Current mood:	peaceful
Entry tags:	adventures in nursing

Adventures In Nursing :: My Little Ones
I can remember almost all the little ones I've cared for over the years I've been in HomeBase. You know what's funny? I noticed that all the baby girls I've carried would reach straight for the diamonds I wear in my hair or the diamond around my neck. The baby boys I carried around? They would go straight for my boobs and wind their chubby little fingers through my hair. Yup. No joke. I'm not kidding.

I remember the Mamacita, the spunky little girl who was there when I first started working and somehow managed to pimp me into making her Barbie a brand new dress, 2 purses, boots, make Barbie's hair pretty and accessories within 4 minutes flat. I had nothing to work with except strips ripped from the gowns, netting and stickers but DAMN, I made some masterpieces that day. Dude, whatever it took to get her to stop crying. She even managed to wrangle me into doing her hair. Yup. A little 6 year old girl pimped me that hard. She was quite the spunky little one.

I remember LittleMama. She was there for a while...and she was the bravest girl I've ever met. I remember how much she LOVED Dr.KimChi. She used to ask me to call him all the time because she wanted to see him so I hunted down his pager number from the old list of resident numbers, paged him, waited for him to call back and tell him that I know he's not on our service anymore but if he's on call, could he please just come up to visit her because she keeps asking about him and when he's going to come see her. He was such a good sport and he did come up to visit her more than once if I remember correctly. I remember there was a time when Mamacita and LittleMama were roommates and we would get DOWN in the physical therapy room. I made them little pareos out of the sheets and then I taught them how to dance hula and how to shake it like a Tahitian dancer. Freaking awesome. They were so cute.

I remember BabyGirl. She was so cute...she was just a baby but she never smiled. I remember walking up and down the halls with her all day because she would cry if I put her down, even if she was sleeping. I remember logging countless miles every day at work with her in my arms and singing the Chinese song my mom used to sing to me when I was little. That's how she used to fall asleep during our walks. I remember how she never smiled until the very last day she was in HomeBase. That was the day she got to go home. I was waiting for her mom to show up and I was taking my last walk with her. That day I was wearing my sparkling Dior lipgloss and I was singing to her again. She always looked at my lips when I sang but she did something different on that last day with me. She reached up to pat my lips and she smiled when the sun caught the sparkles from my lipgloss. That was the only day I ever saw BabyGirl smile.

I remember TheSiblings. Omg, they drove me crazy at one point but in the end, I couldn't bear to see them go. We would hold hands and skip down the halls because that was how I tricked them into doing physical therapy. I would then bribe them with playing on the computer but they had to walk properly in order to use it. I remember how they climbed on my lap and I thought my legs were going to break because I'm not used to having kids climb on me like I'm some kind of crazy Asian jungle gym.

I remember LittleMan. Omg, he was so cute!!! We all fell in love with him and we all called him our little boyfriend. He was the cutest little guy I've ever seen. I would tell his mom to go get something to eat from the cafeteria every day but I noticed she would never go because she didn't want to leave him so I happily volunteered to play with him. I would carry him around the entire time she was gone or I would be pulling him along in the little red wagon up and down the halls. After a while, even if he wasn't my patient for the day, she would come find me and ask me if I could watch him while she ran home to take a quick shower or grabbed a bite to eat. No problemo. I adored him and I know he is in good hands at home. She is a great mother.

I remember iPodGirl. Oh. My. God. This little sassy thing was bopping along to Pitbull, Gemini and NB Ridaz. When PattiCake and I were changing her linens, she stuck one of the earbuds into my ear and we grooved to a remake of some song that I can't remember now. I think she thought I was nuts because I started dancing right there at bedside to NB Ridaz's "Pretty Girl". I love that song. iPodGirl does too. Haa haa haa! I remember when she came back for a clinic visit. She gave me a big hug, chattered about how she was going shopping to buy new shoes and I made her promise me she was going to get me a pair of stiletto heels. She was like "DEAL!" right before she stuck her earbud into my ear again. I listened to some Latin hip hop. I understood absolutely nothing except "mami", "papi", "amore" and....yeah, I think that was it. Haa haa haa! She had to translate everything for me and then I was like "OMG, DOES YOUR MOM KNOW YOU'RE LISTENING TO STUFF LIKE THIS??!!"

But I will never never forget MeiMei. For all you people who don't speak Mandarin Chinese, that means "Little sister". She called me her Jie Jie ("Big Sister"). She would rarely cry when I had to change her dressings and she would always feel better with a big hug. Her first night there, she asked me if I would read her a bedtime story before she went to bed. It broke my heart to tell her I only work during the day but how about if I read her a story now? So we got her settled down in bed and I read her the story of how the Jester Lost His Jingle. We would play Chutes And Ladders and she beat me every time! I remember how she would cry because she thought she would be ugly from her wounds. I told her to look carefully at my face. She didn't understand what I was telling her to do. I told to look carefully and if she could see anything out of the ordinary with my face. She said no so I told her that when I was just a little older than her, I burned off my face too in an accident but now no one can tell unless I tell them. She felt better and told her mother that she wasn't going to be a Tso Ba Guai ("Ugly Monster") anymore because Jie Jie got better too.

Cinderella was in house for a little while when MeiMei was still there. I remember how proud I was of both of them when I saw MeiMei lead Cinderella by the hand to the hydro room. I knelt down to hear what they were saying to each other. Cinderella was scared but MeiMei told her "It'll be okay. I got used to it. It only hurts for a little bit but if Bonnie, my Jie Jie, cleans you up, it won't hurt at all! She never makes me cry and she'll even read you stories too!"

I didn't get to see MeiMei off because I had that day off. I remember she asked me where I live and I told her. She thought about it for a while and then said "So if I wanted to visit you, I'll have to take the freeway". My Mei Mei is so smart. I remember I made her wince the day I admitted her because I had to clean her wounds really well. I told her everything I was going to do before I did it so she wouldn't be afraid and she wasn't. After I finished, I asked her if it was really bad and she said "No. It just hurt a little bit" so I asked her if she would forgive me and if she would still be my friend. She looked up at me so solemnly and said "Yes, Jie Jie. I will still be your friend".

I miss all my little munchkins. They drove me up the wall sometimes but when I see them go, I'm sad because I will miss them but I am so happy because that means they are better. I hope I never see them again in HomeBase unless it's because they're visiting. Sometimes I wonder if the really little ones will remember me singing to them the same melody my mother sang to me when they sleep.