Monday, January 8, 2007

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggety Jig

All have arrived safely and even a bit early, Alhamdulillah (all praise and thanks to God). Laura and Linda, the little munchkin Salma, and Zippy the cat. Zippy's size turned out not to be an issue. Nora helped us get him through customs as usual, with the standard payments of $50 each to two separate veterinarians, and a $130 customs fee.

We could not fit everything in the car, so Nora took the ice cream maker home with her. We managed to squeeze everything else in, and tied the trunk lid down with bungee cords. I had left the spare tire at home so that gave us a little more room. Fortunately we had no flat tires and no rain on the long drive home.

Salma has been giving me lots of smiles and laughs. She is much larger than when I last saw her, and her hair is lighter in color. She holds herself upright in my arms and turns fully in any direction.

When we brought Zippy into the house and let him out of the carrier, Li'l Fishy recognized him right away and made a beeline for him with her tail up in the air. Zippy proceeded to explore the entire house as Fishy followed him, occasionally smelling his fur.

Salma will need some time to adjust to the time change. Right now everyone in the house is asleep or feeling very sleepy, except for Salma, who is laying in her crib a foot feet away from me, talking to herself and thumping her right foot (her kicking leg). She is saying, "Oh da da da. Hey, hey. Ya ya ya. Dat, dat, aya. Heh, heh, oh ya da da." This da-da sound is new, I've never heard it before. But I'm not so vain as to imagine that she is saying "Daddy" just yet.

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