Lillian May Just Be Mexican, And I May Just Be Married To Brad Pitt

When Lillian was born, she looked, well...Mexican.  She had a tan.  At two minutes old.  Without the sun.  She had black hair and dark eyes.  I can remember my own mother feeling slightly awkward flashing those newborn pictures around the office.  Wondering what her coworkers might think.  Knowing that neither of Lillian's parents were, well...Mexican.   When Lil was a baby and a toddler, strangers would ask me if my husband was Chinese.  Or if she was adopted.  One, well meaning person, actually asked, "Where did you get her from?"  Um...well...I was a little dopey after being in labor and ending up with a C-section.  But I'm pretty sure she came right out of my uterus during the operation.  I swear my husband witnessed the whole thing.  And I certainly don't remember going to another country to retrieve her. 

When Lillian was a toddler, we were friendly with a family at church who had two boys that were Chinese.  Lillian used to  crawl under the pew to be with them.  Returning to her homeland.  She just knew.

When she was two, we moved to our current home.  Our neighbors are from Mexico.  The rest of the neighborhood still isn't clear as to which family she belongs to.  At their house they have better climbing trees, ice pops, and dinner.  She is always in their front yard, having dinner with them, and playing hide and go seek, while shouting, "Uno, dos, tres, cuatro, cinco, seis, siete, ocho, nueve, diez!"  I believe she can count higher in Spanish than she can in English.   Their oldest son, who happens to only be entering the second grade, walked her home last night, apologizing to me that she was half an hour late. They were finishing dinner, he said.  They take such good care of her.  I'd want to be part of their family too.

She calls me madre and mama in her fake Spanish accent that sounds more French than anything else.  She needs to work on the accent if she wants this to be a passable facade.  The most hilarious part?  Her regular voice makes her sound like she's from Boston.  I really get around.  And my child looks like a Mexican and speaks in Spanish with a French Boston accent.

Today, Lil went next door for their daughter's birthday party.  Her name is also Lillian.  This is all very spooky if you ask me.  Anyhoo, our babysitter had taught our Lillian how to sing Happy Birthday in Spanish.  This is how it went.

¡Feliz cumpleaños a tí!
¡Feliz cumpleaños a tí!
¡Feliz cumpleaños a ......!
¡Feliz cumpleaños a tí!

So...tonight when Lillian got home from the party, I asked her about the birthday song.  Did you sing it with them?  She just shrugged her hands and shoulders and exclaimed, "That's not how they sang it!"  She obviously has a lot to learn if she wants to be Mexican.


I asked her what the dads did at the party?  She said they watched tv and sat on the couch the whole time.  Yup, sounds about right.  I think that's a global phenomenon.  Mexico, China, and Boston.

The triple threat look alike and very different at the same time.  The first has dark brown hair and amber eyes.   The next came out with blond hair and blue eyes...that sometimes look darker.  The third arrived with blond hair and brown eyes, that sometimes look ornery.  No matter where our children come from, what they speak, or which accent they choose to speak it in, we love them.  We're parents.  And they're ours.   

The next time a stranger asks me if my husband is Chinese, I'm just going to tell them he's Brad Pitt.  And you can just call me Angie.   I'll say it in Spanish, with a French Boston accent.  As soon as Lillian teaches me how.

Lil and her friend Clare.  It's the bangs that did her in.

Because it wouldn't really be a picture without the infamous Uncle Conor