Basic Black

Dear Lila,

We were walking around the neighborhood this afternoon when you suddenly pulled my arm and said to me, "That was a lot of black people." But no, you weren't being racially insensitive! We had just walked past a funeral home and a large group of people, who were actually Caucasian and all dressed in black for a funeral, were standing outside!

Love,
Mom

Warm Welcome

Dear Lila,

PoiPoi picked you up from school today and I was waiting for you guys in front of our house. When you were halfway down the block, PoiPoi saw me standing on the sidewalk and pointed me out to you. When you saw me, your face lit up, you shouted "Mamaaaaaaa!" and started running toward me. When you reached me, you jumped into my outstretched arms and gave me a big hug.

Best. Feeling. EVER!

Love,
Mom

A Thousand Mommies

Dear Lila,

At dinner tonight, you told me that you want me to have 1,000 baby girls. And I told you, "Hahaha! NO."

Then you said, "How about we have 1,000 mommies?" I made a sad face and asked you, "You want other mommies? You don't want just me?" You replied, "If we had 1,000 mommies, they could take care of the other babies and then you could take care of only me." I asked you, "So you just want me all to yourself?" You smiled the biggest smile, tipped your head to the side and said, "Yes."

Day made :-)

Love,
Mom

Mama's Mistake

Dear Lila,

You got a paper cut on your finger and like all paper cuts, it huuuuuurt. And I forgot about your paper cut when I was giving you a shower and rubbed soap right into it. You started crying and I washed the soap off as fast as I could. I felt so bad about making the cut worse and kept saying, "I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry!" Between sobs, you managed to say, "It's okay, Mama. It was a mistake."

Thank you for being so mature and understanding!

Love,
Mom

Princess Paramedic

Dear Lila,

We went to the playground after school last Friday and there was a pretty traumatic incident while we were there. A girl your age fell off of the tall jungle gym, hit her head on the ground and laid there completely motionless and unresponsive for several minutes while her mom held her. I called 911, the paramedics came and the girl and her mom got in the ambulance and went to the hospital. I saw the girl's mom at your school today and she told me that the girl is thankfully 100% fine but whew, that was the scariest thing we had ever witnessed at the playground.

The whole thing left an impression on you. After the ambulance drove away, we were sitting on a bench and you told me, "When I grow up, I want to be a helper in an ambulance . . . And a princess."

Helpful and glamorous, I like it!

Love,
Mom

Shy Mode

Dear Lila,

You are definitely more outgoing than you were before but you still shut down around new people and go into "shy Lila mode" -- when a person you're not comfortable with talks to you, you look down at the ground, wiggle your foot back and forth and stick the tip of your tongue out of the corner of your mouth. Once I see that pose, I know that that person is not going to get any words out of you!

Love,
Mom

Ninja Turtle Chocolate

Dear Lila,

When I asked you what you wanted for breakfast today, you said you wanted bread with "Donatello" chocolate--you meant Nutella. Haha!

Love,
Mom