Talkin', rockin', and rollin'

Liliana is adjusting to being a big sister fairly well. The first couple of days after we came home with Emmett, Liliana asked, "Baby brother go bye-bye?" but she understands that he's here to stay now. Liliana has really become quite the talker now. The other morning David told her to put her arms up so he could get her pj's off of her and get her dressed for the day. She pinned her arms to her sides and said, "No. Arms down. Keep the shirt on!" David and I just looked at each other and tried not to laugh. This morning Liliana saw Emmett laying on a blanket. She said, "Want the green blanket. Baby brother using it." She's really getting good at speaking in complete phrases and sentences. When we took Emmett to his doctor appointment, the nurses were surprised by how much she was pointing out in the magazine we were looking at. I was asking her how many ballerinas there were in a picture and the nurses couldn't believe she was able to count them (there were only a few), name the colors they were wearing, and correctly identify the capital letters on the page. One of them said, "That's pretty impressive for not even being three yet." I explained that Liliana isn't even two yet and she went to get the attention of one of the doctors to have him come see what Liliana was doing. I guess she's a bright child and I must be doing something right with all the reading, coloring, singing, etc. we do together!

Emmett is already proving that he can do things early too. He rolled over from his stomach to his back when he was only 5 days old. David and I couldn't believe our eyes, so we put him back on his stomach and watched him do it again. Then we grabbed the video camera to get proof and the battery was dead. Emmett rolled over a few more times when he was 13 days old and we did get some video footage of that. He's been rolling fairly regularly since then. He still doesn't roll from his back to his front and I imagine it may be some time before he does that.

Last week Liliana had an accident in the bathtub. David was sitting in the bathroom watching her and reading a book when I heard a scream and a frantic little voice cry out, "Pick you up! Pick you up!" I came into the bathroom and saw David grimace and close the shower doors while Liliana continued to freak out behind them. It suddenly dawned on me that Liliana had probably messed in the tub. David and I got Liliana and the tub all cleaned up. Now every time Liliana takes a bath, she panics at every little speck she sees floating in the tub. I'm pretty sure she won't poop in the tub again because she appears to have been traumatized by it!

So Emmett weighed 9lbs 9oz at birth and had dropped to 9lb 2oz right before we left the hospital. At his check-up at 12 days old he weighed 10lbs 10oz - that's a 24 oz jump in 12 days! I also suspect that he was mis-measured in the hospital because he was 20.75 inches when he was born and 22 and 5/8ths at his 12 day appointment and I'm pretty sure he didn't grow 2 inches in less than 2 weeks. At any rate, he is a very big boy! I think God knew Emmett needed to be a sturdy little guy to survive his older sister's love =) We love our little family and are enjoying seeing Liliana and Emmett together. I'm sure it will get even more exciting as Emmett becomes more interactive.

Emmett Joseph Hernandez

We are happy to announce the arrival of our son! Emmett Joseph Hernandez was born at Valley Medical Center in Renton, WA on November 13th at 01:25am. He weighed 9 pounds 9 ounces at birth and was 20.75 inches tall. Please view the growing collection of pictures of Emmett here.

Friday the 13th

Today (Thursday) Janine's water broke while I was at work and she was home alone with Liliana. I raced home and we arrived at the birth center about 11:15. Once we knew that she would be admitted we made the obligatory phone calls to friends and family and got settled into our room. Even though her water broke, Janine was still not in labor so at about 4pm the staff began administering Oxytocin to induce labor. We requested an epidural around 10pm as the contractions intensified and Janine's fatigue caught up with her. Now the clock is about to tick over to a new day, Janine is resting blissfully, and we are happy to know that our son will be born in the wee hours of Friday the 13th of November, 2009.

Somersaults and an imaginative mind

For some time now Liliana has done the "downward dog" yoga pose (stood with her bum in the air and her hands on the ground in front of her in an upside down "v" shape). About two weeks ago she was doing her yoga pose, looking through her legs, when she decided to keep going and ended up doing a full somersault. Both her grandpas were here when she did it and we all started laughing and clapping. She has done her little gymnastics trick a number of times since and seems to be quite please with herself at her new found ability.

The other day I gave Liliana some pretzels for the first time in many months. She picked up the first one, turned it sideways and said, "B!" I said, "You're right, that does look like a B". She then bit off part of one of the loops and said, "R!" I was blown away that she could not only see letters in her food, but create them. She also found "C" when all that was left was the outer curve of one of the pretzel loops. Then she picked up another pretzel, turned it loop side down and said, "bicycle - vroom vroom". She's got an imaginative mind, what can I say! Now when she wants pretzels she asks for "more B's" and plays the letter game with them every time she eats them!

The other day I was taking a shower and David was "watching" Liliana, so I closed the bathroom door to keep her from running in and out and opening the shower door on me. A few minutes into my shower, the bathroom became completely dark (our bathroom light switch is in the hallway for some reason and there are no windows in the bathroom either). I thought maybe David was teasing me, so I called out and told him just how funny I thought he was...no answer. I figured it couldn't have been Liliana because her little step-stool was shut in the bathroom with me and she isn't yet tall enough to reach the hall switches. I called out and asked that the light please be turned on so I could finish my shower and get out. After about 30 seconds the light came back on, but there was no giggling nor comments from David. Once I finished my shower and got out, I found a couch cushion in the hall under the switches. Liliana had dragged the cushion over from the living room and had been playing with the lights in the hall and bathroom. I asked David (who was working on the computer) if he had helped Liliana or even been aware of what she was doing and he hadn't even realized that she had even done that. Apparently he didn't hear me call out when I was hanging out in the dark either. He did think it was pretty funny, though. I was left a little concerned about what all Liliana may be doing when she's home alone with daddy and he's more absorbed in his computer than he cares to admit...

The other day Liliana was supposed to be taking a nap, but apparently she had more important things to do. When I walked by her room, I could hear her "singing" and after a moment I realized that she was trying to sing "Happy Birthday". I fetched David and had him listen too. He grabbed the flip video and recorded her singing (along with lovely footage of Liliana's bedroom door). I'll have him post it or a link to it so you can check it out - it's so cute! She would sing, "Happy day...yay!" and then clap. She had us giggling and her singing was just so precious.

Liliana got to hang out with her great-aunt Debbie today while I went to the temple. When I got home, I found a new Little Tikes basketball hoop and ball in the living room. Deb explained that when she took Liliana to the park, Liliana wanted to play basketball with the "big boys" - though she was likely to get squashed or make the game rather un-interesting for the guys playing - and was not going to allow herself to be redirected or distracted in any way. Deb decided to take Liliana to the store, pick her up her own basketball hoop and ball, and take it back to the park. Apparently Liliana found this to be an acceptable alternative and was quite happy playing basketball on her own hoop and with her own little ball. She has also been quite entertained with it at home all afternoon and evening. Thanks, Deb, for helping to spoil my little girl. I'm sure Liliana's grandmothers appreciate that you're taking care of some of the spoiling since they can't always do it as thoroughly as they'd like from out of state. =)

Time out

Liliana's cousin, Mason, came over to play yesterday. When he decided to stand on some books, his mommy put him in time out in a little chair in the corner. Liliana placed the book back on the floor, stepped on it, looked at me, and when I asked her if she wanted to go to time out too she picked up another little chair, placed it next to Mason's, and sat down. Sylvie (my sister) and I were trying so hard not to laugh, but we were both losing it.
Then, this morning Liliana decides to put the two little chairs back in the corner and play time out some more. She put some books on the floor, touched her foot to them, would say "no-no", and then go sit in one of the chairs and say "time out!" I asked her whom the other chair was for and she said, "Mason!"
I guess I'll have to stick with my regular time out routine of putting her in her crib with no toys and shutting the bedroom door for a minute or two, because the chairs in the corner are obviously no form of discipline to her. She just cracks me up all the time!

Dancing, talking, and experimenting

The ultrasound showed us that baby number two is going to be a boy. Now we're working on choosing a name for the little guy. When we got back from the ultrasound and told Liliana she was going to have a brother, she didn't seem to care. We asked her if she was excited that she was going to have a baby brother and for the first time we can remember, she answered with a "no." She had always answered any questions with a "yeah" before and we were taken off-guard by that response. We started laughing and she thought that was pretty funny. When we asked her if she was going to love her brother anyway, she also said no. Over the next few days I tried tricking her into saying yes by asking her other questions in rapid succession before asking her if she loved her brother. I'd say, "Liliana, do you want to go outside? Do you want a drink? Would you like a cookie?" etc. and she'd answer in the affirmative. Then I'd ask, "Are you happy you're going to have a brother? Do you love baby brother?" and she'd say no to both of those questions. It was too funny!

For the Fourth of July we went to David's aunt and uncle's home on Angle Lake in SeaTac. We went out on their paddle boats and played in the lake, ate yummy food, watched the babies play together, took Liliana swimming in her new floaty toy, and then watched the fireworks that were set off from a barge in the middle of the lake. It was the first year that we didn't go to Seaside, Oregon for the Fourth with my family, but it was still a ton of fun.

The second half of July was spent in California with my grandparents. Liliana had a blast dancing with her great-grandpa Jovet (I'll link some of the videos here - they're a hoot). I think great-grandma was surprised by what an active little girl Liliana has become. She's developing quite the vocabulary now, though she often needs parental translation when speaking to others. Great-grandma was taken by surprise when Liliana ran into the room where she and grandpa were watching TV, pointed at a word on the screen, and said "B" - which happened to be the first letter of the word. I've been reading alphabet books and drawing letters with her at home, but I wasn't sure that she'd be able to point them out in text like that. I was pleasantly surprised, myself. We enjoyed seeing Liliana play with and entertain her great-grandparents. We also got to take her to the beach, take her to see some of the sights, and play with her in my grandparents' hammock and the sprinklers in the back yard. We also got to visit with my MTC companion (and one of my favorite people), Becca, while we were down there.

After returning from CA, we got to go see my newest nephew, Elliott, be blessed. Liliana liked checking him out and pointing out his hands, eyes, feet, hair, etc. We figure it's good practice for her to be around a little baby like that since she'll be sharing her home with one in the near future. Plus, if she practices on Elliot, her baby brother is more likely to survive the ordeal unscathed! Sorry to make you the guinea pig, Elliot!

Liliana is still working on potty training, though we took a break when we went to California, so we're starting back at it slowly. Some days she is very excited to sit on the potty and other days she wants nothing to do with it. Since she's still so young and I don't want this to become a battle, I just offer her the potty option several times throughout the day and when she willingly heads toward the bathroom, I take advantage of it.

Last week Liliana started putting three word sentences together. At breakfast she pointed to David's bowl and said, "more Daddy cereal" - meaning she wanted some more of David's cereal (which is the sugary stuff that I usually don't feed Liliana, but that David likes to eat). When David had to leave for work Liliana said, "Daddy car bye-bye." She also regularly says, "help me please," though her 'help' sounds more like 'up'. There have been a few other sentences like that, but I can't think of them at the moment. She's such a talker now! She'll repeat just about any two or three syllable words we say now. Today she repeated "bicycle" after I pointed to one in a book and told her what it was. I was surprised at how clearly she was able to pronounce it!

Today Liliana took a long narrow box and propped one end on the couch. She tried to slide down it herself, but was too heavy for it and kept bending it. Unhindered, she decided to experiment on her slide with her toys. She tried sliding a stuffed toy down the ramp, but it wouldn't stay on very well, so she switched to a smaller plastic toy that she could get to slowly slid down. I was pretty impressed that she came up with the ramp and the alternate use for it all on her own. I'm going to have to watch out because she seems to have one of those minds for figuring out how things work and if I'm not careful, she'll be taking apart my appliances and other things to figure out what they do and how.

Congraduation!!!

Well, I'm done with school and back to being a full-time mommy! I never could have done it without all the support from my husband and amazing help from friends and family who gave so much of their time to watch Liliana while I was gone for hours on end day after day. You all are so wonderful and I am so touched by and grateful for your generosity.

Liliana is more and more of a toddler every day - though she'll always be my baby. She is talking up a storm now. She says all sorts of words: up, please, hi, bye-bye, car, dog - ruff, cat - meow, cow - moo (though it sounds more like "boo". Maybe it's a scary cow), cookie, apple, apple juice, water/agua, amo (from "te amo" meaning "I love you" in Spanish), book, go, a bug (followed by a puff of air - I guess she's trying to blow the bug away), daddy, mamma, bapa (for grandpa), ma (for grandma), that, this, ouch, off, out, beep-beep, no, yeah, cheese, bread, ucky (for yucky), naw-ee (naughty), awm goo (I'm cute), raw-ee (sorry), help me (though it doesn't quite sound like that), shoes, more, cracker, baby, belly, bawper (diaper), potty...I think there may be a few more, but that's all I can think of right now. She's still using a lot of sign language along with her speech as well. She signs food, more, please, sorry, thank you (which looks similar to blowing a kiss, so she sometimes shortens "thank you" to just kissing in the person's direction), shoes, again, bread, bedtime/sleep, all done/finished, ouch, water, book, and others that I can't remember at the moment. It has been so great to use signs with her because even when she hasn't been able to say the words, she can tell us what she needs or wants. That has prevented a lot of tears and frustration on all those involved.

Baby number two is expected to arrive sometime around the second week of November. We should find out the gender this week (if the baby cooperates). Liliana is showing a lot of interest in my growing belly lately. She asks to see my belly and then either pokes her finger in my belly button, pats my belly, or even tries to lick it sometimes. What a strange child!

We started introducing the potty this week. Liliana has gotten really good at signing "potty" when she's filling her pants and asking for a clean diaper when she's wet or dirty. She also has been showing interest in the toilet, so we got her a child-sized toilet seat that fits over the regular one. The first day we tried it she sat on it happily about 4 or 5 times and successfully used it twice! We clapped and cheered and she seemed very proud of herself. The last two days she has been less enthusiastic about it and won't sit on it very long. Since she's still pretty young (17 months) and we don't want to make potty training an unpleasant experience for her, we aren't forcing the issue. If when I ask her if she wants to go potty, she says yes, then I put her on the potty until she asks to get off (after only 30 seconds or so for the last two days). If she says she doesn't want to go potty, I just let her be. I figure that she'll let me know when she's ready. She likes to try to flush the toilet and doesn't want to share "her" toilet with others now - though she doesn't really get a say in that. We'll see how the training goes over the next few weeks. If she really starts getting upset about it, we'll take a break and come back to it in a few weeks. *Yes, this is what my life has come to now - blogging excitedly about my child's potty exploits! I wouldn't miss it for the world.

My mom, sister Sylvie, great-aunt Deb, nephew Mason, and Liliana and I all went to the Pacific Science Center on Friday. The little ones were running around like crazy and had a blast climbing around the kids' area, checking out the space shuttle, looking at the large dinosaur models, walking through the butterfly house (though Liliana was not happy about the butterfly that landed on my arm), pushing buttons on different kid-friendly displays, pushing the strollers instead of riding in them, playing with water, etc. Both babies passed out from all the excitement on the ride home.

Yesterday David, his dad, and I took Liliana on a bike ride up the Cedar River Trail and had a picnic. We rode nearly 15 miles round trip. Liliana seemed to enjoy riding in the bike trailer and kept talking to us, making noises, pointing at the people and dogs that were walking, jogging, or biking along the trail, and humming to herself.

Liliana is really getting independent now. She doesn't want to hold anyone's hand when she's walking outside - because she can do it by herself. She isn't afraid to wander away from mommy and daddy, so we have to keep a close eye on her. If she wants to do something, she makes it known. If we don't let her do it, she lets us know she's not happy about that. Luckily, we are stubborn enough not to give in to her tantrums and since she's learned that no means no, her fussing and complaining are usually very short lived. I guess we have to accept that she's really becoming her own littler person and that means that there may be some disagreements from time to time. Her little personality is sure a lot of fun though and we're really enjoying interacting and playing with her.

Walkie-Talkie

Liliana is running around like a champ and trying to talk now. In addition to her early words (mama, dada, and hi) and signs (food, more, please); she is now saying bye bye, cheese, up, bread, cookie, that, what's that, agua/water, and trying to say please; and signing bread, cookie, water, thank you, wash hands, and occasionally signing potty. I'm amazed at how well she can communicate even though she does not speak a lot of words yet. When she needs or wants something we ask her to tell or show us what it is and she is normally able to express it in one way or another - which leads to a quick resolution and prevents a lot of tears. It is amazing how much those little ones can understand and express!

Student teaching is going well. I've got three weeks down and only 7 more to go. The last class that I was petitioning to have waived (since I took a very similar one at the community college) has been officially waived now, so I will be completely done with my degree at the end of student teaching. Graduation is June 14th, though David and I have opted not to walk. We figure we'll save ourselves the money of purchasing gowns and paying to be in a dull ceremony where we'll be told that we are the future and to go out and make the world a better place with all that we've learned. We figure we're doing our family members a favor as well by not making them sit through another ceremony (we both walked with our community college when we finished our 2 year degrees about 7 or 8 years ago and have attended enough commencement ceremonies to know that while they mark an important achievement, in and of themselves they are not that great).

Today we planted some vegetables in our garden. This is our third attempt at growing our own food. The first time we planted a garden we started too late in the season and nothing was done growing before the frost returned (that and the squirrels dug up a bunch of our seeds). The second time I planted seedlings inside a few weeks early and planned to transplant them outdoors when the weather warmed up, but became pregnant and had such bad morning sickness that I never got around to doing it before the plants had outgrown their little starter pots and begun to die. Last year I didn't even bother because I had a newborn and didn't have the time or energy to do it, so this year is the year! We'll stay on top of it and have a great garden with more vegetables than we can use.

I am so grateful to all those friends and family members who have sacrificed of their time (and some of their means) to help care for Liliana while I'm completing my schooling. I look forward to June 12th, when I can again devote all my time to my job as a baby-entertainer! I sure miss hanging out with Liliana all day every day. Luckily, that time will return soon.

If you're happy and you know it...

I am regularly surprised at just how much babies understand, remember, and communicate without speaking real words. The other day I was reading Liliana a nursery rhyme book and came to the rhyme "Hickory Dickory Dock". Liliana immediately stood up, went to her stack of books, and pulled out the Hickory Dickory Dock puppet book the Grandpa Jim bought her. A couple weeks later Liliana came to school with me and was playing quietly with another rhyme book. She brought it to me and I quietly read the "If you're happy and you know it" rhyme and pointed to the picture of hands clapping and demonstrated by silently clapping my hands. She took the book and sat on the floor and began flipping through the pages. After a couple of minutes she started to appear frustrated. She shoved the book to me and whined while she pointed at the book, clapped her hands, and then pointed at the book again. I realized that she was trying to get back to the page that had the picture of clapping hands on it, so I turned to that page and handed the book back to her. She smiled, touched the picture, and clapped her hands. I was impressed!

Today was my last day of my "lead week" for my practicum. I have two more days (Monday and Tuesday) with the kindergartners and then I have my last class of the quarter at the university. I then get two whole days off and begin my spring quarter student teaching in a fourth grade class on Monday. I miss spending all day with my baby and look forward to completing my student teaching (at the beginning of June) so I can go back to my real job as a baby entertainer! Liliana is growing and changing so fast and I worry that I'm going to miss out some days. Luckily there is a light at the end of the tunnel and I've got less than three months left of school - woohoo! David had his last class yesterday evening and now all he has to do is complete an online final and then he'll be all ready to graduate! I'm glad we're setting this example for our children - showing them that education is an important preparation for the future and a good foundation for becoming a self-sufficient person.

Waddle-Walkin'

On Wednesday Liliana had her one year doctor visit. She was pronounced perfect, weighing in at 22 pounds, which places her in the 70th percentile for girl babies her age. She was 30 and 1/4 inches tall, putting her in the 85th percentile for height. Her head was 18 and 1/4 inches around, which puts her at the 75th percentile mark - though I think she's got a pretty good sized noggin (and belly).

After the appointment Liliana and I went to my class at the university. She was standing, stabilizing herself with my leg, when I slowly moved my leg out of her reach. She stood there for awhile and then looked up and saw a tall skinny guy with dark hair and glasses sitting about 5 feet away. I assume that she must have thought it was David because she got a smile on her face and took about 5 or 6 steps towards him before getting down on her hands and knees to crawl. When she got to him, she used his leg to climb up and she just stared at him (no doubt realizing that this was not her daddy after all). She hung out with him for a few minutes and then proceeded to walk from chair to chair and person to person all around the classroom, using the furniture and people to balance.

On Thursday Liliana was really sad and grumpy - side effects from the four vaccines she had received the day before. I gave her some baby Tylenol and she calmed down, but she was still really clingy so I stayed home from my practicum to be with her. Well, that day she decided she was going to walk (more than just the little bit she had been doing once in awhile previously). Once the soreness of the injection sites in her legs was numbed, she crawled over to the chair in the living room, pulled herself up, and then turned and walked toward me - laughing and smiling all the way. Once she reached me, we clapped and then she turned around and walked back to the chair. We continued to play this walking game with me moving back a little bit each time she returned to the chair. David and his dad got to see the next morning (this morning) because she was asleep by the time they got home from school and work last night. She's been walking quite a bit today and seems to be gaining more and more confidence. I guess I really have to admit that she is a toddler now, and not my little tiny baby anymore.

Birthday Bash

Liliana turned one last Monday (January 19th). I just cannot believe that a year has already passed since we first got to meet our little girl in person. She has grown and changed so much so quickly. She is starting to test out her legs, but I wouldn't say she is really walking yet. A couple days before Christmas she took a step toward the Christmas tree and then immediately sat down. The Sunday after Christmas we were at my sister, Nicole's house and Liliana let go of the coffee table to take a step toward her auntie. A few days into the New Year (after returning from a wonderful, but short trip to California to see G-ma and G-pa Jovet) Liliana took a step toward me. She has since then taken a single step here and there toward various things or people, but until last night we hadn't seen her try to walk more than that. Last night (Friday, January 23rd) we were at our friends' home for dinner and Liliana was playing with their son, Sean. Sean is about 6 weeks older than Liliana and has really started walking well over the past few weeks. I was sitting on the living room floor, eating a chocolate chip cookie (I know, great diet) when Liliana let go of the little shopping cart toy she was using to walk and started stepping toward me to get some of my cookie. I kept scooting back a tiny bit at a time so she'd feel like I was only another step away and she ended up taking seven little shuffle steps to me (well, to the cookie). David was in the other room when it happened and wanted to make her do it again so he could see, but she wasn't having it. I bet she'll be up and really walking any time now. It's bitter sweet because once she's not crawling around anymore I'll have to admit that she's a toddler, and no long my little baby.

This month has been fairly busy, with David and I starting back at school. David is taking his last class one night a week and will be all done with his graduation requirements by the end of the quarter (mid-March). I'm now doing my early childhood education practicum. I was able to get placed with a wonderful teacher (and friend) at a school near my home. It's close enough that some days I even ride my bike. David's dad, Jim, is watching Liliana in the mornings and my great aunt, Debbie, is watching Liliana in the afternoons when Jim has to go to work. My good friends Cherisse and Betty have also offered their services as back-up babysitters. I'm so thankful for the amazing support we have received from family and friends as we work toward finishing our schooling. It seems like we're almost constantly on the move these days, running back and forth to work, home, the university, church, etc., but we're handling things well and still making sure we're able to play with Liliana and spend time together as a family. I think next quarter may be a little more crazy just because the student teaching is supposed to be a little more involved than the practicum. I know as long as we keep focused on the fact that it is only for one quarter, we'll survive and probably even enjoy it.

We had a little party for Liliana's birthday last week. Originally I wasn't really going to do much because I figured she wasn't going to remember it anyway. However, since David's mom was going to be coming all the way over from Idaho, I figured we'd better plan something. Also, everyone else was celebrating their kids first birthday and I didn't want to have to explain to Liliana why we didn't have any first birthday party pictures when she was older and have to pay for any therapy that may come as a result of her feeling unloved (just kidding). It was a little last minute, but we had a nice turnout. David set up a slide show of pictures of Liliana throughout her first year of life and let it run in the background throughout the gathering. We had balloons and played a couple of games. One of the games was just to answer questions about Liliana (What is her shoe size? What does she do when I tell her, "no"? - she laughs at me). The other game was to line everyone up on one side of the room and see who could get Liliana to come to them. That was really entertaining to watch! We sang to Liliana and let her smush some cheesecake in her face before opening presents. She was most interested in the tissue paper and wrapping paper, but she had fun with the gifts as well. Thank you, to all of you who were able to come and celebrate with us. We had a great time!