The night before last Lalie read the Strawberry Shortcake version of Cinderella to Lydia before bedtime. Lydia loves all the princess stuff so this was right up her alley but the Strawberry Shortcake version is "berry berry" schmaltzy so I was glad to give the job over to Lalie that night. She read the entire book to Lydia, which is pretty long, and then came in to tell me that Lydia was asleep. Sure enough, Lydia was all tucked in and sound asleep. Nice!
I ended up reading that same book to Lydia last night. We have GOT to get a new version of Cinderella. So, tonight Lalie wanted to read it again to Lydia and they both insisted I take their picture and put it on the blog so here it is. Lydia didn't fall asleep this time but it sure is nice to see them get along and they both get a lot out of the reading sessions.
A few days ago I was searching for some of the bedtime songs on iTunes that I sing for the girls. I thought they'd like to listen to them on their headphones occasionally. I had purchased a version of "It's a Small World" and then was looking for a good version of "You are My Sunshine." (I have a very small repertoire of bedtime songs - there are only about five or six choices they can pick from every night.) Although there were plenty of versions of that song on iTunes, it was hard to find one that was at the right tempo with a voice and tune I thought the girls would like. I finally picked one by a woman I'd never heard of because her voice was pretty even though the tempo was much slower. Tonight when I sang the song to Lalie, Lydia said it should be, "Youuuu....are.....myyyyy...sunshine..." and she sang it very slowly like the version on her iPod Shuffle. She said, "You sing it too fast." I answered, "She sings it too slowly," and she cracked up completely. So did Lalie and then so did I. I think it was another "you had to be there" story but the funniest part to me was how fast Lydia "got" my retort.
Lest you think it is all "sunshine" at our house, we have had a few doozies of days this week here. One culminated in an angry Lydia spinning the shopping cart around in circles in an Office Depot store. Today, all heck broke loose with both girls an hour before Lydia's last big dental procedure. Without going into too much detail here I will just say that it included me having to call my mom to help out, calling the dentist to say that I had two kids throwing temper tantrums and wasn't sure I could get there and asking how much would it cost if I canceled at this point, and a temper tantrum of my own as well. Eventually, Lydia did get to the dentist only about ten minutes late and did make it through the two-hour procedure pretty well. As my friend Sally would say, "Yoiks!" Two crowns and a filling later we were done with the biggest dental stuff. In September she will need a spacer on top and bottom and then we'll be good for awhile aside from cleanings.
Luckily the roller coaster ride came back down and we had a fabulous evening making dinner and talking at the dinner table. Today's conversation included brainstorming ideas of what to say to someone who has given you a present you don't like (hint: it does not involve screwing your face up like you've tasted rotten milk and asking if you can change it for something else). We did a little role playing and Lydia is ready with a new tune the next time she sees that person (and you know who you are). Ah, all the social graces we need to learn one at a time...
The other picture is of the three of us yesterday when I was desperately trying to get our first official report ready to send to Ethiopia. It is the three-month report but is already a month late. Lalie and Lydia had a friend over so I had the girls put on these shirts and had their 8-year-old friend take our picture. We are required to send at least one picture with all three of us and I didn't have anything at all that fit the bill. You gotta love digital cameras, online uploading and one-hour photo processing. The report is finally in the mail! I do another at six-months, one at a year, and then one yearly until Lydia is 18 years old. I think I maybe only had to do one or two for Lalie and those were completed years ago so this is quite a bit more extensive but of course it is all well worth it to have this wonderful, funny, gregarious, sometimes exhausting, bright, affectionate girl as my daughter.
2 comments:
Great pics! I love seeing the girls together. It gives me hope that someday Ruby will really like Medina.
Kerri, Medina, and Ruby
I saw that Kerri posted above me and it's a coincidence that she did because I was thinking about the sisterhood of Ruby and Medina while reading your post. I love watching for the little milestones they reach.
The funny thing is that it's no different for my kids, none of whom are adopted or who speak different languages as their first language. It just remains true that siblings will have rivalry, they will have 'names' for one another (some of which aren't terms of affection). The truly amazing thing, however, is they will also have moments that must be captured on a digital camera to be remembered for life, they will laugh together, cry to one another and about one another, and they will be there for one another for life, come what may.
I know I rambled, but your post just made me smile and think about the specialness of sisterhood. There's no relationship like it and Lalie and Lydia are lucky to have one another and you.
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