Just A Trim

Dear Lila,

Things you did today:

-Impressed me with your understanding of time: You asked if you and I could have girl time and I said we couldn't because I had a lot of work to do. You then said, "You said yesterday that we could have girl time tomorrow, so that is today!" Wow. (And we did manage to squeeze in a few minutes of girl time tonight after all.)

-Used a pair of safety scissors to trim your hair: Your nanny was cleaning up the study when she found hair clippings in the corner. You can't really tell that you cut it at all when looking at you, though, so at least your self-cut wasn't anything drastic!

Love,
Mom

Catgirl

Dear Lila,

At bedtime tonight, I leaned down for you to kiss my cheek but instead, you licked it. Then you laughed and said, "I'm a kitty cat." So silly!

Love,
Mom

All Hallows' Eve

Dear Lila,

Happy Halloween! I think I enjoy this holiday more now that I have kids than when I was a kid myself. It's so fun to dress you and your brothers up in your costumes and to see how excited you get about all of the candy. This year, you were a chef for your school party and your new favorite Disney princess, Elena of Avalor, for trick-or-treating:

Halloween fell on a Monday this year and we went trick-or-treating right after school. You're usually tired at the end of the long school day and after an hour of trick-or-treating, you were really exhausted, so I was going to take you home. But we were walking down a big street with lots of houses giving away candy and as strong as your desire to go home and rest was, the desire to collect more candy was even stronger! You kept saying, "Just one more house, Mama." So we'd hit one more house and prepare to head home, but then you'd say again, "Just one more." And so that "one" house became about two dozen more! Near the end of the street, you couldn't even hold your heavy bag of candy--I carried it and you would take it when we got to a house, get the candy, walk back to me and immediately hand the bag to me. By the last house, you could barely muster the strength to walk up the stairs and open your bag. You draaaaaaged yourself up the steps and just stared at the man, who had to push the candy down into your bag for you. You looked so sleepy, I went to the top of the steps and carried you down, for fear that you were going to fall down. Wow.

I usually let GuhGaw and you eat one piece of candy when we start trick-or-treating and one more when we get home afterward. You, however, managed to sneak several pieces by me, which you ate in addition to the two Munchkins you got at Dunkin' Donuts and the cup of ice cream you scored at Shake Shack. So really, it was no surprise when you came to me after we got home and complained, "My tummy hurts!" Awww!

Love,
Mom

Beautiful Old Lady

Dear Lila,

Happenings this month:

-When you could't spear a piece of broccoli with your fork, you said, "I can't fork it!"

-You learned about the five senses in school, so when you were drinking a cup of bubble tea one day, you said, "I tasting my bubble tea [you drank a sip]. I 'melling my bubble tea [you took a deep breath]. Now, I seeing my bubble tea [you held the cup right up to your eye]." So cute!

-You are beginning to write letters better and can write the first three letters of your name well (the a still gives you trouble). And you have also graduated from drawing people by making brief streaks across the paper to drawing people with round heads, actual faces and stick-figure bodies. It's kind of amazing how that just seemed to happen overnight.

A Lila Original

-You had your first shelter drill at school a couple of days ago. I felt so sad when GuhGaw had his first one last year and I felt sad again when you told me about yours today, especially when you said that when you started talking during the drill, your teacher warned you and your classmates, "If you talk, your mamas will never see you again." I get it, it's a serious thing and they want you to take it seriously but yeesh, that was a little harsh, wasn't it?

-Today, you said to me, "You look like an old lady who looks beautiful." Um, thank you?

Love,

Mom

Hallway Sighting

Dear Lila,

Your and GuhGaw's classrooms at school are both on the first floor and you two finally saw each other in the hallway today when you both had to go to the bathroom at the same time. You told me that you guys hugged each other when you saw each other and when your teacher asked you what your brother's name is, you said, "My brother's name is GuhGaw." Hehehe :-)

Love,
Mom

Tangled

Dear Lila,

So this happened today:

In case you can't tell, you're holding a mini fan and your hair is all tangled up in it. (And from the smile on your face, this situation obviously does not bother you.) "Lila! Why did you put the fan in your hair?!" "I don't know." After several exasperated minutes of trying to untangle your locks from the blades, it was clear that it was a lost cause and the scissors had to be brought in. Good lord.

Love,
Mom

First Day of Pre-K!

Dear Lila,

Here are some words to describe you right now:

Super Helpful: When DiDi dropped a bunch of Cheerios on the floor, you picked them up without anyone even asking you to. And when I was putting sunblock on him one time, you helped me rub it into his skin, again totally unprompted.

Super Sweet: I sometimes tell you that I love you to the moon and back. You sometimes tell me, "I love you to the moon and to the sun and to the back." And then you point to your back, hahaha!

Super Cute Speaker: You say things like "restanaut" (restaurant), "amial" (animal), "leyow" (yellow) and "I can't fork it" (when you couldn't spear a piece of food with your fork and pick it up).

Super Slow Eater: You used to be a quick eater like GuhGaw but now you eat so slowly, it is seriously painful to watch you sometimes. We had fried rice once and you literally ate it grain by grain. Are you just trying to reeeeeally savor your food? Oh my god, and your milk! It takes your more than an hour to drink a small cup of milk sometimes! When we're in a hurry, I put two chocolate chips in the bottom of your milk cup to get you to drink faster (it works!). I am not looking forward to rushing you through breakfast every morning so that we can leave for school.

And speaking of school, you are also now a Super Awesome Pre-Kindergartener! You started pre-k today! You were actually very very lucky to get a spot at GuhGaw's school--there are only 18 spots in the pre-k class and dozens of kids applied for them. There was a big chance you wouldn't get in but you did, yay! And even though you are at a brand new school with a brand new teacher and brand new classmates whom you never met before, you handled your first day like a boss. There was no fear, anxiety or panic (or if there was, you didn't let it show). You walked into the classroom, explored all of the different areas and participated in circle time as if you'd already been in the class for months. Funnily enough, DiDi was also quite at home in your classroom and also walked around and explored the room as if he owned the place. The cutest moment? When you went to the front of the room for circle time, DiDi didn't want to be left behind so he walked right over to you and hugged you tightly.

I am sad that you'll now be in school all day and I won't get to see you as much, but I am really excited about all of the great things you're going to learn this year!

Love,
Mom