(Continued from Quarantine Diary of a One-Year-Old Part 1)

CORY CARSON

18 April 2020, Saturday

Sophia at 19 months

I’m in mummy and daddy’s bedroom and I hear Cory Carson playing. I look at mummy’s computer but she has some tables on the screen so that’s not Cory Carson. I go to daddy’s side of the bed and look at his mobile but I see a white screen and some letters so that’s not Cory Carson. I’m confused. Where is Cory Carson coming from? They talk and laugh to each other and then mummy shows me Cory Carson on her computer screen. How did that happen?

MUMMY CRIES

19 April 2020, Sunday

I wake up mummy but she says she’s still sleeping, but she asks me, Do you want to go outside, and I say, Ya, so I don’t think she’s sleeping.

We go outside and I ask for milk. Mummy lies down on the sofa and closes her eyes. She covers herself with a blanket and closes her eyes. I watch Cory Carson but now it is finished so I go to mummy and remove her blanket. She gets another blanket and I remove that too. She asks me if I want another milk and I say, Ya. Finally she’s standing up.

Mummy sits me on my high chair and gives me porridge. I finish it and I want another fill. I see Cory Carson not moving on the telly so I ask mummy to play it. She says, You need to finish your food first then you can watch Cory Carson. I say, I want it now, but she won’t listen so I shout and she shouts at me and I cry and she asks me, What is your problem, and I already said what but she doesn’t hear me. Then we both cry.

I speak to Nana and Grand Dad on video call and I show them what I’m watching. It’s Cory Carson because it’s my favourite. Nana says, You’re sleepy, but I don’t know how she can tell.

Daddy goes to YouTube and plays our favourite dance s0 eong by Billie Eilish. I steady my legs and wait for the music, then I swing my hips and my arms and my whole body. I like it. Daddy dances with me but he’s not dancing like me. Mummy raises her mobile and points at me and I know she’s taking a video which I don’t like but this time I don’t mind because I can’t stop dancing. Daddy lifts me up when the music is finished and I hear Ed Sheeran and I like him too but, Yawn.

EMPTY PIZZA BOX

21 April 2020, Tuesday

I wake up and see an empty pizza box on the table in the kitchen. What is this dad, I ask. Did you eat this without me? Sigh. Sometimes it’s hard to raise my parents. I ask for milk and settle for that because what can I do.

I watch Little Baby Bum on Netflix and mummy asks if i want to change it and i say, Ya. She asks, do you want Cory Carson and I say, Ya. She plays Cory Carson and I say, No no no. She says, Buddi? And I say, Ya two times, like Ya Ya, because she gets it this time. I watch Buddi and daddy says it looks like the creators of this show are high. I wonder if he means they’re tall but I ignore it because I don’t really care because it doesn’t matter to me if they’re tall or not. I love Buddi.

MUMMY’S CARDS FIT IN THE HEATER, BANANA BREAD IN THE BOOTS

23 April 2020, Thursday

I watch The Wiggles on Netflix and I stomp my feet for the rhythm of the feet, and shake my hips for the rhythm of the hips and shake my hands for the rhythm of the hands and they keep singing the rhythm of the number nine but I don’t know what nine is so I’m glad the song ends and they wave bye-bye so I wave bye-bye.

I open the cupboard at the bottom of the bookshelf and I see a black box with a dangling cord and I put it on my ear because it looks like a telephone but mummy interrupts my phone call and says, Not that, that’s important, I’ve got my files in there, let me have that, so I hand it to her. I watch The Wiggles again. Mummy taps on her computer. I open the door into the hallway and I see a yellow can on the floor and mummy’s black bag with a long handle which is my favourite bag. I go back into the living room and mummy says, Not the can, that’s a spray, and I give it to her and then I check out her bag and mummy lets me so I get the purple cards I find inside and read the words on them with my fingers like how mummy reads to me at bedtime while I watch The Wiggles. I get mummy’s mobile and I scan one purple card on her mobile just like how she does it when we’re in the Coop store buying groceries. Mummy always fills her shopping stroller to the brim and I offer to help her but she says, It’s too heavy, so I just walk beside her with my hand in her hand. The purple cards are thin and crisp so I insert them into the heater on the wall and it fits right in. Success! But mummy looks away from her computer when the purple card falls inside and she says, Oh no, and I say, Oh no, and she says, Oh no, daddy! And she calls on daddy in the bedroom and I follow her, and they talk through the door but it’s only half open because daddy is busy. I’m in the hallway following mummy but she’s already going back so I follow her back into the living room and my head gets a little dizzy. I grab a towel I see on the floor and start wiping the telly, then the table, then mummy’s books which are lying on the table and I give them to her and she says, Thanks.

Mummy’s in the kitchen so I go there too because I want to be in the same place as her. I open a cupboard and pull out some ladles, tin cups, trays, and mix in some gingers. Mummy taught me about gingers. I close the cupboard door but it hits my leg so I go to mummy for a kiss because she makes it better with a kiss but she looks busy cooking something in a pan so I just touch her leg and kiss her leg and then I feel better already.

I grab a big square tissue from the dining table and I wipe the floor, but Mummy says, No, no, no, no, it’s for the spring rolls, it’s not tissue love, and she puts the big square tissue back on the table and slices some cheese and I say, Cheese, and she asks, Do you want some cheese, and I say, Ya, because cheese is my favourite and I eat it even though I just had my lunch of chicken tinola and that’s soup with ginger and green stuff in it and it’s my favourite too. I eat my cheese and mummy wraps cheese with the big square tissue that she said is not tissue but they look like the tissue she uses to wipe the kitchen counters or sometimes blows her nose with. Then she places the cheese wrapped in a big square tissue into the pan and I hear a sizzle but I don’t get scared. Sometimes I hear a loud sizzle and I get scared but not anymore.

I wake up on the sofa but I don’t remember lying there so I get confused but I see a blanket hanging above me like a tent and I think it’s cool and I forget why I’m lying on the sofa.

I see a slice of banana bread on the dining table so I pick it up and have a bite. Yummy! I see my boots on the kitchen floor and I put the banana bread inside because it fits and they are both brown so they match together but mummy sees me and I think this may upset her so I pick it up without looking at her. I wear my boots inside the house and point to the door but mummy says, We still can’t go out, there’s Virus remember, and I remember so I take the boots off because it makes my feet sweaty.

SMOKE ALARM

24 April 2020, Friday

Mummy is cooking something in the oven. I see the tomatoes on the kitchen counter so I ask her for it. I spot a spoon on the dining table and I get it and I mix the tomatoes together in their plastic container but mummy has a better idea and she says, I’ll show you, and she takes the tomatoes out of the plastic container and puts it far away and she takes my spoon and puts a tomato on the spoon and walks towards the plastic container and drops the tomato there, and she says, Are you ready, and I say, Ya, so I take the spoon from her and she places a tomato on my spoon and I walk towards the plastic container and I drop the tomato there, but I miss the plastic container so I pick up the tomato and put it on the spoon and I drop it into the plastic container but I miss again so I just pick it up and throw away the spoon and drop the tomato. I go to mummy and she places another tomato on my spoon and I walk towards the plastic container and I drop the tomato there but I miss it so I pick it up and put it into the plastic container. I go to mummy and she places another tomato on my spoon but I drop it so I pick it up and put it into the plastic container and I sit on the floor because I’m tired already.

Mummy opens the oven and I hear a loud sound, really really loud and I get scared, and mummy is scared too so she walks away from the oven and I run to her and she carries me and I tell mummy, I’m scared, and she says, You’re scared? And I say, Ya, and I tap my chest many times to show her, and she says, Oh, your heart? And I say, Ya. Daddy runs into the room, pulls out a chair from the dining table, stands on the chair and reaches up high for the machine on the ceiling. He removes the cover of the machine and the loud sound is gone. Daddy says, Are you okay? And I say, I’m scared daddy because it’s so loud and…, but daddy says he needs to go back because he’s in the middle of a meeting and I don’t know what he’s talking about but I tap my chest many times to show him but he’s already gone.

Mummy and I have lunch with the food she got from the oven, and she says, Eat your burger, and I keep telling her, I was scared mummy because it was really loud, and I tap my chest many times to show her, and she says, Yeah I know, it was scary wasn’t it? And I say, I was scared mummy because it was really loud, and I tap my chest many times, but mummy is already biting off her burger, putting red sauce, and chewing the crunchy lettuce, so I shut up because mummy has already moved on from the scary loud sound.

DISHWASHER AND LAUNDRY DAY

27 April 2020, Monday

I help daddy empty the dishwasher. He tells me, No, not that one, that’s heavy, and he thinks I can’t but I can. I’ve carried other stuff heavier than the plates like, daddy’s old computer, mummy’s computer, my high chair although to be honest, they always stop me in the middle which I hope they don’t.

I speak to Lola in the mobile phone and I show her my new clothes. Then I put them in the laundry while mummy helps me add the soap, then I close the round door then I press the buttons then I hear the machine roar then I see the clothes spinning inside. Mummy says, We can come back to it later.

Mummy says, Let’s see if your laundry is done, so we go to see the washing machine and it’s not moving anymore so it’s done so I open the round door and I take out the clothes one by one and I transfer them to the other machine next to it where there’s a light inside. When I’m finished, I close the round door, I rotate the dial above it and press a button. I hear the roaring sound so I know it’s working. Mummy says, we can come back to it later once it’s done and they’re all dry.

Mummy says, Let’s see if your laundry are all dried up, so we go to see the drying machine and it’s not moving anymore so it’s done so I open the round door and I take out the clothes one by one and I transfer them to my bedroom where I place them on my day bed, but some of the clothes fall so I ask mummy, Can you get them please mummy, and I see mummy pick them up. I fold them but mummy always unfolds them and I hope she won’t do that because it’s a waste of time.

SNACKS FOR DADDY

28 April 2020, Tuesday

I grab mummy’s hand with one hand and grab the doorknob with the other hand and open the door and then I drop myself on the floor in the hallway. I say, Mummy, follow me, then I crawl and mummy crawls behind me. Mummy is catching up so I pick up my pace but her arms are longer than mine and her hands are bigger than mine and she grabs my legs and I try to escape but she’s so strong so I tumble on the floor and I laugh and she laughs and we both laugh. Then I regain my footing and I crawl again and she crawls behind me but this time she can’t catch me anymore, then I reach the front door so I turn around and mummy is behind me but she can’t catch me this time but I can see that she’s trying. She just got lucky the first time.

Daddy carries me with the music on on the telly so I know he’s trying to make me sleep. I don’t think he will succeed though.

I open my eyes and look around and see mummy sitting on a bed across from me. I’m lying on a bed too but it’s not the same bed where mummy is. I look around some more and this is my day bed and I wonder how I got here. I cry because mummy is not next to me and she grabs me and we cuddle for a bit but I want to go out so I point to the door and mummy says, Do you want to go out, and I say, Ya, so we go out into the living room and mummy plays Buddi on the telly and we cuddle on the sofa while watching Buddi together.

Mummy stands up and asks, Do you want to help me with Daddy’s snacks and I say, Ya, but first she gives me my medicine, and then she hands me a plate with some brownies and three strawberries in it and she says, Both hands please, but I’m already holding the plate with both my hands because I’ve done this before and I’ve memorised it so I don’t know what mummy is talking about. Then we head towards the bedroom, mummy holding a cup of tea, and I knock on the door. I try to push the door open because daddy is not answering the door but mummy says, We have to wait for daddy, but I can’t wait anymore so I knock again and this time daddy opens the door but he’s holding his mobile in front of me and I give him the plate of brownies and three strawberries and he says, Oh thank you Sophia, and mummy gives him his tea, and she says, Alright, see you later daddy, and I know that means I need to leave daddy alone because he’s busy so I wave bye-bye and give him many flying kisses and I tiptoe and reach for the door knob and close the door. Mummy and I high-five.

FLICK IT ON WITH MY FOOT

1 May 2020, Friday

Mummy is in the kitchen and I’m bored with my toys on the sofa so I go to her and raise both my arms and she carries me and I see that she’s cooking noodles. She picks up one noodle from the boiling water in the pan and she bites it and she asks me if I want to try it and I say, Ya, so she blows on the noodle and gives me some. Mummy says, It’s still hard, and she puts the noodle back into the hot water with the other noodles.

I have spaghetti with tomato and green leaves and I love it so much because it’s my favourite, but I give my tomatoes to mummy because I don’t like them, but daddy eats tomatoes and mummy eats tomatoes.

After dinner, mummy asks me if I want to take my shower already and I say, No no. She asks if I want some grapes and I say, Ya ya. The grapes are so yummy and I love them so much because they’re my favourite. I finish my grapes and tell mummy that I’m ready for shower. Mummy places the sticky mat on the bath and I stand on it. Mummy asks, Do you want your bucket? And I say, Ya. Mummy turns on the tap and I fill my bucket with water and I pour them on my hair. Mummy has her own bucket and fills it with water and pours it on me, then she lathers me with soap from the soap bottle that pumps out soapy water when you press it down. I see a bottle of shampoo and squeeze out some shampoo on the bath and mix it up to create bubbles. Mummy says, Enough of the shampoo now, it’s daddy’s, so she takes it from me and I play with my bubbles. Mummy says, Let’s rinse now, then she turns off the tap and grabs the shower spray and sprays me all over then she says, We’re done, and she wraps me with a towel under my kili-kili.

I brush my teeth in front of the mirror and mummy keeps showing her teeth to me but I just mind my own business. Mummy carries me out of the bathroom and asks me, Can you turn off the light, and I flick the light switch with my foot.

(To be continued)