phebe: "Can I play with your toy?"
lilah: "Go ahead - knock yourself out!"
The day she got her report card, on the walk home she said how excited she was to see what the teacher had written about her! Then she said to me: "I know what Baba's going to say... Lilah is a rascal sometimes and she kisses the boys!"
After asking me about my report card, I told her I talked too much in class and she replied: "Your report card probably said, you're a good girl at everything, but you just need to control your mouth!"
"I'm not losing weight, I'm getting weight!"
"Phebe do you want to do chores sometime? I do. Do you want to know why? Because you get money when you do chores - that's why!"
After Canada won the gold medal playing hockey at the Olympics: "I wish Baba played hockey instead of soccer!"
[ Lilah in Cuba, February 2013 ]
Ahhh yes, this exact beach is where it'll all be happening for the next week! So excited!
Today I was showing Lilah the weather forecast in Cuba: I was reading out loud...
"Sunny and 38 degrees celsius", (as it was basically blizzarding outside our front door).
She looked at me and in all earnestness and asked: "Why don't we live in Cuba?"
So my Lilah girl told me tonight that I'm the only Mom she's ever wanted - bless her sweet heart - she's told me this same thing several times now. She went on to say that when she gets married she wants to live with me in our house, because she loves our house... or at the very least next door, she said, so we can be neighbours!
To which I responded: "Oh that would be wonderful, then when you have a baby I get to be a Grandma and I'll be able to see my Grandchild ALL the time!"
She thought about that for a second and then said: "Oh, I hope I don't adopt!"
Hmm, I asked, "Why?"
She replied: "Because an adopted baby would be too heavy to carry!"
Haha! I think she slipped back (from being older and married) to being 6 years old and having a hard time carrying a 2 year old (Phebe!), as opposed to a newborn! Speaking of a newborn, we met up with our good friends a couple of months ago and Lilah fell in love with their little newborn, baby Irene. Seriously, afterwards she asked me if we could get a baby just like Irene. (see photos below)
Love that girl of mine... she's going to be the best Mommy some day.
On another note, I had no idea how choked up I would get seeing Lilah hold little Irene. It just brought these floods of thoughts and emotions of when Lilah was a baby, possibly looking similiar (Irene's Mom is Chinese and Dad is Malaysian) and that I didn't know her during that stage in her life.
It was an emotional moment. Phew. Kinda still is.
Sitting on my knee one day, cuddling: "It feels so nice to be loved."
Baba, washing the dishes one Sunday... "I'm ALWAYS slaving over the dishes!"
Lilah quickly replied: "Like the Israelites in Egypt!?"
Regarding a little boy in her class: "He's a bit of a rascal, but his name sounds good!"
Her teacher was off sick for a few days and Lilah made her a get well soon card, she also made a little pouch on the card and popped some loose change in. When I asked her why she felt she needed to give her teacher money, she replied: "One day we were wasting stuff and my teacher said, 'I'm not rich you know!', so I wanted her to have some money!"
Talking about the Bible verse John 3:3 (being born again) one day, she said: "Being born again is actually adoption, into God's family."
After Phebe suggested some things Lilah could add to her drawing, she said: "Phebe, I don't want your details in my idea!"
phebe: "Lilah, let's play married."
lilah: "No Phebe, I don't want to kiss you on the lips!"
Baba was teasing both girls one day and Lilah was telling him off for teasing them...
baba: "Hey, are you guys sticking up for each other?"
lilah: "Helloooooooooooo Baba, we're sisters!"
Believe it or not, I took these photos back in November. Last year!
I've been a terrible blogger lately. And you'll maybe notice that I've been trying to catch up lately. Sorry for filling your feed with posts as far back as June... yikes! I'm so not proud of that. I may or may not have made a new years resolution to try and keep on track! Ha! But I must say, I feel pretty good to finally be caught up now. For me, these blogs are all about the girls, I want them to enjoy reading about their little lives in the years to come... they are what keeps me motivated!
Anyway, these photos were taken on the day of our first snow storm... November 27th. We were just heading out to swimming lessons and I decided to run back inside and grab my camera for a few impromptu photos - with the hope that I could get at least one to work for our Christmas Card.
I'm so glad I made that decision. I love these girls, the giggles they share and especially the love they have for each other. It chokes me up and I thank God for them daily, that they are part of my life and part of each others lives too. Just yesterday, Phebe was having a little nap on the couch and Lilah kept checking on her every 10 minutes or so, to see if she was awake yet. She said to me: "It's so boring without Phebe!" And I smiled to myself and thought, that's love.
Part of Lilah's prayer one night: "Thank you God for EVERYTHING in the whole world; we haven't seen it all yet, but we have seen a LOT!"
lilah: "Do you need help Phebe?"
phebe: "No. Don't need help. I do it myself."
*two seconds later*
phebe: "Lilah, I need help."
lilah: "I knew that was going to happen!"
She came home from school one day and told me about the practice fire drill they had at school that day. The worst part of the whole thing (in Lilah's mind) was: "Mama, we EVEN had to wear our indoor shoes outside!"
"I have two dollars and Phebe has none, so I'm going to give her one."
In the bath one day: "Wow Mom, look at the size of this hair, it's soooo long! I think it's been growing since I was a baby and never got cut!"
"Mama, do you have to be friends with a boy first, before you get married?"
During a conversation one day in which she mentioned the fact Baba doesn't cook! Then turning to me she said: "Well, at least someone's responsible around here!"
"Mama, how much bucks does this cost?"
She came home from school today and told me: "The teacher loved my skirt today!" (see photos below!)
We enjoyed a wonderful Canada Day in 'The County'!
Building sandcastles and swimming at Sandbanks beach, followed by some Canada Day fun in Picton, followed by a yummy meal of stuffed crepes at the Lake on the Mountain Inn, followed by a swim in the hotel pool, followed by a spectacular fireworks show in Belleville... that had both girls jumping for joy in their pajamas! It was a fabulous day from start to finish.
Happy Birthday Canada!
When driving back to the hotel, after the fireworks show, Lilah asked me how old Canada is... 146 I said. "Oh" she replied, paused and then asked: "Do countries die?"
A couple of days ago, while I was standing brushing Lilah's hair (we always do it in front of her bedroom mirror,) she commented to me:
"Mom, I was thinking... I have the same outside as my first Mom, but the same inside as you."
I thought she must have heard it from someone/somewhere, but she said no, she just thought it up herself.
Such a profound yet simple child-like way of seeing her two Moms in herself.
She is such a special girl.
Today was Lilah's final day of Kindergarten.
When I look back, it was so obvious that Lilah, from day one, was SO eager to start Kindergarten. She has never once looked behind her, even with the new challenge of EFI (Early French Immersion) this past school year. She's taken on every new challenge with gusto and LOVED every single minute of her two years in Kindergarten. Of course, over the last two years, she has grown in so many ways: socially, emotionally, cognitively, physically, developmentally. She has buckets of confidence and her independence is wayyy more than I care for, as her Mama! She's even to the point now, where she can go into a shop (with money) and buy something (fairly simple).
She is such a great girl and I'm so incredibly proud of her.
The four report cards Lilah has gotten over the past two years, have each mentioned her enthusiasm and how kind and thoughtful she is. That's definitely my Lilah girl. She is all about putting her everything into whatever it is she has been assigned. And her thoughtfulness has grown to an even greater level, since Phebe joined our family. Lilah constantly proclaims her love for her baby sister and genuinely loves to care for her and look out for her. It actually makes my eyes wet, the genuine adoration my girls have for each other. Just tonight, at bed time, Lilah was chatting about our trip to the beach next week and how she wants to play soccer on the beach. She was trying to figure out (in her mind) who would play soccer and who would be in goals - she said to me, "Definitely Phebe can't be in goals, because if we kicked the ball, it might hit her chest!" - I love her compassion.
In September she starts Grade 1.... going from 2.5 hour days to 6.5 hour days. Well, I'm not sure I'm ready for that, and I don't imagine Phebe is either, but that's the way life goes. We're just going to have to make the best of this summer and the time we get to spend together.
after two years, her final walk to kindergarten
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her kindergarten diploma
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♥ we never seem to get through a photo session without these two wanting to hug each other ♥
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Quite a while back, amid a chat about Phebe's heart condition, Lilah spoke up from the backseat of the car and announced that Baba and Phebe might be alike since they were both born with a heart condition... however, she also had a special kinship with her Baba, since she and Baba both wear eyeglasses!
Let me tell you, my big girl is always two steps ahead of us! Her mind is always on overdrive.
Well now she can add another kinship to that growing list of likenesses to her Baba Boy, as we have another soccer fanatic in the house! And according to her (very biased) Baba, she's pretty good at it too.
And dear knows, she's on the 'blue team' too... can it get any better than that?! I doubt it, not in the life of this energetic-enthusiastic-blue-lovin' 6 year old.
Today Lilah is starring as "Bebe Ours" in her first French play - 'Boucle d'Or et les trois ours'. For us English speaking folks, that's 'Goldilocks & the three bears', and Lilah is starring as "Baby Bear"!
The sad part, is that I'm going to miss her original performance today, as little sister Phebe is having her open heart surgery on the same day. However, the good news is, Aunt Sue has stepped in and she is going to be there to watch it... AND, she speaks and understands French, so unlike us, she'll actually understand what's going on! And the even better news is, last week when I was volunteering in Lilah's class, the children put on a performance just for the parents that weren't going to be able to make it... boy was I fortunate that it was my volunteer day!
I even got to take a movie of the play. I just love my little 'Bebe Ours'! Lilah Grace, I'm so proud of you! You did an amazing job!
Oh, and she told me afterwards that Aunt Sue told her she was the star of the show! After a few minutes she stated very matter-of-factly: "And I believe Aunt Sue, because she doesn't tell lies!" *grin*
"Mom, before I could ride my bike without stabilizers, I had a dream I was riding my bike without stabilizers and that dream came true! Last night I dreamt that you, me and Phebe were jumping off tall buildings to find the right building. I don't think that dream is going to come true, do you?"
One of our friends (Amy) looked after Lilah last Thursday as we had our pre-assesment appointment at the Children's Hospital with Phebe. Later that evening, Lilah said to me, "Mom I had SO much fun today with Amy... sometimes I just need a break from you!"
On my birthday, my husband gave Lilah $10 to take me out. I didn't know anything about it! Lilah asked me all morning if we could go out for a walk... so I figured something was up! There are at least five different coffee shops in our area, it was a secret which one she was going to bring me to, so she walked in front to show me the way! It ended up being Tim Hortons! So I asked her what she was going to order me, and she said: "Mama, it's your special day, I don't want to disappoint you, so you just make that decision yourself!" I got a tea and breakfast sandwich while my two monkeys feasted on Cold Stone Creamery Cotton Candy ice-cream at 11am!
Baba regularly has this saying, "God helps those that help themselves", in other words... God won't let you sit back on your oars when you want something, you need to be proactive. After Baba said it one evening, Lilah looked at me and asked: "Is that a real Bible verse?"
lilah: "Mama, wasn't it supposed to rain today?"
me: "Yep, your right... but sometimes the weatherman gets it wrong!"
*5 minutes silence*
lilah: "Mama, does the weatherman make a deal with God?"
"What’s that thing called that holds your pee in your body?"
"When I grow up I want to be a parent. It's going to be hard, but I think I can do it!"
"Mom, that watermelon toothpaste tastes delicious. I was supposing it might be red, but it's green!"
Looking up at the moon one night, Lilah asked: "Mom, do the astronauts take a slice off the moon every single night?"
"Mama, you know what? Phebe has a sharing heart AND a heart condition!"
"Mom, what's a pep talk?"
me: "It's a beautiful day today."
lilah: "How do you know?"
me: "Well the sky is blue and the sun is shining."
lilah: "What, you made up your own forecast?"
"Phebe was really cute in China, I miss those days!"
me: "Lilah isn't that stuffy the same as yours?"
lilah: "Yes, it's the copy of it!"
"Mom, white is not even a colour, it's blank!"
lilah: "Mom, I'm glad you let me wear a pink shirt today, because today is no bulldozing day."
me: "Huh? I think you mean bullying?"
lilah: "Oh yes, that's it!"
lilah: "Mom, how does a woman get pregnant?"
me: "Well Lilah, a man and a woman really love each other a lot and the baby grows in her belly."
lilah: "Well then, how come you couldn't have a baby in your belly? ...because you love Baba a lot."
me: *pause* (did she just seriously ask me that?!) "Well Lilah, God had a very special plan for me. He told me 'No' to a baby in my belly and he told me 'Yes', to a little baby girl in China. He knew your birth Mama wouldn't be able to keep you and look after you, so He chose me to be your Mama. Lilah, you weren't in my belly, God put you in my heart instead."
lilah: "I really want to be a Mom when I grow up."
I adore my Lilah girl. She's a deep thinker and I have to be on my toes when she comes out with her deep questions. Most of the deep questions are related to God, Eternity and Adoption.
Since Phebe's arrival, we've been getting a lot more questions (from strangers) while out and about on our daily travels. Obviously our racial differences beg people to ask about either the girls father's race or if the girls are adopted. So I recently asked Lilah what she'd like me to tell people when they ask us about her and Phebe. She's at an age where I want to include her and I want her opinion on either, a) if she wants me to talk about it and b) if so, what I should say. So we had a discussion on the subject and the reason why people ask these questions. She told me she's okay with me telling them she's from China and she joined our family through adoption. I also get asked a fair bit, if the girls are sisters and I usually just say "They are now" - it seems to satisfy their curiosity.
Just a few days ago Lilah quizzed me on the function of her belly button and we got into a deep discussion about babies in their Mama's belly and all the ins and outs of that. When we'd finished our discussion and how she was in her birth Mama's belly and being fed by her, she said to me: "I wish I was in your belly. I wish I was being fed by you." Sometimes I just feel so unprepared for my deep thinker. I pray for help and wisdom. And there is not a day goes by that I don't thank God for this beautiful girl of mine.
Today, while singing 'The Lord is my Rock', in the car, she asked me: "Is God really our rock?" So I explained to her that a rock is solid, it doesn't move, it's strong and you can depend on it - so it's like the Lord, He's our rock and we can trust and depend on Him. She seemed satisfied with the answer and added... "Yes, and we love the Lord, because He died to take our sins away."
Lilah loves to 'Mini Mommy' Phebe a lot of the time. And for the most case, Phebe is quite happy being babied.
Yesterday morning Lilah asked me if she could help Phebe with the morning (after breakfast) bathtime routine... which meant I got to photograph it! Actually, I told Lilah I would take pictures so we could show Phebe them, when she is older, just so she realizes what a loving helpful big sister she had!
I also adore this quote from Lilah - she told me this last week: "When I grow up I want to be a parent. It's going to be hard, but I think I can do it!"
I'm just glad she realizes a parents job is not always an easy one!
She told us this on Christmas day - "Not just presents are great, parents are great too."
“Come on Phebs, let’s put our stuffies on the naughty step!”
lilah: "Mom, how come you didn’t give me dessert for after lunch today?”
me: "I did. I gave you apple slices”
lilah: "Well that’s not really dessert, that’s lunch!”
me: "It’s a healthy option. You really like eating healthy, don’t you?”
lilah: "Yeah… sometimes.”
We’re both mothers, Mama… “Phebe’s a teeny tiny mother and I’m an SK’er mother!” (SK stands for Senior Kindergarten)
After prayers with Baba on Christmas night, she said - "You know what my best Christmas present is... you and Mama."
An expression she uses all the time now - after telling us something, she’ll exclaim... "For real life!!!"
“Mama, I love you to 103… is that even a number?!”
“Phebe, you can talk to me later, but right now I’m concentrating!”
“I like the way my friends treat me when I have curls in my hair. I was a little bit nervous…
that’s why I was yacking on when you curled it, but now I’m not embarrassed.”
“Mom, what is that smoke coming out of the people's chimneys?” (she was actually asking about exhaust fumes, from car exhausts!)
After explaining it to her, she followed it up with this question - "Is that called revving your engine?!"
“Why do people say ‘Amen’ after praying?”
"Do you know who's the best best best best best Mama? You! You're the most special Mama made for me."
“It’s okay if Phebe’s in my business, because I’m always in her business!”
“Little kids don’t have enough money and it’s dangerous out there… that’s why you need to live with your parents for the first time of your life.”
"It's great having a little sister, because she'll learn from me."
"Mama, you've aways been there for me, and I'm always going to be here for you."
"We love our stuffies and we love our parents, even though sometimes you guys are ridiculously silly!"
Almost every time I pull the camera out, Lilah wants me to take pictures of her stuffies. She likes to take pictures of her own stuffies too, and there is an abundance of close up, fuzzy, overexposed polaroid pictures of all her 'mates' ...as she calls them!
She and Phebe are constantly playing with their stuffed animals. They have a fine time playing with them and I enjoy hearing their conversations with what's going on in the lives of their stuffed animals. The animals regularly imitate their own lives... like recently I overheard Lilah telling Phebe: “Come on Phebs, let’s put our stuffies on the naughty step!”
YIKES! Honestly. They don't spend a lot of time on the step!
As a side note, I just love the little endearing names Lilah calls her little sister - especially the Phebes one!
I took these pictures a few weeks ago. Lilah and Phebe were swapping their Chinese tiger hat back and forth and Lilah was playing with her penguin. This stuffy has had more names than I can even remember, but right she calls him her little Artic boy. I promised her a few pictures of her Artic Boy, if she let me take a few of her too! She's my beautiful big girl and I simply cannot believe how quickly she is maturing, it seems even more so, since she took on her 'big sister' role.
