Last night when we were winding down on the couch as a family Violet started asking some questions that she had never asked before. Here is our little conversation, as best I can remember it.
V: Mommy, are you going to be 5?
M: No sweetie, I have already turned 5 and I am 34. I was 5 once.
V: Mommy when you turn 5 are you going to have milkies?
M: I was already 5 and now i am 34. When I was 5 I didn't have milkies but that was because I didn't want them anymore.
V: Mommy you will have milkies when I am 5.
M: Yes, I will always have my milkies. When you are 5 if you still want milkies then you can have them.
V: Mommy I want to have milkies when I am 5. You will have them won't you?
M: Yes, I will have them. You will be a big girl. Now you are 2 and soon you will be 3. In 30 days you will be 3 and you will be a big girl. If you still want milkies though you may still have them.
V: I want to have them. (she then started looking very concerned) Mommy am I gonna be big when I am 5?
M: Yes you will be big.
V: I don't want to be big mommy. I don't want to grow up. I don't want to get old. Are you going to be big?
M: I am already big sweetheart. But you don't have to worry about growing up. We all feel that way sometimes. We all feel like we don't want to get old sometimes. Right Daddy?
D: Yes, that's right. We all feel that way sometimes.
M: It's ok to think that way but just know that you don't have to worry.
V: Mommy can I still have milkies when I am 5?
M: You may have milkies until you don't want them anymore. Did someone talk to you about getting big and not having milkies today?
V: No.
M: Mommy will have your milkies for your until you are ready to not have them.
V: I love you mommy.
(starts nursing)
I wasn't ready for these kinds of questions and fears about getting older. But we tried to handle them as gently as possible. Our sweet flower is growing so fast and I can't believe that she has grown so much in the last month even. She has been asking lots of questions about when we were babies and one of her favorite things to do is to ask someone to tell her a story about when they were a baby. This morning she said "Mommy, will you tell me a story about when you were about baby. You can tell it to me from in your head." She has been waking up so sweetly and full of smiles. The other day I woke before her and just laid there and smiled at her. She opened her eyes and smiled. Neither of us said a word. We just smiled.
We just returned from a wonderful trip to the US to visit family. We made it back safely and Violet and I were asleep by 8pm. on the first night back. We got up a
couple of times to potty but didn't get up for the day till 6am the next
morning. I was in much need of the extra sleep. Violet did excellent
traveling and we were accident free. Our little girl is so grown up. She is completely diaper free except for bedtime which is often dry when she wakes up. She made it the whole 14 hours on the plane and even did a 14 hour car ride twice.
She has gotten so tall too. When we got home she climbed in our bed to help me change the sheets.
She could stand in it before she left. She stood up and bonked her head
on the ceiling!! It didn't hurt her but definitely surprised her. She
giggled and said "I'm all grown up mama!" It was cute. :)
We are back at work and Violet did amazing on Monday morning. I didn't tell
her that we were going to school until she actually asked if she was
going which was about 7:15am. She cried pretty hard and was weepy the
rest of the morning at home. We left at 8am after a little walk and a
promise of a pizza party with cake after school. She climbed into the
car smiling and saying "I like seeing my friends at school mommy." We
had no tears all the way and she even said she was happy to go to
school. When we got there she gave me a kiss and we gave each other our
"kissing hands" and she was off. Daddy said she had no tears and was
smiles the whole way in and super excited to see her friends and
teachers. What a blessing and a relief! We were expecting to have to
peel her off of us. She is adjusting well and seems to be getting back in to the swing of our schedule.
We are going to be starting a little homeschooling after school now and I am looking forward to seeing her progress.We are going to start out with a little K4 and see how it goes. She loves learning, she loves singing and dancing. She loves books and words. When we were in Michigan I was so thrilled that she learned some Chinese from Waipo (Chinese for grandmother). Waipo is my sister-in-law, Maya's mother. She is an amazing and kind woman. She took such care to spend time with James (our nephew) and Violet. She read to them in Chinese and sang some songs. Violet was so curious about the language and loved asking her Aunt Maya how to say words in Chinese.
In Texas she really enjoyed being with her cousins and aunts and uncles. Eos, Sixy, Maddie and Aidan were all so sweet with her and really tried hard to play gently with her. She loved being with the big kids and in fact went to sleep without mommy a couple of times at the beach. She wanted to sleep in the bed with the big girls. They laid on either side of her holding her hands. She wanted to stay awake but finally the girls told her it was time to close her eyes. And she did. :) She loved seeing her Grandpop and Sarah and Uncle Sixto, Aunt Heather and Uncle Matt. She loved seeing Mamo and Papo, Papa and Jean and all her great aunts and uncles. She especially loved meeting my cousin's baby, Ava. She still talks about her. It was a fun trip for her and she got to see so many people.
In SC she loved playing in the pool with Memaw (Gabe's mom) and they also put makeup on each other. We had so much fun at the Children's museum. She especially loved the Market where she could pretend to shop and pay and be a cashier. We also got to spend an evening with Victoria and Drew and their son Keller. I was amazed at how well they played together. It was so cute to see them interacting.
We had an great time in Michigan with Mimi and Papa and Uncle Jesse, Aunt Maya, James and Maya's parents. We went to several "fun places" as Violet called them, where the kids could play and learn. She loved being with her family and I know she was sad to go. At the same time at the end of the trip to the States she woke up on night confused as to where she was. She cried inconsolably for a while saying she wanted to go home. When I asked her which home she said her home in Japan. She missed her home and was very excited to see it again.
We had an amazing time with everyone and were sad we couldn't see everyone we wanted to, but we cherish the special memories we
made together with those we did get to see.
Thursday, August 30, 2012
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