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Tag-Archive for » Najwa Gaines «

Najwa Knocked Out on the Sofa

13
Mar 2012
David Gaines   

How fast they grow. Sometimes I look at her and almost forget how tiny she was just 18 months ago…

Najwa Gaines asleep on the sofa

Category: Najwa  Tags:

Najwa Gets a New Do

03
Mar 2012
David Gaines   

Najwa got a new do…

 

Najwa's new hair do

Category: Najwa, Nduku Photos  Tags:

Najwa, Hair Done By Dad

01
Mar 2012
David Gaines   

If you left it up to me to do Najwa’s hair, this is what you get…

 

Actually it looks a lot more chaotic but mommy always comes to the rescue before I can figure out where Najwa’s hiding the camera.

Category: Najwa, Najwa Photos  Tags:

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 and Her Valentine’s Day Balloons

17
Feb 2012
David Gaines   

Ok, they were really for the lady, but Najwa was just so entertained by the balloons, we just say they’re hers…

Najwa Gaines on Valentine's Day

 

But what was really entertaining to her was watching the balloons float to the ceiling. And then the fun never ends because we pull them back down for her, in which she promptly lets them float back to the ceiling, even more entertained, and looks at us to fetch them again. And again. And again…

Najwa Gaines on Valentine's Day

 
Category: Najwa  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:

African Proverbs of Love and Marriage

14
Feb 2012
David Gaines   

Collection of African proverbs about love and marriage, dedicated to my ladies, Nduku and Najwa…

I love you

Love doesn’t rely on physical features.

— Lesotho Proverb

Where there is love there is no darkness.

— Burundian Proverb

It’s better to fall from a tree and a break your back than to fall in love and break your heart.

— African Proverb

Love has to be shown by deeds not words.

— Kenyan Proverb

When one is in love, a cliff becomes a meadow.

— Ethiopian Proverb

He who doesn’t feel jealousy is not in love.

— African Proverb

A letter from the heart can be read on the face.

— Kenyan Proverb

Let your love be like the misty rain, coming softly, but flooding the river.

— Liberian & Madagascan Proverb

If love is a sickness, patience is the remedy.

— Cameroonian Proverb

He may say that he loves you, wait and see what he does for you.

— Senegalese Proverb

I love you

The best part of happiness lies is in the secret heart of a lover.

— Ugandan Proverb

Love is a despot who spares no one.

— Namibian Proverb

Many little things make a man love a woman in a big way.

— Ghanaian Proverb

A woman is a flower in a garden; her husband is the fence around it.

— Ghanaian Proverb

He who loves, loves you with your dirt.

— Ugandan Proverb

The buttocks are like a married couple though there is constant friction between them; they will still love and live together.

— African Proverb

Category: Glass Half Full, Upendo wangu  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:

Najwa at Spring Mill Bread Company

14
Jan 2012
David Gaines   

Every now and again we’ll go wherever the wind blows to find something to eat. Barracks Row is a common landing spot to find something new, well, it was for Nduku. She got breakfast from Spring Mill Bread Company, while Najwa, as kids do, entertained herself with the beverage case.

Najwa Gaines at Spring Mill Bread Company in Washington, DC

Najwa Gaines at Spring Mill Bread Company in Washington, DC

Category: Najwa Photos  Tags: , ,

Najwa Enjoying the Warm Winter Day

07
Jan 2012
David Gaines   

It was a [relatively] warm winter day, so Najwa took a little walk…

Najwa Gaines taking a walk in the neighborhood

Najwa Gaines taking a walk in the neighborhood

Najwa Gaines taking a walk in the neighborhood

Najwa Gaines taking a walk in the neighborhood

Category: Najwa, Najwa Photos  Tags:

Celebrating Aiyana’s 1st Birthday!

07
Jan 2012
David Gaines   

The ladies and I headed out to Gessie and Carl’s to celebrate the first birthday of their daughter Aiyana. Last time I saw Aiyana, she was the size of my palm with a head so full of hair she looked like she was wearing a wig. A year later and my goodness how fast kids grow!

 
Category: Birthday Parties, Photos  Tags: , , , ,
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Contact David Gaines I am David Gaines on Facebook Follow David Gaines on Twitter I am David Gaines on Google Plus Connect with David Gaines on LinkedIn YouTube Channel: I am David Gaines Where in the World is David Gaines? What is David Gaines reading? Photos around the nation's capital by David Gaines David Gaines reviews on Yelp