in her past life, Lilah was a Moken

Lilah often remarks that she should have been born in France.   Paris, to be precise.  And often, I think she is right.  She is quite French in her nature.  However, yesterday, whilst trolling the BBC website, I came across this series of photographs, which were all strangely familiar to me.  And then I realised.  Of course, they all look like Lilah under water.

She would do this.  No problem.  

In un-Lilah related news, the photographs come from Sophie Olsen of Project Moken.  These are a nomadic sea-based people whose way of life is slowly being destroyed due to the influx of Western culture and ideas.  The project seeks to bring awareness to this incredible (and partly amphibic) people.

Something you may not have known is that thanks to their brilliant understanding of the Ocean's temperament, the Moken were responsible for saving hundreds, if not thousands of lives when the disastrous Indonesian tsunami struck in 2004.

Anyway...

yesterday was a big development day for Lilah

after our two visits to the doctor's office this week, Lilah clearly came away with an understanding that at the doctor's, you may not be pleased with the treatment 

(the two jags, the funny tasting fish oil vitamins)

but the reasoning behind the treatments is good enough that you soldier through the fear and / or pain and then when it's over, you know that you are going to be healthier for it, and also, you'll probably get some vanilla ice cream for your bravery.

what i was not expecting (and this is one of those cool parenting moments), was that Lilah would come home and instinctively know that by swallowing the nasty vitamins, she wouldn't have to taste them.

so she just did it.

just like that.  

4 pills, down the gullet.  one at a time.  with some water.

we never showed her how, she just knew.

i'm super impressed.  can you tell?

anyway, 10 minutes later, she comes in to the kitchen while i'm doing the dishes with her doll and says,  "Look Mummy.  I can braid now."

and sure enough, the doll's hair is beautifully braided down her back.

WTF?

human development never ceases to amaze me.  the sudden explosions of knowledge and ability... not to mention shoe and trouser size...

Oh, and for the record:  as of 17 July, 2013: Lilah is 46" tall and 45 lbs.

at the doctor's office (15 july)

we went to have Lilah's ears looked at.  because Lilah likes to swim.  and unfortunately, like the rest of her maternal family, she is prone to sore ears.  

(both Auntie Linnie and I had ear tubes, and after years of competitive synchronised swimming, Auntie Linnie can barely go under water anymore.  Lilah's Nonni has Menier's Disease, and a hearing aid (thank you for that, Nonni.  Hearing Aids are SO MUCH nicer for everyone else who isn't hard of hearing.  Hear that, people?  If your family says check your hearing, listen to them!  If you don't, you are being selfish, and your selfishness just makes people more frustrated when speaking with you).  Also, Lilah's maternal great-grandfather was also a wearer of hearing aids...)

so you see... i'm ever so slightly worried that Lilah may be prone to ear issues.  especially as a swimmer.  and a frequent flyer.

well, according to Kaiser, Lilah does not have an ear infection at the moment, and she passed her hearing test with flying colors.

and before we left, somehow we ended up in the immunisation clinic and poor lilah had to get Hep A and Hep B vaccinations. ugh.

the best part was that we had a teleporting receptionist who was able to materialize on the 11th floor (immunisations) after we had just seen her on the 6th floor (pediatrics).  that was funny.

but my research is not complete.  tomorrow we go visit a highly recommended Naturopathic Doctor who does CranioSacral Therapy, which has been suggested for Lilah since her excruciatingly long 2-day birth all those years ago.  I am going to get to the bottom of the sore ears before the summer is over.  and after i do, you can be sure that lilah will be found in the pool everyday, and (i'm hoping) we will be able to convince her to fly back to the UK more often.

we're in marin (the pronunciation is the same)

we got an invite to visit karmen and emily at their super cute place in marin for dinner, but we got distracted playing badminton.

this was lilah's first time playing, and unfortunately, she is (like me) quite competitive and quite the perfectionist... 

she was easily frustrated at the fact that the shuttlecock was such a difficult thing to maneuver with the tiny racket...

steven and emily made a good team

there was an unspoken communication between them

lilah gave it her best shot, and even though she got so frustrated (maybe 5 or 6 times) that she ended up crying at the sidelines, she kept going back to try again

and it worked!  she got better!

after another busy day and late night, lilah says goodnight to karmen

but we forgot to cuddle emily properly and that was a big mistake.  we won't make the same mistake next time.  and we will definitely make it to Fairfax Scoop next time around, as well.

summer in el cerrito = swimming at the pool

lilah  and sahara on a "free swim" afternoon

lilah is practicing her sitting dive.  this was her last day of Level 3 swimming.  she has graduated to Level 4, and is already showing up some of the much older kids. 

 (i know, i know, it's not a competition...)

the fish

in her element

Dolores Park gets an A+

dolores park has just completely revamped the children's playground, and it is AMAZING.  we could have stayed here for days and days.  we would consider moving to the area just to have the park be our local.  

it is important to remember that our former local park was Kelvingrove, which is one of the best parks in the world.  and so when i say that dolores park is amazing, i am comparing it with the best.  and it is right up there.

big wide slides + bouncy, cushy grounds

a reclining swing

two sand pits

palm trees and blue sky 

(that happens all the time)

you might not be able to tell, but the Scot is happy to be here

dolores park cafe

in the morning, we went for breakfast at the local cafe.  

lilah was very happy to be spending some more time with Mama Julie,

and very happy at the prospect of a whole stack of pancakes for herself.

while at the bonfire

lilah was in charge of keeping the gulls away from the food

she took her job very seriously

and got them to remain quite far away

don't forget to come back, lilah!

oh, you're still at it

better?

think he's gone?

thanks, darlin.

julie's birthday bonfire

this post could also be titled

"reasons for coming to california, part one"

this is julie.  usually we are both wearing glasses and usually she is taller than me, but i found a patch of sand that made me look ever so slightly taller and now it is on film which means in the future, everyone will think i was always taller than her.  and that we had perfect eyesight.

julie is my right arm.  she's been around longer than everyone except my sister.  people to this day think that we are sisters.  from the beginning, lilah wasn't able to differentiate (in photos) pictures of her Mama and of Julie (Mama), so julie became mama #2.  which is not surprising.  and it makes me feel safe knowing that when lilah hits those teenage years, i will be able to rest assured that she is safe in the home of Mama Julie.

so anyway, on July 5, julie turned 33!  she had a wonderful celebration on Ocean Beach in San Francisco (one of our favourite spots).  our clan came along and partied till lilah officially wore out 4 of the adults (independently), and then we took her back to julie's for a good night's sleep.

this is stacy and lilah on the beach collecting stones and washing hands.  stacy became known as snail because she was slow, and lilah was cheetah (guess why).  stacy is julie's other bff.  we love stacy and want to have sleepovers with her.  true fact: anytime you are with stacy, you will probably end up laughing so hard you pee yourself a little because of something she has said.

this is julie's real life sister, suzanne.  and wrapped in blue is her oldest, lukash.  suzanne has just received her PhD from Stanford and now has a professorship at the University of Tennessee... which is great except for the fact that now they are moving to Tennessee.  suzanne is amazing and shocking and knows all about the Medici family and also loves PJ Harvey.  i don't know if lukash loves pj harvey.  i know he loves pasta and blueberries.

lilah's first s'more...

she's a fan.

(Scots:  to make a s'more, you roast one marshmallow over the fire, then, when it is nice and hot, you put it on dark chocolate, and sandwich it between two pieces of graham crackers.  eat one and you will definitely want s'more.)

family pictures : 9 June 2013

i had this idea for our family pictures (which we never take, because Steven is vehemently opposed to the "American" tradition) that i thought might work to convince even the biggest curmudgeon to acquiesce just this once.

(this was my idea)

after my birthday this year, our ages would be the following: 33 (me), 44 (Steven) and 5.5 (Lilah).  so i thought, why not make signs that say 33, 44, and 5.5 and pretend that they are police line up cards (think Usual Suspects), and see what happens...

besides, we are very good at getting Lilah's pictures taken once a year, and this is a good a time as any to do that for her as well.

my sister recommended Channa Vance as the photographer.  we were so impressed with the results that we are seeing her again for some kind of crazy carnie-themed shoot at the State Fair.

anyway, i hope you like these.

of course the first thing Lilah wanted to do was climb

(we specifically asked for non-smiling Lilah shots... which we thought we were going to get a lot of, because on the way to the shoot, she was in a massive huff and promised to refuse to smile the whole time.  of course when we got there, she couldn't stop smiling... so Channa kept having to ask her to put on a straight face.)

The Usual Suspects

we are all fans of the urban decay look, and none of us have issues with climbing stones for art

so much smiling!

our CD cover

me and my girl

(iloveheriloveheriloveheriloveher)

lilah, version 5.5

when babysat by the Koontz clan

Lilah practices Jacob's Ladder

and learns to throw a few punches