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Archive for the Category »For Your Viewing Pleasure «

This Song Makes Me Feel Like Dancing

29
Feb 2012
David Gaines   

Yo Gabba GabbaMy homeboy Eric and I were talking about the stuff our daughters watch on TV. From Team Umizoomi to the Wonder Pets, it’s amazing how we [grown @ss men] can talk about these shows as if we were talking about the latest episode of Fringe or Shameless.

Each morning, though, it’s The Wiggles that start the morning. When I first started [against my will] watching them, I wasn’t much of a fan. Then again, I wasn’t a fan of any of Najwa’s shows. I actually found a bunch of them straight scary. Dora and Diego are cool, but Yo Gabba Gabba is eerie. And Dirt Girl gives me the creeps with those huge eyes and weird looking smile.

Anyway, one song The Wiggles perform with Leo Sayer [at first I thought it was Richard Simmons!] has grown on me. I confess, I kind of like it…

Category: For Your Viewing Pleasure, Live Performances, TV Shows  Tags: , , , , ,

Najwa Already Shopping Like a Pro [Video]

20
Feb 2012
David Gaines   

Not even a month after entering the world, Najwa went on her first shopping trip ever. And following in the footsteps of her mother, her first shopping trip was to DSW.

So, here we are a year and a half later, and Najwa is back at DSW, only this time she’s the one doing the shopping!

Now if they’d only open the DSW in Columbia Heights so we don’t have to keep going out to Virginia!

Category: Najwa, Najwa in Motion  Tags: ,

Najwa on a Buggy Ride in Whole Foods

18
Feb 2012
David Gaines   

Anyone with a child — especially a 17 month old who’s practicing for the terrible 2s — knows going shopping is like stepping into the unknown. One moment your little angel is flashing that adorable smile causing all the old ladies to “oooh” and “ahhhh,” but the next she’s terrorizing the fellow shoppers. If you get separated from mommy and baby, just walk towards the screaming a few aisles down and look for the flustered parent.

What works one trip to the store is obsolete by the next. Pacifiers are passé. You can hand them anything for a moment before everything ends up on the floor. But every now and again, something happens that calms little angel down and takes her attention off re-merchandising the store for a few minutes…

It’s pretty amazing, almost scary, what babies will mimic. Though it was a bottle of cold syrup for her nasty cough, Najwa was going through the motions of putting on lotion or baby oil.

Category: For Your Viewing Pleasure, Najwa in Motion  Tags: , ,

Najwa Facing One of Her Fears: Alleys

14
Feb 2012
David Gaines   

Overcoming fears is obviously one of the challenges we all encounter. One of mine [mildly, not phobicly] has always been heights. That’s why the plan is to skydive, bungee jump and one day go hang gliding. I also have a fear of burning or drowning to death, but I have no plans on taking on those fears head-on.

As Najwa gets older, she will encounter many fears of her own. One already is the Cookie Monster and those weird eyes that never coordinate. She’s not too fond of Yo Gabba Gabba either.

The other day we were around the corner by the alley. Najwa is always looking down the alley as if she wants to explore. Usually we’re on the way somewhere and don’t have the time, but this time, I let her have at it…

Category: Najwa, Najwa in Motion  Tags:

Najwa Takes a Shot at Eating with a Spoon

14
Feb 2012
David Gaines   

I remember when Eric’s fiance, Vickie, said the two things she was most excited about in the raising of their daughter, Erykah, was first when Erykah was able to burp on her own and when she could hold the bottle on her own. Nduku and I were still new the parenting thing and didn’t quite get it then. It didn’t take long before I was waiting for the day Najwa could hold the bottle on her own.

And yes, it’s a moment of progress that doesn’t get as much attention as potty training and the first word. But then, the next phase kicks in. It was one thing to hold the bottle in one hand and the remote control in the other; that was okay. But it takes two hands to spoon feed a child. And sometimes that’s not enough.

So the other day, why not, let’s let Najwa try to feed herself…

 
Category: Najwa, Najwa in Motion  Tags: , ,

Short Video of Najwa at Home

06
Feb 2012
David Gaines   

Just a small moment in time of Najwa at home…

Category: For Your Viewing Pleasure, Najwa, Najwa in Motion  Tags:

Najwa and Her TV Programs

02
Feb 2012
David Gaines   

 

Another one of those small Najwa moments in time captured on video. When Najwa starts watching the TV, there’s really not much you can do to get her attention, other than turn it off. Of course she’s learning how to turn on the satellite box and the TV on her own.

As we look back to this day, the shows she likes [that we'll let her watch] may not be popular in the future. I grew up on Tom & Jerry, He-Man, The Flintstones, GI Joe, Transformers and Autobots, Scooby, Thunder Cats and a bunch of others I’ll remember after this gets posted.

Najwa’s generation include Dora the Explorer and Diego, Caillou, Blues Clues, Elmo and the Sesame Street gang [I watched that, too], Chica and the Sunny Side Up Show, Nina and Star with the Goodnight Show, Chuggington, Tinga Tinga [actually, I haven't seen this lately], What’s Your News?, Monkey See Monkey Do, The Wiggles and some others I’ll remember when Najwa jacks the TV from me.

Then again, maybe when Najwa gets my age TVs will be pass´e; and her kids’ shows will be in 3D on handheld entertainment devices.

 
Category: Najwa, Najwa in Motion, Najwa Photos, Photos  Tags:

An Ode To Nduku Malombe — The Video

29
Dec 2011
David Gaines   

One of my homeboys told me that posting all this “crap” about my girl was annoying. Wait until he sees this…


[The music is Charles Cameron's "I'll Never Stop Loving You" from Darius and Nina's first date in Love Jones]

Category: For Your Viewing Pleasure, Relationships, Upendo wangu  Tags: , ,

Random Najwa — Summer 2011

14
Nov 2011
David Gaines   

 
Category: For Your Viewing Pleasure, Najwa, Najwa in Motion  Tags: , ,

Video of Najwa at the Sculpture Garden

21
Aug 2011
David Gaines   

Video of Najwa playing in the water when we were at the Sculpture Garden’s fountain at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC.

 

Najwa Gaines playing in the water at the Sculpture Garden

Category: Najwa in Motion  Tags: , ,

Najwa’s Repertoire of Silly Sounds

15
Aug 2011
David Gaines   

One lazy day, doing nothing but watching some Sprout TV, Najwa decided to add some sound effects to whatever we were watching. She’s developed a nice little range of sounds to her repertoire and is going to be a chatty one when she figures out the meaning of whatever she’s saying.

Here’s just a sample…

Category: Najwa, Najwa in Motion  Tags:

Najwa’s Latest Adventure: The Passenger Seat

12
Aug 2011
David Gaines   

Najwa GainesIt’s been a while, but it still happens. No warning signs, no gut feelings, no way to know that Najwa is about erupt like Mount Vesuvius spewing formula everywhere!

We were heading home the other day, just passing U Street when all I heard coming from the backseat was Nduku spouting the long version of OMG sprinkled in with a few other expletives. Najwa had just downed another bottle of lactose free formula, but apparently there wasn’t enough room for it in her tiny little belly. So what goes down, must come out all over her clothes, the car seat and a little contact spray for Nduku.

I couldn’t assess the damage from the front seat, so I was going to stay the course. But from the sounds of disgust Nduku was making, it became obvious I had to pull over. When she handed me Najwa’s bib, I could tell that all five ounces got evicted from Najwa’s stomach.

We had to take her pants off and figure out how to clean out the car seat before we got back on the road. To make it easy, we put Najwa in the passenger seat [while parked of course], and it didn’t take her long to find something to satisfy her curiosity.

more…

Category: For Your Viewing Pleasure, Najwa, Najwa in Motion  Tags: ,

Sunshine (Dedication to Najwa and Nduku)

08
Jul 2011
David Gaines   

Initially I was simply looking to capture this moment in time by piecing together some videos of Najwa. Then I had this idea that maybe I could figure out how to add some music to the video — considering Najwa doesn’t really say much anyway. Then what if I sprinkled in a few pictures here and there of Najwa between the video clips?

Figuring that out was the easy part. The hard part was which of the hundreds of hundreds of pictures of Najwa do I use? The video was turning into the story of Najwa from birth to just shy of 10 months old. And as I was putting on the finishing touches, how could I do a biography on Najwa without her mother Nduku!?

Now, I had thousands more pictures to choose from! I started to look for a much longer song, but L!ssen’s live version of “Sunshine” said exactly what I was saying with the photos. And of course the soundtrack had to be go go…


Najwa Gaines

 
Category: For Your Viewing Pleasure, Najwa in Motion, Najwa Photos, Nduku Photos, Parenthood, Upendo wangu  Tags: , ,

The World’s Greatest Practical Joke

22
Apr 2011
David Gaines   

Snack Clips, Not PegsIt’s an amazing moment to see your little one eating from a spoon. Najwa is slowing graduating the bottle, but after eating puree foods, she looks like she has no eye-mouth coordination. Food goes everywhere. Thank goodness for the genius who invented the bib.

But Najwa’s learning how to pull the bib off. It doesn’t take much effort considering the Velcro wears out after a while. So, feigning a genius myself, started using a snack clip to keep Najwa from being able to pull off the bib. I showed Nduku and she, too, is now using the clips.

But an amazing thing happens when you bring two different cultures together. Though English is spoken regularly in Kenya, their English is born from British English and literal translations from Swahili to English don’t always make sense. So the other day when she asked for a “peg,” I literally had no idea what she wanted nor why she would want a peg. A peg? I know what a peg is, but really, what’s a peg? It’s simply what she calls the snack clips.

And that got me thinking about this video I found years ago about the world’s greatest practical joke…

 
Category: For Your Viewing Pleasure, Humor  Tags: , ,

Is Shopping At Walmart Really Worth It?

21
Apr 2011
David Gaines   

 

Anyone who really knows me [more like everyone] well enough knows I’m anti-Walmart. They’re not as bad back when the anti-Walmart campaigns planted their grass root seeds, but they are still a company that causes as much havoc when they show up to town as they do good. What’s the point of saving .13 cents for some microwaveable popcorn when your taxes edge up .14 cents because of the residual impact Walmart has on a community?

more…

Category: Chocolate City, Coming Soon to DC, Documentaries, For Your Viewing Pleasure, Money  Tags:
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