lilah time

19 July 2013

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.

16 July 2013

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.