It is 6:32AM or there about and I leave the bedroom ready for a quick snack before taking Aidan to catch his shuttle bus. But Aidan is gone, having just left for the bus with Cui Ayi. I ask Yang’s mom Yihang why they left so early, that the bus won’t be there for another 10 minutes. She says “no problem, Cui Ayi can take him”. I say I know she can take him, but he will just be standing there and besides I actually like taking him. She repeats, “no problem, Cui Ayi can take him”. At which time I notice Lydia, standing on a chair, looking out her bedroom window for Aidan to pass below on his walk to the bus stop.
I grab my quick bite and head out, feeling disappointed I don’t get to spend these few minutes this morning with Aidan. As much as I hate to drag myself up most mornings and start the cycle that leads me to drag myself up the next, I treasure these five minutes with Aidan. Some mornings it is just me pushing him to walk faster in order not to be late for the bus. Some mornings it’s him talking endlessly about his games and toys. Some mornings we are just quiet together.
On this morning as I am walking to the bus stop alone, I remember Lydia looking out the window, and I turn over my left shoulder and see her, still staring, waving her arms with a big smile her face. I wave back, she’s happy, I'm happy, and we exchange waves for a few strides. I reach the bus stop – it’s not an official stop per say, just where the shuttle stops every morning – and Cui Ayi immediately heads back to the house. I glance back at the window and Lydia is still there. I can’t quite see her smile from this distance but she sure looks happy. I tell Aidan that Lydia is waving. He casually turns around, scanning for her. He starts to yell in a low whine “Lydeeeee-uuhh, Lydeeee-uuhh” so I point at where Lydia is. Aidan continues “Lydeeeee-uuhh”. I tell Aidan again, that Lydia is up there, looking out her bedroom window. Aidan says he knows. Then it dawns on me that his whine is not one looking for someone, but one of glee. And then I point out to him that Lydia can’t hear him, that she is maybe 400 hundred meters away, up four flours, inside a room with the windows closed. No matter, with glee I hear “Lydeeeee-uuhh, Lydeeeee-uuhh” as he waves. Lydia beaming and waving back.
The other day I came home from work to find Aidan and Lydia in full wrestle on the ground. Rolling and rolling. Laughing and laughing. Later would come the fights – Aidan hitting Lydia with the plastic golf clubs after she pinched his wrist – but for now it was just pure joy. Even when the fights came and the other came to me to report of the sins of the other, it leads to playful moments as they apologized to each other.
Yesterday as part of a PTA event for Aidan’s school, we took all three kids tree planting. We drove to the tree planting field and hour or so outside of town and all the way up and all the way back, Lydia and Aidan just chatted. One story after the other. They can be quite loud – suffering from the general kids voice modulation problem – and we had to reminding repeating to lower their voices on the way home. That indeed, it would be a great time for them to take a nap. Instead, they just continued to talk with excitement in their voices.
Yesterday at the tree planting.