My Girls

I missed my birtday reflection for both my daughters last weekend. So now, I'll make up for it with some notes about the two girls I love so dearly. Liliana is becoming a voracious reader. Every day when I come home she brings me three or four board books and wants them read carefully to her. Tonight the other kids were hugely bothered because she kept interrupting the movie we were watching by crawling up on my lap to demand reading. She is no child of the image age – she’s all print (at least for now). Several images that I want to record.

• Certain books have to be read just so. One set of alphabet books has the entire alphabet printed on the first page – obviously context for the series and not the first page of the book. Liliana however will not let one read the first page without backing up and reading all the letters on the prior page.
• Other pages bring a particular hilarious response – consistently. One “this is who I am book” has a page with hands and fingers. (monster hands that is). Liliana takes great delight in putting her hands on that page, and making sure it is her fingers that are counted to ten.
• Her patience is growing. Two weeks ago – she would only sit through the simple “one sentence on a page” book. This week she will consent to read story books – with paragraphs on the page. But if it is too long, she’ll start turning pages on her own timing, eventually sending the whole sheaf to the back – closing the book and getting down to run off and get another book.

Elena lost another tooth – making three missing across the front. She is showing a proud and gappy smile. The tooth had been nearing its finale for a good week, but she wanted to wait until her “tita” was here (my mother). And so at dinner, after normal evening pleasantries – she popped the tooth right out. She dutifully wrapped the tooth up in her little velour drawstring pouch, wrote a note to the tooth fairy (“I hope I can meet you someday”) and put it all under her pillow. Well the tooth fairy didn’t come. Something about the bad weather related to the Florida hurricanes sending her way off course. I was surprised, because I heard nary a peep out of her that next day – but probably her grandmother, big breakfast, tea out with the girls – all contributed to minimizing the distress. Sleepy parents make bad myth makers.