Hicksville

Dear Lila,

I was today years old when you asked me what a hickey is. 

Love,

Mom

My Thoughtful Dumpling

Dear Lila,

I decided to make dumplings for lunch today and there were exactly 15 dumplings left in the bag. I gave four dumplings each to you, DiDi and MuiMui. You came into the kitchen as I was spooning out my portion and as soon as you saw that I only got three dumplings while the rest of you received four, you asked me, "Do you want one of my dumplings?" I knew you would notice that I had less dumplings and I knew you would offer me one of your dumplings, but I was still very touched by your generosity. You are awesome. Period.

Love,

Mom

Shaking Things Up

Dear Lila,

Last night, you used the bathroom before your shower and called out, "Uhhhh, Mama?" You got your period! Many of your friends and classmates have had theirs for awhile and I've talked to you about it, so you knew what to expect (and dread) when it finally happened for you. We got a bigger reaction from MuiMui, who watched as I reminded you how to use a maxi pad: "Why is Lila bleeding? What?! Lila is wearing a diaper! Why is Lila wearing a diaper??" Hahaha! 

So if that wasn't enough excitement, we were all home this morning and at 10:23am, our house began to shake violently. At first, I thought you and MuiMui were just playing extra rambunctiously in the attic but after a few seconds, I realized that 1) you were both on the second floor and 2) the house was shaking a lot. It stopped after 20 seconds or so and after texting a few neighborhood friends to see if their houses had shook, too, I soon learned that it had been an earthquake! An earthquake! In New York! Wha??!! But it was a small one (4.8 magnitude), so small that not a single one of our picture frames even fell over. Apparently, there was an aftershock around 6pm and you kids felt it in the attic but Daddy and I were on the first floor and didn't even notice.

Huh. We returned from Paris on Wednesday, you got your first period on Thursday, we experienced an earthquake today and on Monday, we're going to have a total solar eclipse. Pretty eventful couple of days!

Love,

Mom

Mystery Box

Dear Lila,

When you came home from school today, I told you that a huge box had blown into our backyard (lie #1) and asked if you could move it to the patio for me because my knee was bothering me (lie #2). You asked if anything was in it and I said no (lie #3). Then I watched as you walked up to the box, noticed something inside, opened the lid--and screamed and jumped when you saw DiDi and MuiMui sitting inside! Hahahaha!

Daddy had ordered a bean bag chair for the play attic and the box it came in was HUGE. It was so huge that I knew your siblings would like playing in it, which they enthusiastically did after they came home from school and saw it in our yard. They immediately crawled into it (and yes, the box was so big that they could both sit inside it) and pretended that it was their house. As I watched them and noticed that you would be home from school soon, I realized that we had a golden opportunity to prank you! Thankfully, you weren't mad about it and even joined in on the fun and played "store" with DiDi and MuiMui after you got over your initial shock. Kids + cardboard box = hours of playtime!

Love,

Mom

Feeling Green

Dear Lila,

Let the record show that you asked for broccoli tonight!

I love veggies and I want you kids to eat lots of them. Most of the meals I cook are vegetarian and I always make green smoothies with kale, spinach and carrots. This week, though, Daddy forgot to get broccoli when he went grocery shopping and I already used up the boxes of kale and spinach, so there were no fresh vegetables to cook along with my curry chicken and roasted potatoes tonight. We did have smoothies, so at least there were veggies in those, but when we sat down to dinner and there was nothing green on your plate, you asked incredulously, "No broccoli??" And the meal felt so off for you that you actually ate a small bowl of olives and pickles with your dinner because your brain must have been telling you that you must eat something green. Hahaha, success! I have trained you well!

Love,

Mom

You're Eleven Years Old!

Dear Lila,

Well, it has happened. At your annual check-up last week, the nurse measured your height and said that you are now 5 feet, 4 inches tall. I am 5 feet, 2 inches tall. You are officially taller than me. At the young age of 11! And wait, you are 11!!! Happiest of birthdays to my crazy tall Lilabear!!!

Every year, you make me prouder and prouder to be your mom. You are so kind, thoughtful and generous. You help Daddy and me so much with our daily tasks (you always ask me if I need help with anything). You take care of your siblings and always look out for them (at your school Halloween party, you made sure to grab extra bags of chips and candy to share with your DiDi and MuiMui). You are respectful and appreciative (you thank me for making dinner every single night). And you are one of the most hard-working kids I know. Your work load this semester was a lot heavier than it was in 5th grade and you had a lot of late nights where you didn't go to bed until after 10pm because you were working on social studies questions or math sets. Then you had to wake up at 6am the next morning to help get breakfast for your brothers, eat your own breakfast and get ready for the bus. And while you often complained that you were tired, you always woke up on your own and did what you needed to do in order to be ready before the bus pulled up in front of our house.

You always do your schoolwork and it has paid off--your ELA teacher said you have the second highest grade in your class and your social studies teacher said you are one of the strongest students. You struggled in math a bit this semester but you are in honors math learning 7th- and 8th-grade concepts and I am so proud of you for sticking with the class and taking on the challenges, especially when three of your classmates decided to drop the class within the first week of school because it was difficult for them.

I am also proud of your growing confidence. You have always been shy; at the Garden New Student Orientation back in August, you were literally hiding behind me while I was trying to initiate conversations between you and the other new students! You didn't know anyone at Garden before you started but the other 6th graders have been so welcoming and you are very comfortable being amongst them. You have already gotten close to a couple of the other girls and you seem very happy at your new school. Whenever you come home, you are full of stories about funny things that happened between you and your classmates that day.

You have grown so much but you are still my Lila who devours books (you're currently into fantasy series like Keeper of the Lost Cities, The Land of Stories and The Hunger Games) and likes stories inspired by fairy tales. You also like playing Wordle, Connections and Sudoku and you spend a lot of time listening to songs by Taylor Swift and Olivia Rodrigo. Your preferred outfit is a sweatshirt, crop top and flared leggings and you love shopping for new earrings, especially dangly ones. And most importantly, you still like spending time with me! I am grateful that when you come home from school, you can't wait to tell me those aforementioned stories, instead of just reporting to me that your day was "fine." I am grateful that you still want to give me hugs and kisses and that you make sure to kiss me on the cheek every day before you go outside to wait for your bus. I am grateful that you don't want to go to sleep until we do our nightly bedtime mantra and secret handshake. I am grateful that when I ask if you want to do something together, you always eagerly say yes.

We had a chance to do two special somethings together this week for your birthday. The first one was yesterday when I took you to your very first Broadway show, Wicked! Given your interest in reimagined fairy tales, it was the perfect show for you--and you loved it! I had already seen Wicked twice before and it was still amazing a third time, but I actually spent a majority of the show watching you watch the show--it was really special to see what you smiled and laughed at and how you reacted to certain parts. After the show, I took you to the stage door and you got to meet the actor who plays the prince! He was so incredibly nice and stopped to talk to you for awhile, asking you if you also want to perform on Broadway and wishing you a happy birthday when I told him we were there to celebrate!

Today, I took you and your friends out for pizza and then to see the new Wonka movie. It was actually the first time you'd been able to celebrate with friends on your actual birthday because most people are usually away for the winter break, but it worked out this year and you got to spend your big 1-1 with a couple of your old elementary school friends and couple of your new Garden School friends. Happy birthday, sweetheart! I love you so so much! You said you had a lot of fun for your birthday this year and I'm so glad--you deserve it!

Love,

Mom

Happy Camper

Dear Lila,

Every year at your school, the 5th and 6th graders go on a trip to Camp Herrlich in Putnam County. The kids do outdoorsy activities like go on hikes, study plants and soil, examine creatures that live in the pond and learn survival skills (how to build an outdoor shelter, what to do if someone breaks a bone, etc.). It's a fun, educational trip . . . and it's overnight. Three days and two nights, actually. And before the trip, you had never been away from home for more than a night, when you'd done sleepovers at friends' houses, where I am friends with the parents and you weren't that far away. So letting you go on this overnight trip was a big step for the both of us! And it was kind of sudden for me. Your school emailed the permission slip two weeks before the trip and I barely had time to process the details before I had to turn in the slip. I wasn't sure I was ready but you said that most of your classmates were going and I didn't want you to miss out, so off to Putnam County you went!

I was unexpectedly emotional watching you pack your clothes and toiletries the night before the trip. As you placed items in your duffel bag, you suddenly seemed so big and my mind flash-forwarded to when you will be packing for college. Eeek! The next morning, I watched you from the living window as you carried your overstuffed bag to the bus--and then promptly fell forward because the bag was so heavy. Oh my god! You actually ripped your pants and scraped your knees but luckily, that was the worst injury you sustained over the next three days--even when you and your classmates went on a somewhat scary nighttime hike with no lighting!

While you were away, I constantly checked your tracker location and anxiously awaited texts and calls from you. It was weird not having you at home for so many nights and things definitely felt off. But I'm glad you went on the trip and glad that you had such an amazing time! You enjoyed all of the activities (except touching the slimy fish in the pond), loved the surprisingly good camp food (they made bacon for breakfast, which you were very excited about because I never cook bacon for you at home!) and had so much fun staying up late and bonding with the girls in your bunk. What a great first school trip!

Love,

Mom