the monster dombe...

a couple of weeks ago, my son Nikhilananda (named after this wonderful man) started saying, "dembe, dembe, dembe" while he was playing with me. I said it back to him and we laughed and did that for awhile. Then he stopped, looked at me quizzically, and asked, "Are you the dembe?" I laughed and said, "Yes, I'm the dembe." We played some more like this and then he started growling, saying, "I'm a monster!" and then, "I'm the monster dembe!" Then, he stopped again and asked me, "Are you the monster dembe?" I said in my scary voice, "Yes, I'm the monster dembe!" Then, we said that for awhile again (you know how two year olds are...). Then he asked me, "What do monster dembes like to do?" and I said, "They like to hug!" and I hugged him and then we did that for awhile...

Fast forward to the other night at dinner when he started chanting dembe again, and then realized that we had done the "monster dembe" thing before, so he said, "Are you the monster dembe?" and again I said, "Yes." He looks at me, tilts his head, and says, "Awwww, can I get a hug?" and I say, "Sure, come on over." So, he climbs down off the stool, and walks over to me saying, "You're the monster dembe?" and I continue to say, "Yes, I am." He climbs into my lap, looks at me, and asks again, "Can I get a hug?" and I say, "Yes!" and hug him.

Fast more forward (forwarder?) and the "dembe" part has morphed into "dombe" -- the monster remains the same (hmmm, good name for a classic hits album, yes?). So, now we have, "the monster dombe."

Children's book of same name with similar story to follow soon...

:)