The Cheek of H

I have a feeling like I'm going to be writing a lot about the cheek of this boy. First. there's his artificial dimple. On the right cheek, it appears like a twinkling star everytime he bares his tiny pearly whites in a cheeky grin or a coy smile. People would remark on his dimple, thinking that it truly is a natural dimple. Beguiled, they believe that he was born with that dimple. Little do they know that the dimple was actually borne out of sibling rivalry, or better phrased as 'the entertainment in the trip from Iowa to Georgia'.

Ever since they were small, N and H have always been at each other's throat, but not in the form of verbal argument. No. The verbal argument is 'peacefully' left to H and S. S, being the big sister and the eldest, always insists that she is in the right. No matter how many times I tell her not to argue with the 'ignorant' (which is obviously, H), she always manages to drive herself mad over silly arguments with H. H on the other hand, seems to enjoy his heated 'conversations' with his big sister. At times he seems almost to insist being wrong just so S would get all riled up. At other times, he himself would rise up to the challenge and bark back at his older sister, insisting that he's the one in the right. Then he would go off stomping, crying and loudly insisting that he was right and others were wrong. It is at these times that my patience is really tried to the core.

Anyway, back to the milder sister, N. She is mild in temperament, and commanding her to speak is like commanding the cave to open for the thieves. Simply saying 'open sesame' would not be sufficient. I was unknoningly reduced to speak for her, which was later on brought into light by someone, fortunately. Despite her mildness, she is cunning in her own way. It was during these toddler times of hers that she showed her true nature. H would contentedly be playing on the floor with an assortment of toys around him, with his sisters lingering around, appearing to play with him. Suddenly out of nowhere, H would be crying pitifully, much like a baby kitten, with no apparent reason. At first I couldn't find the culprit, so i stopped looking for one. However, the crying began to occur more often and so i was forced to solve the mystery.

I was then that I noticed my children, in their true blue nature, at work. N, at the age of 2, had developed an uncanny ability to administer painful attacks rather stealthily. Her face betrayed nothing. if I wasn't watching that intently, I would have easily missed it. With her normal expression, wide eyed, calm manner, she would walk by her little brother in the most normal way possible. You wouldn't even think she was up to no good. Suddenly, like one of the boys in Oliver Twist, she would swipe her sneaky hand to his face or wherever she could get in on, and administer one of her very stinging attacks. Lo and behold, the poor babe wails! And the sweet litte wide-eyed angel walks away as if nothing had happened, in her sing song manner, singing her revenge away.

From then on, I made sure to watch her closely, but during the drive from Iowa to Georgia, which was unbearabably long, I failed to do that. We had put them side by side in their car seats. BIG mistake. The scratching tournament began. By the end of the trip, H's cheek was riddled with scabs upon scabs. It's a wonder only one of them turned into a dimple. Otherwise, he would have had a crater on his face.

Up to this day, his dimple, artificial as it is, stays as a manifest proof of N's artful attacks on her little brother.

There's THAT cheek of H. Then there's also his cheek with words.

"H made me angry!"

"No, I didn't!"

"H, don't make her angry,"

"But you said that no one can make anyone do anything. Yeah, you said that,"

Then, there's also:

They were riding in S's car and it happened that S has a toy bunny in it. H said,
"That's 'bunny' Israel!"

There're many more that I wished i had recorded for memory sake. In fact I'm racking my head trying to remember a particular one he had come out with, to no avail. And here he is, laughing away at his poor mother in choruses of evil laughter, who in all honesty, is just trying to record some of the most memorable moments of her children's childhood, for before she knows it, it will all soon pass. Ah.....the cheek of H.