Noni & Mimi

On Friday night, I was chopping garlic for the kidney beans and two small creatures made their way towards our patio. Not wanting to scare them away, I quietly got some kids' books off our shelf, carried them outside, and set them on the bench. The books were instantly snatched, perused, loudly discussed, and played with.

Sunday evening while I was chopping garlic for the lentils, the same two small creatures approached. This time, when finished with the books, they came into the house and looked at our photos and cards on the walls. Robert got out a geography kit that we were given a while back, and they had great fun playing with the kid-friendly binoculars.

Both girls live two houses down from us, at the home of Kroo Deeah and his wife Pi Min. Mimi, the older girl (grade 2), is the daughter of Pi Min's sister, who I've never met. Noni, age 3 (though nearly as big as Mimi), is the daughter of Pi Min's daughter, who I've also never met. In other words, Mimi lives with her aunt & uncle, and Noni lives with her grandparents, and this is a total of 4 people living in the same house.

I was happy about the visits, because for nearly two years Noni has simply run away in fear anytime I've acknowledged her presence. We seem to have reached a turning point in our neighborly relations over the weekend, so that now she feels free to run in and out of our house at her pleasure. It was quite delightful to be making dinner with the sounds of two girls reading and playing.