Jailbreak

Dear Lila,

Things you did today:

-Said the word "apple" for the first time

-At the end of a phone conversation with PoiPoi, waved at the phone, said, "bye," hugged the phone and gave it a high five (your nanny always gives you a high five when she says bye to you at the end of the day and you've started doing this, too)

-Were playing *inside* your room when I went into the shower and were playing *outside* of your room when I came out of the shower

So you can open the (supposedly) childproof safety gate for your room now. GuhGaw managed to do it for the first time last month and you are almost as big as he is, so when you put all of your weight on the foot pedal, you are strong enough to push it open. You actually first figured out that you could do this last night and today, you kept practicing and managed to open your gate three times. Crap. There go my long, leisurely showers while you safely play in your room!

Love,
Mom

Recent Events

Dear Lila,

A few recent happenings:

-You have learned to say many new words, including shoe, yeah, bib, boo boo, bottle, nose, me (and you point to yourself when you say it), bed, more, book, hug, baby, door and floor

-You "let it go" on Halloween and looked adorable!

-When I was cleaning up some crumbs underneath the dining room table, I bumped my head and said, "Ow." You immediately ran over to me, patted my head and hugged me. Aww, thanks, sweetie!

-Goodbye, crib! You switched over to a big-girl bed last week!

-When I read a story or sing a song to you, you attempt to follow along and say or sing the words with me.

-I used to have to cut your bananas and string cheese into tiny pieces so that you could eat them, but now I can give them to you whole and you can bite into them on your own. It's funny how these little displays of independence can be so bittersweet for a mom.

-You were sitting on a bench, throwing your baby Ariel doll up in the air and saying, "Weee!" It was really cute and of course made me think of the day, way in the future, when you will be doing that to your actual baby :)

Love,
Mom

Girly Rain Gear

Dear Lila,

It always seems to rain on Tuesdays when you have your Moms & Tots class. It either rains before class as we're walking there, during class so that you can't go outside to the playground or after class, when we're on our way to pick up GuhGaw from school. Today was no exception. The weather report said it wasn't going to rain until after 6pm but--big surprise--the weather report was wrong and it started storming after class while you and I were getting lunch at a nearby Japanese market. 

Luckily, I had the rain cover for your stroller. Unluckily, I did not have an umbrella for myself. So I bought the only one they had available at the Japanese market. And that is why I had to walk through our neighborhood and show up at GuhGaw's school holding a ruffly, neon pink Hello Kitty umbrella. Oye.

Love,

Mom

Poopy Potty

Dear Lila,

You pooped in the potty for the first time today! And don't worry, I didn't take a picture of it like some parents do because that's, well, disgusting.

Daddy was the one who was with you in the bathroom when you pooped and it was actually the first of your firsts that Daddy was able to witness. Afterward he told me, "I didn't get to see Lila's first steps or hear her first words, but this? I get to see her first poop?" Aww, I think Daddy feels a little ripped off!

Love,
Mom

Daddy's Little Girl

Dear Lila,

When GuhGaw was around your age, he took a crayon and scribbled all over his bedroom wall. Daddy got so mad and yelled at GuhGaw so much, he made him cry.

Tonight, you did the same thing, except you scribbled over a lot more wall and on one of the couch cushions. When Daddy saw what you did, he said in a not-very-stern voice, "MuiMui, what did you do?" and that was it. You totally have Daddy in the palm of your hand! More proof of this? One time, you dumped a bunch of toys all over the dining room floor. When Daddy saw the mess, he yelled at GuhGaw, "Connor! Why did you let MuiMui make this mess?!" *sigh* Poor Connor!

Love,
Mom

Potty Time!

Dear Lila,

You peed in the potty today! After we dropped GuhGaw off at school this morning, we took a leisurely walk around our neighborhood (I like the days when we don't have to rush to a class and can play things by ear), stopping to admire flowers, listen to a blue jay's melodic bird call and climb up hilly lawns. When we went back home, I sat you on the potty as I have been doing occasionally but several minutes passed and you didn't go, so I carried you to the changing table. You started protesting when I tried to lay you down on the table, though, and actually cried out, "Pee pee!" so I took you back to the potty. And then you peed in it! It was the very first time you peed in the potty and you acted as if it was no big deal--that is, until I started acting like it was a big deal (because it was!) and began clapping and cheering for you. Then you smiled a big smile and looked very proud.

Love,

Mom

Lila-isms

Dear Lila,

You are 21 months old now (Wait, what? How are you almost 2 years old already?!) and I love all of the adorable "Lila-isms" you have:

-When I say we have to be quiet, you put your finger to your lips and whisper, "Shhh."

-When you pee in your diaper, you say "pee pee" and tap your crotch.
-You make all of the animal sounds at the right time when we read Moo Baa La La La.

-You are very into climbing things and, though you were initially afraid of them, you now love the swings and slides at the playground.

-When you stumble and fall (not hard), you laugh and think it's hilarious. 

-When I ask you a question--like "Which book do you want to read?"--you tap your chin with your index finger as you think it over.

-You love to dance and when you hear a song that you like, you run over to me to pull me up to dance with you. When you dance, you throw both arms up in the air and sometimes flap one arm like a bird. And when you hear a fast-paced song you really like, you do this adorable bounce-and-squat dance move that cracks me up!

-You are actually very musically inclined and often try to sing along to songs you hear on the radio or that I sing to you. And like other girls (and boys, including GuhGaw) everywhere, you love the Frozen soundtrack!

-You are very independent. If I try to feed you a spoonful of food, you often push my hand away, grab the spoon and feed yourself. You can also take your shirt off and pull your pants and leggings on by yourself.

-You are very neat and conscientious about wiping your face and hands and keeping them clean if you're eating something messy.

-You are growing so fast that you are already wearing size 4T clothing and size 6 diapers and no longer fit into your high chair. Feel free to slow down--I won't mind!

-When you're not happy about something, you pout by tipping your head to the side, sticking out your bottom lip, crossing your arms and turning your body away. I shouldn't encourage it, but I always smile when you do this because you look so cute!
-I do not, however, smile when you bite your brother, which you do--and sometimes with quite a lot of viciousness--when he makes you angry by not sharing a toy or food with you. Not okay, lady.
-Like your brother before you, you are very possessive of me. The other night, Daddy, you and I were in bed and every time Daddy tried to touch me, you pushed him away from me and hugged me tightly.

-When you're sleepy, you like to twirl your hair or mine when I hold you before bedtime.

-When I put you in your crib at night, you sometimes roll over onto your side, look up at me and pat your back to tell me that you want me to rub your back as you fall asleep.

-You are saying many more new words, including bye, up, down, oh (when something is wrong), bao bao (Chinese for bread), rub rub rub (when you are standing at the sink and washing your hands), whoooa/wooow (when you see something impressive), boobie (you can't say that many words and among the few that you can say, one of them has to be boobie?!), bo bo (elbow) and--this is a big one--Dada! You said it for the first time yesterday when you saw a photo of Daddy on the digital picture frame and again when he came home from work. Daddy was so happy!

Love,

Mom