LBD at 18 Months: Happy Half Birthday!!!

"Lila B is the sweetest child I have ever met. You need to clone her." --my totally unbiased mother-in-law : )

Lila B is 18 months and I want to cry. With joy over how happy she is and with anguish over how fast the time has gone. Here's the DL on LB.

--33 inches according to your doctor (though I think you are only 32). At 33 you'd be 77th percentile

--25.5 lbs, 70th percentile

--96th percentile noggin. They had to measure you twice because the first time you were off the charts. Are those bobblehead stats?!?!

You ain't starving. Your body is still shaped like an S curve. You have lost a little chub but still rocks your "Chubbu" or "Chunka" status with pride.

--You adores dogs. You are like a dog groupie. You literally shriek with excitement when you see a "Ruh Ruh."

--Your favorite book is "Ruff Ruff Where's Scruff." Kallie gave it to C and D when they were little and it was their first favorite book. They loved it to pieces so I bought another one for Lila a few weeks ago. The first week I read it to you no less than 8 times a night. I would get to the end and you'd yell "Ma Ma! (Mas mas!)" and try to flip the book back to the beginning. If I tried to open another book you'd close it with her hand and shake your head. You giggle when I read it.

--Your other favorite books are Where Does Maisy live? (There is a dog in that too), Brown Bear Brown Bear (though less lately), Goodnight Gorilla (you particularly likes when you can roar like the lion, when we imitate the gorilla's yawn, and the noise I make on the page that is all black with just a pair of eyes), and any book with a picture of a dog in it. (Clearly the love of dogs is not an inherited trait :))

--You climb anything and everything that you can...up on tables, up slides, onto beds, you name it, you try to climb it.

--Your "words" include:

• Mama, Dada
• Ma! (Mas, more in spanish)
• Agua
• YaYa! (Lila)
• Ruh Ruh (doggie)
• Bye Bye
• Bye bye Ruh Ruh (my personal favorite)
• MINE! (a recent but handy addition)
• Hi
• Ball (still loves balls)
• Boo Boo (usually she points to a place and wants you to kiss it)
• Animal sounds including roaring (her fav), neighing, mooing, baahing, ooh, ooh, ahhing, cheeping, and of course, ruh ruhing

--You are tough. And relatively aggressive with other kids, probably because she likes being 'the big kid'. I have to chase you around at things to make sure your don't grab onto another kid's face or arms. It isn't meant to hurt but I am not sure why you love to grab noses and it is getting to be a bit of an issue. Especially when I'm around mothers with only one kid--they don't take that stuff very well.

--You love vitamins (yeah, i admit, I give her one). Mostly because I love to yell "Lila, would you like a vitamin?" and hear you run from anywhere in the house towards me clapping your hands and yelling "Yeahh!!!"

--You love to comfort your sisters. If you hear one crying you forms your mouth like an "O," and run to find them. She then tackles them with a hug and tries to kiss them. Ok, sometimes she grabs their hair too but most of the time she tackles them with a hug and kisses.

--You adore your sisters and they adore you right back. Comments they have made recently include:

D, talking to you at breakfast one day: "Lila, you are the loviest Christmas present I ever did get!"

L, asking me: "Mom, when can Lila start sleeping in our room?" or "Mom, can the three of us all sit in one row in the car?"

They fight to sit next to you at meals, and I don't think they are just trying to compete with each other. They just love you about 95% of the time. They don't dig when you pull their hair but even then they just scream for me. They almost never try to hurt you back. Their patience with you most of the time is astounding. I am sure this will get really old on this blog, but I am in awe of the love you show for each other.

--You are starting to get particular about what you wear and I need to try to figure out how to stop it. You like your socks to not match, you like a certain sleep sack (the one with animals), you are very particular about the shoes you wear and you loathe hats.

A Lonestar State of Mind

We just returned from Texas for a little over a week. Yes, it was hot. No, C and D did not melt. In fact, they seemed to thrive in it. Once they figured out that hot weather = swim weather it was "Bring it On." Of course, I am writing this a bit too late so some of the nuances are lost on me, but these are the things they would list as highlights:

• Swimming, swimming and more swimming. Jumping off the diving boards, going down the tunnel slides, going to the really awesome water park in West U, slip and sliding, and swimming, swimming, swimming. (btw, the biggest water lover of them all turned out to be LBD)
• Playing with their cousins. The 4 year olds definitely enjoyed getting to rule by majority.
• Watching their bad ass cousin break two more swim records at her meet.
• (This is LBD talking, if she could:) Getting lots of attention from her cousin Ainsley.
• Playing for hours inside the Erwins house with Avery and Cooper (the house is a kids paradise--it is fantastic).
• Picking sweet gumballs in Gram and Sam's backyard.
• Going 'ghost crabbing' in Galveston at dusk. C loved it, D was a bit frightened but felt better when all the crabs we found were dead.
• Going to NASA and getting to visit "Michigan Control." Eating astronaut-approved freeze dried ice cream bars.
• Eating a flaming volcano at the Rainforest Cafe.
• Going to to the Astros game and getting to abide by Sam's "one item an inning" rule.
• Being able to wear nothing more than a dress or tshirt and shorts.

As for their parents (Andrew joined us midway through the trip) speaking for myself I had an awesome time too. It was great to see friends, we were so glad to be able to attend (and oversee judging) for the Second Annual Queso Contest at Todd's. It made me realize that A) I miss warmer weather. Ok, so TX heat, as I remember it, gets really old by August, but not having a summer sucks and I REALLY miss seeing my kids' arms and legs. And B) I am ready to live in the suburbs. I will miss city life but the conveniences of suburban life --and having a yard--now outweigh the benefits of city life for me.

Thank you kindly Texas. My kids can't wait to get back.

The Divine Nicknames of the YaYa Sisterhood

Lately D and C have been into the concept of nicknames. It may have started with Dylan, who has said of late that she prefers "D" to Dylan (she spells it "Dee"). So C started 'shopping' for a nickname. The other day she started asking me what her name would be if we dropped a letter. She started with dropping the A, but she didn't like "shrrrrlotte." Then she asked what it would be if we dropped the C, and I told her it would sound like "harlot."

C" That's it. I want you to call me Harlotte."

Me: "Uh, hmm. Well, er, uh, ok."

Then about a minute later, from the corner of the playroom D says, (I swear kinda gangsta-ish): "I think I want my nickname to be D-Rose."

So I am now the proud mother of "D-Rose and Harlotte." As for Lila, she came up with her own nickname...

P.S. Speaking of names, Gram gave them pillow pets and C named hers "Sabrina" and D named hers "New Jersey" or "Jersey" for short. D says it is a girl but she gave it a boy name--just like her.

Endings

September 2008

June 2010

This week we finished preschool for the year, and next year they will be going to a different school. About six months we had to decide where to send them for their pre-K year. We chose a new school for a number of reasons. While I think they will enjoy their new school next year (and I know it is a wonderful preschool) I am also very sad to leave their current preschool. We made some good friends there, we adored the teachers (they wouldn't have the same teachers for their pre-k year which was one reason for the switch), there were a lot of really convenient things about it, and I am REALLY going to miss having quasi-Jewish children. They loved learning about "the Jewish People" and I loved the life lessons it taught them. (And I learned things along the way too). I am really going to miss the school and I feel like a little chapter in their childhood has ended. And that makes me sad all on its own.

We also had our last ballet class. The girls are going to miss the 'recital' because we are flying to Texas that day, but we made a big deal of the 'rehearsal' and I don't think they really knew the difference. They even got flowers from their Gram (via me). I don't know if they understood that really either, but D enjoyed sharing her flowers with everyone else. Fortunately we are heading back next year with their new classmates and will get to take ballet from Miss Emily (the mother of the cutest little boy in their class this past year) again. So at least we don't have to say good-bye to ballet for good. And I must admit, I was wrong to be so anti-ballet. I like what it teaches them about listening, following directions, working hard, and teamwork. (And they like the outfits : ) )

Yep, they are the little ones

(could i BE any shinier?!?!) but everyone else looks too cute not to post this pic