You're Eight Years Old!

Dear Lila,

Last week, we went to see the holiday lights display at Jones Beach. You kids enjoyed seeing all of the festive lights but on the way home, MuiMui started getting restless in her car seat and began crying. I couldn't get her to calm down from the front seat so I gave you Daddy's phone and told you to play the video for "Slaughter Race" from the movie Wreck-It Ralph. It is the most random song but for whatever weird reason, MuiMui always stops fussing when she hears it. Unfortunately that night, the sound on Daddy's phone suddenly stopped working. MuiMui could see the video on the phone but she couldn't hear it. However, you, Super Sister, stepped in and started singing the song to her! And MuiMui immediately stopped crying. It was so sweet and touching and I was immensely proud of you!

When we couldn't get the video's sound to work, you just instantly started singing to calm your baby sister down. You didn't even think about it--you just did it. You turned eight years old today but you have shown more thoughtfulness, empathy and kindness in those eight years than many adults I have known. You are such a beautiful person inside and out and I couldn't ask for a better daughter. You are always helpful, watching MuiMui in her room when I need to cook dinner, helping DiDi with his math homework or offering to fold laundry for me. You are always responsible, keeping track of your Google Meet calls for school, completing all of your assignments on your own and completing chores like brushing your teeth and clearing your dishes without me ever having to remind you. You are always creative, drawing interesting pictures for me all of the time, concocting detailed storylines for your Barbie dolls and building an elaborate Lego castle with dozens of rooms. You are always determined, like you were this year when you started learning how to ride a bike and it was often difficult for you (you'll be able to get on that two-wheeler soon!). You are always good-natured, which has been especially important this year when so many things changed so dramatically and we found ourselves isolated from all of our family and friends. And you are always eager for some Lila-Mama quality time, asking if we can read together and cuddle every night at bedtime.

When you were a baby/toddler, I loved spending time with you because you were so adorable. Now that you are (*gulp*) a big kid, I love spending time with you because you are so fun to spend time with! We talk about so many topics together--from crazy dreams we had to the latest Harry Potter book you're rereading (this year, you read and reread the entire series at least a dozen times)--and you are a really funny girl who makes me laugh all of the time. I love all of the things we do together--baking, taking walks around the neighborhood, playing Life, coloring Fancy Nancy pictures, watching Jane the Virgin and World of Dance, exercising on the treadmill and trampoline in the basement and definitely reading and cuddling at bedtime (and even if I'm too busy or it's too late to read, we still do our secret handshake at bedtime every single night!)

I love you so much, Lilabear! Happy 8th birthday!

Love,

Mom

Full of Thanks

Dear Lila,

Happy Thanksgiving! Turkey Day obviously looked a little different this year, as it was just the six of us and we ate "together" with PoiPoi over a WeChat call. But it was still a festive day with lots of deliciousness! I still made all of the traditional side dishes and desserts that we always have--because it just wouldn't feel right without them--and we feasted on barbeque chicken, sausage stuffing, Brussels sprouts casserole, stuffed mushrooms casserole, honey corn muffins, pumpkin pie and chocolate pudding pie. We all shared what we are thankful for and I loved your answer the most: You said you are thankful for all of the doctors and nurses! *melt* I am thankful that we are all healthy, happy and together. And I am also thankful for the funny things you say that make me laugh! Here's a gem from tonight:

You: Is Santa still bringing everyone presents this year?

Me: Of course he is.

You, after a brief pause: Is he going to get a Covid test first?"

A very valid question!

Love,

Mom

Meaty Exchange

Dear Lila,

You have always had a healthy appetite. If I let you eat an entire pizza, you probably could and would! As such, Daddy and I have to be more mindful of how much food we give you. At dinner tonight, Daddy absentmindedly gave you a huge portion of steak. When we all sat down at the table and I saw how much meat was on your plate, I told Daddy it was too much and asked him to take some off. He did and then you immediately started shoveling the remaining pieces of your meat into your mouth--you did so quickly before Daddy had a chance to take anymore steak! Hahaha! You and your love of food!

Love,

Mom

Riding Solo

Dear Lila,

We baked cookies a couple days ago and made so many that we packed some up and brought them to my friend this afternoon. While we were there, my friend asked me how I was and I said everything was good but that I just really miss my alone time; now that we are all home all the time, "me time" is pretty hard to come by. After we left my friend's house, you and I walked around the neighborhood for a bit--stopping to look at Halloween decorations and pick up some treats from a chocolate shop--before heading back to our house. I told you that I wanted to go biking and asked if you wanted to come with me. You politely said, "No, it's kind of hard to keep up with you . . . and I know you want alone time." Thank you for always being so thoughtful, sweetheart! I love you so much for it!

Love,

Mom

Rock the Vote

Dear Lila,

Your teacher asks you an attendance question every morning and this morning's question was, "What do you wish you were old enough to do?" You said other kids mentioned things like driving a car or getting a Metrocard. I asked you what you had said and you replied, "I said I wished I was old enough to vote." I LOVE that answer! #proudmom

Love,

Mom

Taking Attendance

Dear Lila,

You started online orientation for third grade this week (oh my god, you're in third grade!) and you are still the most dedicated student. Your second grade teacher used to post an attendance question on your Google Classroom stream every morning and you assumed your third grade teacher would do the same so you woke up early yesterday morning, signed onto the classroom . . . and freaked out when you didn't see an attendance question. You came running into my room saying, "Mama! There's no attendance question! She didn't post the attendance question!" I said it was the first day of orientation and your teacher would probably take attendance during the Google Meet call later that morning but you were clearly not convinced because you still look worried. I don't want you to be so anxious but I am proud of you for being so conscientious! I hope you have an amazing school year!

Love,

Mom

Early Bird

Dear Lila,

When you had to catch the bus to school, I would set your alarm for 6:20am but now that you have online school, you obviously don't have to get up that early. In fact, you don't have to get up early at all. I have told you this multiple times but yet you keep getting up early! You still pop out of bed shortly after 6am even though I no longer set your alarm.

Why? Your teacher posts an attendance question online each morning and students in your class have to answer it in order to be marked present for the day; you pride yourself on getting online even before your teacher and being the first one to answer the attendance question as soon as she posts it. When I spoke to your teacher over the phone for our parent-teacher conference yesterday, we talked about how responsible you are and how you still insist on waking up so early every day. Your teacher laughingly told you that she would beat you online one of these days and I said, "Now that you said that, Lila is going to wake up at 5:30am instead of 6:30am!" And guess what? That's exactly what you did this morning! You woke up at 5 freakin' 30 in the morning and posted "Good morning!" online at 5:35am. Your teacher and a few of your classmates later commented on and marveled at how early you were up and online!

And as someone who is the very opposite of a morning person and abhors getting up early, I do not understand you. And your current affinity for waking up at the crack of dawn is especially funny considering the fact that when you were in kindergarten, getting you out of bed for school was SO HARD. You would go to bed at 7pm and I'd wake you up at 7am and even after those 12 whole HOURS of sleep, you would groan and resist and keep trying to crawl back into bed. It got to the point where I made you sleep in your school clothes instead of pajamas because it took you sooooo long to get out of bed in the mornings. We are so not there anymore. Now you often wake me up in the mornings and I'm the one groaning about wanting to go back to sleep!

Love,
Mom

A Bang-Up Job

Dear Lila,

When PoiPoi picked you up from your bus stop this afternoon, she thought there was something different about you but she didn't know what it was. Daddy and I knew, though, as soon as we saw you--you cut your hair! You now have suuuuuuper short one-inch bangs in the middle of your forehead! Apparently, you were cutting paper in class for a project and you asked one of your classmates if she dared you to cut your hair. She said she did and well, snip snip. Your self-styled bangs are so short that I can't do anything to fix them; we'll just have to wait (a looooong time) for them to grow out!

Love,
Mom