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.