Halloween, Girls' Night, and Somewhere Between

Maliana ~

Hurricane Sandy was about to make landfall in New York by Monday evening and with all of the wind, rain, and grey skies reaching even into Ohio, we decided it was a perfect day to eat some nice warm soup and hot cocoa at Panera after school. When I told you where we were going, you squealed and jumped up and down. I love that you enjoy the simple pleasures so much.

And what with Hurricane Sandy wreaking havoc in the northeast...a little bit of her might reached all the way into Ohio with wind and rain through much of the week. Halloween's Beggar's Night festivities were a bit dampened (quite literally). Along with it being cold and consistently drizzly all day, you also decided to forego a nap at school...so we had a very tired, cold, wet, and eventually hungry monkey with us. We made the best of it and hit about ten houses in my old Cherrington Rd neighborhood before we found ourselves throwing in the towel and warming up at our favorite local Chinese buffet. All's well that ends well.

all ready to head out for some candy

your own twist on your costume...
it's Super Monkey!

Lao Lao was in charge of revving
you up on our way out for
Beggar's Night



but wait...asleep already?!?!?!
that'll teach you to skip your nap on Halloween
(down for the count before we even arrived at
our first Trick or Treat destination)

Mom, Dad, and a sleepy Mali in front of the
house on Cherrington where I spent
much of my childhood

 

by far, the coolest house on our route

who needs candy when you can have
egg drop soup?!

After not napping on Halloween, November 1st you made sure you took a full 2 hour nap at school, telling your teacher, "My mom is going to be so happy." And I sure was! You cracked me up again later in the bathtub, showing off how you can dunk yourself while washing and rinsing your own hair, proudly adding, "Yeah, I'm a big kid. Big kids can do all kinds of stuff." Ha.

By Friday, I got a taste of how you and I would do in a crisis (ok, pseudo-crisis...but you get the gist). We came out of speech to find my car with a nearly flat tire. I needed gas too, so I figured I'd just try to get us to the nearest gas station. The ENTIRE way there I heard comments from you in the backseat, or as I was calling it, the "Peanut Gallery". "Mom, our tire is flat, just call Dad." "Mom, the other tires are ok, but that one is FLAT!" "Mom, just call Dad!" "Mom, we are not gonna make it. Our tire is flat." "Mom, where are we going??" and I can't forget to mention the exasperated sighs thrown in there, after every other statement, simply for effect and to show me how much you figured I totally could NOT handle this situation. When we finally made it to the gas station, you wanted to help (no surprise there). Of course, after hopping around and inspecting all of the tires and the air machine, you shut the car door and for a good minute I thought you had locked us out of the car (yes, if you were listening, you learned how to correctly use the word "Shit!" in a sentence). After figuring out that one of the doors was still unlocked (thank God), I told you to get back in the car and stay there until I was done, and went back to filling the tires in peace. However, when I opened my door to check on you again, you gave me an ear full. "Mom, I have had a bad day too." and "Mom, I'm only four years old. But I can do all kinds of big stuff too!" Yep, you're right sweetie. You are right. Of course, I apologized at that point. I am definitely willing to admit to my mistakes and own up to my freak-outs. We finally got the air in the tires and our gas tank filled up, even going inside to let you pick out a pack of gum all for yourself. All's well that ends well, right? (Hmmm, isn't that the second time I've said that this week? Ha ha).

cutest mechanic ever

That evening we headed to Uncle Blaize's high school production of The Awesome 80's Prom where Blaize played the role of Lloyd Parker, the freshman high school photographer. You were a bit sleepy and spent most of the play on my lap, overwhelmed with all of the activity, however you really enjoyed it and when you woke up on Saturday told me, "I really liked the play!" Blaize did a fantastic job and we were all excited to see him in his first performance.

Blaize doing his thing in the play

long view of the stage and performers

jump circle!

afterward...relieved to have had a
successful performance

And Saturday...to kick off the weekend, here was a Facebook status of mine:
~ so far, Mali's quote of the day.."I don't want to look beautiful, I want to look Beastie" (as in Beastie Boys...oh boy!)
Yeah, it's been that kind of Saturday. Ha.

Saturday was also Lao Lao's birthday so to celebrate we headed out for a girl's' night, just us three. We went to the Gallery Hop in the Short North, ate greek food for dinner (Opa!), and took a detour by OSU on the way home. It was so much fun, we laughed and laughed the entire night. From your insistence on taking your own camera to snap pictures of nearly all the staff at the Happy Greek, to your dancing (even falling to the ground to breakdance to Whatcha Want by the Beastie Boys) on the sidewalk, to all of our silly attempts to get pictures of you with Flat Stanley for our friend Laurel's school project. It was impossible not to laugh with you, even for people we passed on the street who would smirk, smile, laugh, and even stopped us on a couple of occasions to tell us how cute or funny you were. It was a most memorable night. You even learned a new phrase..."Run! It's the cops!" Ha ha. I look forward to many many more insanely crazy and fun nights with you!

girls' night! yee haw!!

happy girl

taking pictures of EVERYONE

the infamous flaming cheese!

Opa!

mmmm...dessert

 

busting a move on the sidewalk at Gallery Hop

 

it was so wet and mucky under those leaves,
but you were having fun!

And now, introducing Flat Stanley...our honorary girl that night!

at the Happy Greek with Flat Stanley

at the Short North with Flat Stanley

riding a turtle with Flat Stanley

at Ohio Stadium with Flat Stanley

in the dome of The Shoe with Flat Stanley

The celebration of birthdays (mine, Daddy's, Uncle Forge's, and Lao Lao's) continued on Sunday where we all met for dinner at P.F. Chang's. It was absolutely wonderful to see family that we have not seen in a while. Along with those mentioned above...Uncle Flint, cousins Amy, Chloe and Eva, Inay Wanda and Uncle Alan, and Papaw Rick were also in attendance. You were in rare form (as usual) and I loved seeing you interact with your cousins Chloe and baby Eva. We don't get to see them very often as they usually live in Tennessee but are staying here in Ohio while their daddy is in Afghanistan. Although the circumstances are tough, I look forward to you hopefully getting to know them better while they are here waiting for their daddy to return home safely.

you and Chloe helping me open my present from Inay Wanda

uncles love to tease

with your Uncle Forge

L to R
you, Lao Lao, Chloe, Amy, Inay Wanda, Eva

To rewind a little bit, there is one more important thing I want to mention for the week. Lao Lao watched you in the afternoon (before dinner at P.F. Chang's) so Daddy and I could attend a limited showing of a documentary called Somewhere Between. We laughed and cried through the entire movie, completely blown away by its honesty and heart wrenching truth. It was a film following four teenage girls as they each described their journeys of self discovery and identity, attempting to reconcile what they'd been through from birth until the present day. It was amazing. It brought so many more questions and emotions to light, being faced head on with what your future challenges could very well look like. It pains me to think that there is heartbreak in your life that no matter what I do or say, you will have to resolve on your own. As you grow, your problems will become more complex as you navigate the world with a more sophisticated frame of reference. No longer will a kiss and a bandaid suffice. Some day you will feel pain that only you will be able to remedy. And even when you may feel that it is truly unbearable, I just want you to know that you can do it. I am so grateful to the adoptive parent who had the foresight to make this film as it is surely going to be a valuable resource for you and girls like you to perhaps not feel so alone in this struggle for identity. I have already pre-ordered a copy so that you will have it when you need it. And who knows, hopefully there will be many more resources out there for you when the time comes that you need them. I was telling Daddy tonight that with how connected the world is anymore, children like you who will face these particular challenges will literally have support available at your fingertips thanks to the internet. I hope that you use it. Don't ever be afraid to seek out help or support. There is no shame in asking for a hand or a shoulder if you need it. I hope that you remember that you are never alone in all of this. While you may have to reconcile your past and your present, what it means to be you, in your own way, you are never ever alone.

You are so very very loved Maliana.

Love,
Mama