Spring Break = Lillian

Not much to say, except it’s the week of Spring Break and that means hanging out with Lillian Grace Denby. 

We walked to the park with her Bulbasaur (named Milk Shake) and caught some Pokémon. Lillian explained in great detail the evolutionary descent of the Bulbasauri, with some discursions into Pokémon etymology and the science of teleportation and its relationship to hugging. 

All this from a girl missing two front teeth. I had nothing to do except nod yes or no when expected.

Pretty much a perfect spring outing. 

A Horse and Her Girl

Izzy Star, a horse, poses with her girl Lillian, who has a light dusting of freckles across her nose.

Kiting around the Park on a Saturday in March

Lillian spent Saturday with her Yia Yia and their friend Lauren at the Kite festival in Hermann Park. “Look, Yia Yia!” Lillian would say, “There’s a blue kite! What color is it?”

But there weren’t just kites flying and crashing, but people dressed as butterflies and dragons, azaleas to admire, singers and dancers, dogs needing petting, food trucks at which to graze and a reflecting pool with ducks at which to quack.

And, last but not least, an ice cream cone to finish the day!

Tunnel Slide

It’s hard to be glum, even on tax day, when you are out on a spring morning with a two and a half year old girl and there are slides needing sliding on.

Hair in the Sun

A year ago, Lillian still didn’t have much hair. Now, she does.

When she is up on the climbing decks at the playground, she is pretty sure that something interesting is going on underneath, so she lies down and looks through the holes in the decking. Sometimes, she pretends to sleep and snore. It’s a pretty convincing snore, and she’ll check from time to time to see if she’s got you fooled, and she’ll laugh whether she does or not.

One of her favorite tv shows is “Ni hao, Kai-Lan”, which features a girl named Kai-Lan and her friends, and teaches the odd word in Mandarin: Lillian knows “Ni hao”, which means “hello” and “xie xie”, which means “thank you”. (She may know a few other words, but I don’t). When you hand her something tasty like a fruit snack, she often says “xie xie”.

Today in the sandpit at the park, she went over to help a girl about her own age and the girl’s mother, who was speaking to her daughter in Mandarin. Lillian gave them a shovel and a bucket to use. They all played happily, and a little while later, the girl’s mom handed the shovel back to Lillian. “Xie xie,” said Lillian, and the girl’s mom’s mouth dropped open and she almost fell over. She turned to me and started speaking to me in Mandarin. I could only smile and shrug, knowing even less Mandarin than my two year old grand daughter.

Hanging Out

The Girl.

Early Afternoon

Lilz was up early this morning with her dad, then spent some time tagging after Yia-Yia Nancy at work, while her grandfather took her great-grandmother Anne to physical therapy. She joined her grandfather about eleven o’clock, then at noon, climbed on the couch and went to sleep — a kind gift to grandpa. After napping for two hours, she is sitting in the backyard, listening to the birds sing, eating goldfish (the cracker kind) and drinking milk.

‘Nanas

Lillian has discovered the banana (or ‘nana, as she calls it). They are her first real food obsession. (Josh has to place them well out of her reach).

She says “‘nana” with a throaty kind of tremor and she looks at her ‘nanas with an intense, devout gaze. She eats them straight or, sometimes, by sticking her finger in the raw banana flesh and then slowly sucking it off her finger tips.

Do not, if you know what is good for you, get between Lillian and her ‘nanas.

Backyard Rambles

Ladybug

My ladybug PJs

The chief blogger hasn’t blogged much lately as parental care giving has consumed most of his time.

Lillian is 19 months old and growing like a weed. She’s getting taller: her mom and dad keep moving breakables and bottles to higher and higher shelves. She’s a bundle of energy, in constant motion whether awake or asleep. She’s a talker, babbling mostly, but there are real words mixed in. She’s a walker, and when she has her shoes on, she’s a stomper.

Lillian and her folks drove up to Huntington last weekend for her cousin Katelyn’s third birthday party. Katelyn is enamored of princesses, and so that was the theme of the party. Lillian thinks her cousin is very cool and sophisticated. (Katelyn let Ashley know that Lillian told Katelyn that Lillian wants a princess party for her second birthday in August.) Lillian also loved visiting with grandma Peggy and grandpa Keith, and her aunts Cari and Elli. Ashley and Josh had a great time, too, despite the torrential downpours on the drives up and back.

On the phone

Ashley continues her cancer therapy: she’s back on the full dose and will have a scan in a few weeks that will tell whether the Zelboraf is stopping the growth of her cancers. She’s lost her eyebrows and most of her hair, but she has some fetching hats and scarves to wear when she goes out (MariCarmen Wiedemann knitted several matching caps for Ashley and Lillian). Ashley has to be very careful to limit sun exposure on her skin due to the drugs she is taking: they’ve caused a lot of skin problems. She’s also having joint pain and stiffness; she uses a cane sometimes when her knees and ankles are affected. But despite all that, her spirits remain good most days, and Lillian’s always there to brighten her spirits.