Lilah’s birthday was celebrated happily with both sets of grandparents and my sister at our place. She picked out a special red sequin dress for the occasion and paired it with a red velvet cloak though she took that off pretty quickly so she could do handstands. She requested root beer floats and brownies. We had a lovely afternoon playing and chatting together.

Several months later because life has been so busy and full we had a handful of friends over for a dungeons & dragons tea party. It was Alice in Wonderland themed and everyone had a lovely time playing animal characters getting bigger and smaller and meeting a cheshire cat and then having tea of many kinds afterward with peanut butter chocolate cookies. Chris had help running the game from Gavin. It was just what Lilah wanted with her friends.

Lilah, at 12, loves cats. The real thing as well as pretending to be a cat and drawing cats. She loves all kinds and sizes of cats and nothing would make her happier than spotting some big cats outside one day. She loves chocolate and fried rice. She is very active, doing aerial silks, hanging upside down practically anywhere, climbing on boulders, playing on her new balance board. She spends quite a bit of time crafting and can make the most beautiful things. She loves all animals and hopes to rescue animals when she’s grown. Her favorite color is turquoise, favorite flower is lilac and favorite animal is of course, her own cat, Luna. She loves comfortable clothes, graphic novels, sequins, anything fluffy and everything cute.

She’s a wonderful, amazing person and I am so grateful to get to spend a lot of time with her, learning together and exploring together and enjoying each other.