Pa'a...it's more than a command, it's a lifestyle

More time has passed than I had hoped before I writing this entry - which likely means this will be the last.  There just are not enough hours in the day, as I know is the case for every parent.

Since I last posted, things have continued move along in a extremely positive direction for our family.  The only real challenge continues to be her reluctance to sleep (a 1 am bedtime last night).  Naps are far from a given and whether it's day or night, it takes her around an hour to settle down.  Hence the above reference to the lack of hours in the day - we don't have the benefit of those post kid bedtime hours to get things done and if Nina is able to get her to take a nap, she is going to have one, too.  In fact, I walked into Lillian's room the other day and saw her playing happily on the rug while Nina was asleep folded into the toddler bed.

The sibling bonds are starting to strengthen, happily.  Lillian has started calling out for Max (known as Guh Guh - Mandarin for Big Brother)  and always wants to see what he is doing.  She is always excited when he comes through the door after one of his many daily activities.

Guh Guh and Mei Mei (little sister) playing in the fountain

We continue to learn how much she enjoys music and dancing.  These two videos give a little peek of some of this.  Here, she pulled herself up on to the piano stool to sit next to our friend Zack and they gave an impromptu duet.

She loves to dance and for some reason, likes to have something in her hands as a dance prop.

Around the house, she finds everything can be a toy.  Especially with the right playmate.

Lillian has been out and about more and more.  There have been more trips to the park, the pool and even a playdate.  On July 4th, our new citizen spent the day at our local celebration in Memorial Park enjoying the wading pool and the special climbers for the little ones - ramps and rope bridges.  Then we watched the parade and went off for a barbecue dinner with friends.  The evening was capped off by watching the fireworks.  She enjoyed it all. Here is our day in pictures.

On our way to Memorial Park

There were many, many trips across this bridge for Lillian and Mommy

Sharing snacks with our friend Tara under a shady tree

Waiting for the parade

Aunt Stacy's cupcakes!

Watching the fireworks.

Yesterday, Lillian attended her first Bar Mitzvah (mazel tov Ran and Laura!  Noah did a great job.).  She was intrigued by the DJ's lights and had a good time with the junior high-aged kids, who were surprisingly interested in meeting and playing with her.  When it was time to dance the Hora, she got especially excited when it was time to meet in the middle.

Dancing

The shades made for a cool party favor

The question we get more than any other is about Lillian's speech and language.  As I wrote from China, she is quite verbal, but not necessarily in any particular language other than her own.  Certainly, we are noticing more and more English.  She says hello and goodbye at the appropriate times and repeats "good job."  Most notably, she has stopped thanking people in Mandarin (xie xie) and now says "thank you," even though it sounds more like "dat doo."

She is still hanging in with her own language and we have learned it.  In China, we learned "ah doh no," which means "open this" A new word emerged in her vocabulary shortly after we got home - pa'a (it has a very Hawaiian sound).  At first, we believed pa'a meant "turn it on."  However, we have come to understand its true meaning to be "manipulate that switch or door repeatedly for my amusement" and it can lead to much merriment (though occasional annoyance)  See below.

Similarly, ka'a means "bring me something to drink."   We feel the language is coming quickly to her.  She seems to understand a good deal of what we say to her.  But we'll always think fondly of this time in which we frequently communicate with her in a language of her own design.  Hopefully she will always have the gift of creating new ways for people to understand each other.