Rough and Tumble

Dear Lila,

We have a large curved staircase in our house and it's one of the most beautiful features in our house. Visitors always comment on it when they see it for the first time and I remember one of my friends asked if any of you kids had ever fallen down it since it is so large. At the time, the answer was a lucky no. That answer changed today, though, when you were coming downstairs with your water bottle and tumbled almost all the way to the bottom :-(

I was cleaning up dishes in the kitchen when it happened so I didn't see you fall but I heard you fall and the memory of that sound keeps making me chest tighten. All three of you kids have slipped on the stairs at some point but you've only ever slipped down one or two steps before landing on your butt or catching your fall. This time, you told me that you were a quarter of the way down when you lost your footing. I heard a thump on the stairs . . . and then several more thumps followed. I ran to the stairs and you were sitting near the bottom. You said you had hit your head, your arm and your leg and you said they all hurt a lot. And you were wailing in such a way that it made me start to cry. Daddy and GuhGaw were out at the time but DiDi was downstairs and he picked up your water bottle and said, "I got you water bottle!"

I carried you over to the couch and DiDi ran and got the ice pack out of the freezer for you. You were shaken for awhile but there were no visible bumps or bruises. I kept asking you throughout the day if you had a headache or if you felt dizzy or nauseous but you said you were fine. Oh MAN. Thank goodness you didn't get seriously hurt!

Love,
Mom

Nineties Kid

Dear Lila,

Guess who scored a 98 on her Gifted & Talented test this year? YOU!!! I am so proud of my bright girl!

Love,
Mom

Power Hug

Dear Lila,

Sometimes Daddy or PoiPoi pick you up from school but when I go, you always give me a big smile when you see me and run at me and hug me so hard, you almost knock me over. And I love it every time!

Love,
Mom

Jelly Belly

Dear Lila,

Today, you asked me out of the blue, "Mama, the next person who comes out of your stomach, can we name her Jelly Bean?" Wait, what? From the way you phrased the act of giving birth to the fact that you want a sibling named after a colorful confection--hahaha! I love it!

Love,
Mom

Mini Mathematician

Dear Lila,

You were in your room tonight and when I went in to check on you, you weren't reading books or playing with dolls as I had expected. Instead, you were making up subtraction problems and solving them by yourself. You had filled both sides of a piece of paper with problems such as 7-1 and 2-1 . . . and you had solved each one correctly, too!

So proud and impressed, little girl!

Love,
Mom

Class Act

Dear Lila,

You have mentioned to me that you want to be a teacher and you have already started practicing for your future profession. You were sitting on the foyer bench after school yesterday while I was helping GuhGaw shower and when I came downstairs to get you, you were holding a book up and reciting the story in a calm, lilting voice. You said you were pretending all of our shoes on the floor were your students and you were reading to them. I love it!

Love,
Mom

Food for Thought

Dear Lila,

We spent the afternoon at the American Museum of Natural History yesterday and you said you liked seeing the dinosaur bones, animal dioramas and miniature displays of Native American villages. Food is never far from your mind, though, so as we made our way to the Hall of Ocean Life or Hall of North American Forests, you kept spotting decals of a fork and knife on the floor and asking if we could follow those to the cafe instead. Sure, the sea otter diorama is interesting, but where's the ice cream? :-P

Love,
Mom