she would split our meals with Sydsie. We shouldn't have to order anything just for her since she had eaten half a banana (i.e. the Aaaaaaaa) and some crackers just half an hour before. The baby was apparently still hungry. She munched on some chips (about a fourth of the basket, actually) before the main dishes came. Tracie got the plastic baby fork and spoon out and cut up a portion of her chimichanga for the baby. She was not prepared for the chimichanga eating contest that was about to start.
Sydsie was ready. No sooner did Tracie put a morsel of the chimichanga on the fork and fed Sydsie was Sydsie's mouth wide open for the next bite. We started an assembly line. Tracie was putting the food on the fork into Sydsie's mouth while I load the spoon. Then Tracie put the spoon into Sydsie's mouth as I frantically load the next piece on the fork. If we were too slow, Sydsie would grab the next piece off the plate herself, dripping with queso (melted cheese, also for those uninitiated in Mexican food). I thought about naming our routine "The Sydsie Shuffle" because we were shuffling between the spoon and fork as fast as we could to feed our little piglet. When it was all over and Sydsie was happy to sit there playing with her crayons and paper, about one thirds of Tracie's chimichanga was gone. About one thirds of my chimichanga was also gone into the abyss called Sydsie's stomach. Tracie and I left the restaurant still hungry. But we were happy that Sydsie loved Mexican food and found it amusing how much she ate.
I just found out early this morning that my daughter's name was Sydsie. As I had been doing on almost a daily basis for the last 2 weeks, I asked Sydney what her name was. Finally she answered me this morning. I asked the question: "What's your name? Is it Sydney?" to which she replied clearly: "Shid-shee!" Aha!! We were getting somewhere. Words were flowing from her more and more each day. Tracie bought a book with 100 objects pictured inside along with the names of the objects. We had been coaxing Sydney to repeat the words after us. Some came easy. Others were tough or not yet part of her vocabulary. We said "fish." She said "feeshhhhhhhh." Good enough. We said "apple." She said "obboll." Awesome!! We said "banana." She said "Aaaaaaaaaa." Also good enough (I guess).
And so, her name was next on my priority list. My daughter had to know her name. I made sure I asked every morning since Thanksgiving. Now that she had repeated her name, it was time for validation. I waited until Tracie woke up and ready to listen to Sydney. I cornered Tracie and Sydney in the closet.
"Sydney? What's your name? Is it Sydney?" I asked after I had gotten both their attention.
"Shid-sheeee!!" Sydney replied.
Well, Sydsie it is. Good enough for us. Tracie thought Sydsie was a cute nickname.
So the story continued with Sydsie going to the Mexican restaurant for a little fiesta last Thursday with us. Tracie's mom thought it was not a good idea. After all, what Asian baby would eat Mexican food? It tastes nothing like our food. We knew Sydsie liked cheese quesadillas because she loved cheese and had tried the cheese quesadilla before. I also remembered vaguely that she tasted my chicken chimichanga before and did not spit it back out. That night, Tracie and I both were in the mood for the chicken chimichanga and decided that she would split our meals with Sydsie. We shouldn't have to order anything just for her since she had eaten half a banana (i.e. the Aaaaaaaa) and some crackers just half an hour before. The baby was apparently still hungry. She munched on some chips (about a fourth of the basket, actually) before the main dishes came. Tracie got the plastic baby fork and spoon out and cut up a portion of her chimichanga for the baby. She was not prepared for the chimichanga eating contest that was about to start.
Sydsie was ready. No sooner did Tracie put a morsel of the chimichanga on the fork and fed Sydsie was Sydsie's mouth wide open for the next bite. We started an assembly line. Tracie was putting the food on the fork into Sydsie's mouth while I load the spoon. Then Tracie put the spoon into Sydsie's mouth as I frantically load the next piece on the fork. If we were too slow, Sydsie would grab the next piece off the plate herself, dripping with queso (melted cheese, also for those uninitiated in Mexican food). I thought about naming our routine "The Sydsie Shuffle" because we were shuffling between the spoon and fork as fast as we could to feed our little piglet. When it was all over and Sydsie was happy to sit there playing with her crayons and paper, about one thirds of Tracie's chimichanga was gone. About one thirds of my chimichanga was also gone into the abyss called Sydsie's stomach. Tracie and I left the restaurant still hungry. But we were happy that Sydsie loved Mexican food and found it amusing how much she ate.
The Sydsie Shuffle
posted by DaddyEyeduck at 4:17 PM
1 Comments:
priceless!
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