01 Jul Alana’s Gone to Europe

Alana was our saviour yesterday. F has finished school for the year and was home all day. I had a lot to get done before leaving for vacation to see my mother in NC. Alana hung out with F and did a few projects- like making a movie poster for the movie that we have been working on.

F is still just a bit too young for us to get into the ins and outs of where babies come from. We’re getting close to explaining it but we want to set it up properly. Alana made a poster with the title “How Many Kids?” She combined a 4 different face types to make a composite person. F didn’t fully understand the concept but it made it clear that I need to have that discussion with her. It hasn’t been an issue yet because no one has reached out to us, but if and when they do I want her to understand what’s going on. She loves her cousins, who we’re visiting now, and she loves having family. The day after I jokingly “adopted” Alana, she told everyone she knew that she has a new adopted half sister.

Hanging out with Alana has been really good for her. She has an insatiable need to feel special, and getting special attention on her day off from school satisfied that need a bit.

That night F and I headed into the East Village to watch Alana perform at an open mic. I had been under the impression that we would be able to beg for her to go on early so that F could see her. Turns out it was a mad scene with over 70 people waiting to play. F was bouncing off the walls as the place filled up. When it came time for the musicians to pull a number Alana got 38. While it was sad that we didn’t get to see her, it was probably a good thing that we left early because the first band was way too loud for F so we split. It was kind of anti-climactic and sad that we didn’t get to say a proper goodbye. Two weeks ago we didn’t know Alana, but within about 15 minutes of meeting her last Sunday it was apparent that she would be around for a long time.

I loaded the 9 hours of footage that we shot with her and I’m going to start working with it next week.