Arash Zeini

According to BabyCenter this is how far Amitis should be right now:

Quote:

Your toddler is probably able to have a two- or three-sentence conversation with you, and you’re probably able to understand what she says at least half the time. As her sense of herself as a distinct person grows, she’ll talk about herself - what she’s doing, what she likes, and what she doesn’t like. She can probably form images in her mind, organize categories, and arrange things in order. Her memory is getting better, and she’s beginning to understand abstract concepts such as more or less and sooner or later - though she still doesn’t understand things like next month or next year.

I wonder how much different she will be when I visit her this time. During the phone calls I can make out how much she has changed. We do have little conversations, even though most of the time I have difficulties understanding what she says :)

آتشی است در دل بی قرار من
چه ها که در انتظار تو بر سرم آمد
می‌دانم که لطف و کرم تو بسیار است
ولی گناهان من از حد پیش.
(غزل ۳)

On Sunday at 22:15, Dubai time, I called Amitis. I had called her from the airport the day before, but since I call her each Saturday and Sunday, I called her on Sunday from Dubai too. I miss her so much when I don’t talk to her for a longer time.
So I called and as usual asked her for her name. That’s one way to make sure that she is on the phone. This time she told me her name twice after each question. She said also something that I couldn’t understad. After a while I asked her if we should say “Bye” , but she said “No”. So we talked a little more. Without any preparation she said “You are my Baba, Arash”. I found that so sweet. Immediately Samad came on the (other) phone and said that Amitis doesn’t know how to hang up. I could still hear Amitis. So we said bye and sent kisses to each other.

I am wondering how she will react when we meet each other again.

Today is Amitis’s birthday according to the Iranian calendar. It is hard to believe that two years have passed. It is amazing how fast children grow up, even though time passes by very slowly when she is far away. Many people have called and congratulated for Amitis’s birthday. While it is very nice of them, it makes me feel strange.
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I began to read a graphic novel called “Persepolis, The Story of a Childhood” by Marjane Satrapi. In black-and-white comic strip images the novel tells the story of a little girl growing up in Iran of the revolution time. I find it very interesting; not only because of the format, but because of the way the story is told and because it has so much to do with our generation. Marjane, the author, was born in Tehran in 1969. That makes her just one year older than me.

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She says: “This is not the end of the world, you know!”
He is leaving. He pauses: “I know. I have seen the end of the world!”