Friday, December 31, 2010

Candy Canes & Pixie Dust

After Sunday dinner, Great-Grandma Thompson gave Liliana and Emmett each a candy cane. Liliana asked if she could hold them in the car on the ride home and promised that she wouldn't open them. However, halfway home we heard the rustling of wrappers and discovered Liliana had broken one of the candy canes in half and had begun to suck on one end. I took the candy canes away from her and told her it was too bad that she had broken hers because now it wouldn't hang on the tree. She responded instantaneously with, "I broke Emmett's candy cane. The good one is mine's." (Yes, she adds a possessive 's' to the word mine) David and I both started to laugh out loud. We couldn't believe she was being such a sneaky little thing! Emmett's candy cane made it to the Christmas tree and we explained to Liliana that we don't give people items that we break. She eventually accepted that the broken candy cane was hers.
Emmett has two more teeth coming in on top now. Before he had the four teeth in the middle on both top and bottom, a gap on top and bottom, and then two molars on top and two more on the bottom. Now the gaps on top are beginning to fill in. He has such a mouth full of chompers now!
Emmett is continuing his climbing fetish. A couple of days ago I heard Liliana and Emmett laughing hysterically in her bedroom. Naturally, I hurried in to investigate, knowing that something naughty was likely in the works. Upon entering the room, I saw Emmett standing on top of Liliana's little red table, pulling on the cord of her ceiling lamp - shaking it back and forth - and cracking up. I pulled him off the table, which upset him terribly. He immediately started to climb back up on the kid chairs and then onto the table. I had to take the chairs out of Liliana's room. Even then, Emmett was standing with his hands on the table and was attempting to get his leg up as well.
Liliana's Grandpa Hernandez gave her a Tinker Bell ornament for the Christmas tree when we met up with them in Leavenworth last week. Liliana asked us to open it so she could hold it and check it out. She noticed that some of the glitter got on her fingers as we put the ornament back in its case for safe transport. She rubbed her fingers together, trying to remove the glitter, and said, "That's ok, it's just pixie dust." It was so sweet.
Emmett received a little wooden duck with a long handle to push it around. His Grandma Cindy and Auntie Renee made it for him for Christmas. He loves to hold it just off the ground and walk around in his wobbly way, carrying it wherever he goes - even dragging it up and down the stairs. It's a lot of fun to watch his penguin-like strut!
2010 has been a year of great joy. I cannot believe how quickly it has come and gone. It is bittersweet to watch my kids growing and changing so much. I know 2011 will be full of many more exciting and fun-filled days. What a blessing it is to be a mommy and to have two of the most precious babies in the world. I am grateful for David and his willingness to work hard for our family so I can be home to care for our sweet children. I thank Heavenly Father for the countless blessings and opportunities He has provided and continues to provide to our happy little family.

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Daredevil

Yesterday I was playing with the kids downstairs and needed to take a little bathroom break. Emmett, who usually follows me wherever I go, decided to continue playing piano with his sister instead of coming with me. While I was indisposed, I heard the kids happily banging on the keys for a short time, and then I heard the sound of items falling down and Emmett getting upset. I called out to Emmett to come on over to me, but still just heard him crying in the other room. Liliana came and handed me a picture in its frame from off the top of the piano and said, "Emmett broke this." The stand had popped off and I guessed that Emmett had reached up and started pulling things off the piano. I hurried out to see what was going on and found Emmett sitting ON TOP of the piano - crying because he was unable to get down. I was so shocked to see he had climbed up there. I didn't even know he could do that!
I suppose I should have realized he was likely to get into further trouble after what had happened the day before. Emmett had followed Liliana into her room and was playing with her in there - like he frequently does. After only a couple of minutes in there, he started making a fussy sound so I went to see what was going on - assuming that Liliana was taking toys from him or teasing him in some other way. Well, she was sort of teasing him... Emmett has previously attempted to climb the ladder to Liliana's top bunk, so I have started taking the ladder off when I know he's going to be playing in there. I had laid the ladder on the lower bunk, because I had been changing the bedding on the top bunk. Well, Liliana had slid one end of the ladder off the bed, onto the floor and then climbed up to the top bunk via her "sneaky" way on the end of the beds using the headboards. Emmett, seeing Liliana on the top bunk, decided he wanted to get up there too and climbed up the ladder she had put down for him. That got him onto the lower bed and then he somehow had stood up and grabbed the side rail of the top bed and when I came to check on him he was pretty much dangling from the top bunk with only his feet touching the lower bed. He was upset because if he let go, he'd probably fall onto the ladder and then to the floor and he was scared. I rushed in when I saw him, grabbed him, and put the ladder back on the top bunk. I asked Liliana not to climb up on the bunk bed when he's around because it just makes him want to get up there. We'll see if she cooperates. My crazy little stunt-kids definitely keep me on my toes!

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Giving Thanks in California...with Goldilocks

We just got home from our trip to California. We celebrated Thanksgiving a day late with the Jovet side of the family at Grandpa and Grandma Jovet's house. It was one of the best Thanksgivings I've had yet. While in CA, I got to go with David and Liliana for their first trip to Disneyland. Emmett stayed home with Grandpa Jovet and the great-grandparents so he could have his naps and regular bed time. Liliana loved seeing all the Disney characters - especially the princesses - and had a good time on the rides (though she found some to be a little scary). She especially loved Toon Town and visiting with Tinker Bell. David had a really good time trying out the rides and seeing all the fun things to do. Sleeping Beauty's Castle was all lit up for Christmas and we all thought it looked amazing.

After the first couple of nights in CA, my sister and her family, my brother and his wife, and my mother all headed back to Utah. We re-arranged where we were sleeping since now there was more room to space people out. Liliana was moved to a cot in the same room with my dad. When I tucked Liliana in for the night, she pointed to my dad's bed and said, "I want to sleep there." I explained that that was Grandpa's bed. She responded with, "Actually, it's my bed." I was able to convince her to go to sleep in the cot that night, though, and thought nothing more of it. A few nights later, my dad went to head for bed and came back out chuckling. He said someone had been sleeping in his bed and was still there! We laughed quietly as we moved her back to her cot. The next night she did it again - and took my dad's pillow with her when she moved back to the cot! That's our little Goldilocks :)

One afternoon in CA Liliana and I took a walk to meet up with David and Emmett at a mall near my Grandparents' house. As we got to the sidewalk just outside the mall, Liliana asked me to pick her up. "Carry me, mommy, so the cars won't die us," she said. I told her we would be safe on the sidewalk, but she wanted to be carried, and was sticking with her reason for the necessity of it. I guess this is what I get for telling her that she has to hold my hand in parking lots so that cars won't squish her.

Emmett had his one year check-up just before we headed out of town. He weighs nearly 28 pounds and is almost 32 inches tall. Big boy! Liliana came with us to Emmett's check-up and she cried when the doctor came in the room and literally climbed up on the chair behind me to hide from him -- even though she wasn't even the one being seen! I still don't really understand why she's so freaked out by the doctor when he's not even the one who administers the vaccines...

Monday, November 22nd Emmett decided to take 9 steps in a row in the waiting room at the dentist's office. Poor David was back getting his teeth checked, so he missed it. Since then, Emmett continues to take a handful of steps here and there, but still prefers to hold someone's hand while walking. Yesterday he took 14 steps in a row - the most consecutive unassisted steps he's taken so far. My baby is definitely entering toddlerhood.

A little while ago I took the kids to the mall so they could play somewhere besides the house (they seemed to be getting a little cabin fever after being stuck at home as a result of all the lousy weather we'd been having). We arrived early - before the shops were open - and just walked around for awhile to get some exercise. Liliana started running ahead of me, saying, "Don't get me!" and looking over her shoulder with an excited grin. Of course I understood that she wanted me to chase her, and "ran" after her with Emmett in the stroller. She squealed happily as we hurried up and down the corridor.

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

What they've been up to

Emmett: Last Wednesday Emmett took his first two steps in the kitchen. He stepped on the hem of his pants, slipped, and has refused to try to walk since. The week before he was sitting in my lap and I was playing with him, pretending to wave goodbye. I stopped waving and then Emmett picked up my hand, waved it for me, and then waved his hand in front of mine. It was quite cute, considering that he's not much of a waver.
Emmett's Great-Grandma Neta came over a few weeks back and Emmett warmed up to her quite nicely during her visit. When it came time for her to go, he leaned out of my arms toward her, grabbed the fabric of her sweatshirt over her shoulders, and pulled her toward himself. He didn't want to let her go!
Mike, a close family friend, came by to visit a few days later and Emmett warmed to him quickly as well. Emmett crawled over and pulled himself up on Mike's legs, making it clear he wanted to be picked up. He thought Mike's chin whiskers were very interesting and kept "pinching" his chin. When Mike was leaving, Emmett also grabbed his shoulders and pulled Mike toward him, almost into a hug.
This week I've noticed that Emmett has been making more sound effects when he plays with toys. He makes a "rrrrr" sound when he's playing with toy cars. I held up two dinosaurs for him and made them "roar" at each other, and now he tries to imitate the roaring when he plays with them!

Liliana: A couple of weeks ago, during a preschool lesson, I mentioned that when we're sick we can go see a doctor to help us get better. I randomly said, "That cold metal circle thing they use to listen to your chest and back is called a stethoscope." A few days later while reading a children's magazine, Liliana pointed at a picture of a nurse and said, "That's her stethoscope." I was so surprised that after having heard the word once, with no picture to support the new word, Liliana was able to accurately use her new vocabulary word.
Last week Liliana was trying to zip up her blocks in a storage bag. As she struggled with the zipper, she huffed, "Come on!" I started laughing, knowing that she has heard me say that in frustration before. She really is my little parrot!
Last Thursday, Liliana's friend was supposed to come for a play date. His mom called to reschedule and I told Liliana about it as soon as I got off the phone. The next morning she asked to call her Grandma Cindy. When Grandma picked up, Liliana told her, "Jimmy was supposed to come play yesterday, but his mom called and said, 'Can we come later?' and now they will come today." I was amazed, yet again, by her. I was impressed that she could accurately deliver the message as though from Jimmy's mother's perspective.

I can't believe how time is flying. Emmett will be a year old in just a few more days. Liliana is just a couple months short of her third birthday. So much fun so far, and so many memories yet to come!

Saturday, October 16, 2010

When Grandmas Aren't Nice

This weekend Grandma Cindy was in town and stayed with us. David and I took advantage and went out to celebrate our 5th anniversary at a delicious Brazilian Grill in Seattle and then went to the 5th Avenue Theater and watched a great performance of "In The Heights". My sister and her husband also went out for their anniversary and brought their little ones to my place for my mom to watch as well. The next morning I was talking with Liliana about her evening with Grandma. Liliana said, "Grandma let me watch a movie with Mason. When the movie was finished, she put me straight to bed. That wasn't very nice of her."
I laughed out loud. Apparently the fact that Grandma had let Liliana stay up a little late to watch a movie was not good enough.
I asked Liliana what movie she watched. She told me, "It had one Cinderella and a mean guy with black clothes. It had two Cinderellas and Sleeping Beauty and swimming alligators and birds and a frog." I couldn't for the life of me figure out what movie we had that matched this description - especially since Liliana hasn't seen Sleeping Beauty and had only seen Cinderella once several months ago with Bapa (Grandpa Hernandez). I told my mom about Liliana's movie description and she said it was actually fairly accurate because they had watched Swan Princess, which has several princesses in it for part of it and does have alligators, birds, and a frog that all swim. They had watched it on Netflix, which was why it hadn't come to mind when I was trying to match Liliana's description to the movies we own. I'm impressed by how well she was able to recall and describe the movie to me. She's getting bigger and better at communicating all the time!
Emmett's 4th tooth on the bottom is starting to come through now. Once the two molars and this current tooth come in completely, he'll be up to 10 teeth. He is also getting better at standing for longer periods without holding on to anything, but he's still afraid to step unless he's holding onto furniture or someone's hand. It's just a matter of time before he decides to try and walk unassisted, but for now, I get to keep my "little" crawling baby.

Monday, October 4, 2010

More teeth = More drool

Emmett has been drooling non-stop all over and it is pretty gross. This morning I figured out what all the drool is about...he's got two molars coming through on top! I was surprised to seem them coming in already, but I guess he is approaching his 1st birthday. Liliana started getting her molars right about the time she turned one. Emmett's still about 6 weeks out, and I still haven't fully grasped that almost an entire year has passed since his birth, so I really wasn't expecting that yet. Oh, my little baby is getting so big, so fast!

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Pre- preschool?

Today was my first attempt at a little co-op preschool with Liliana and some friends. Kids under 3 have an attention span of exactly 4 and a half seconds. I guess since 3 of the 4 have regularly attended nursery at church, I assumed they'd like sitting in a circle to sing songs and play some games. Wrong! Even though I kept each activity very short and had play breaks in between and offered a wide variety of things to do, it was more like I was singing songs and playing games with the other mothers than anything else. We were talking about our bodies and what they can do. I made up a little song/chant about great things our bodies can do (clapping, jumping, flapping our arms, etc.) and thought they'd enjoy acting those things out, but got very little response. We talked about how our bodies can show when we're happy and sang "If you're happy and you know it" with various movements to show our happiness - again, minimal reaction. All 4 kids were into coloring pumpkin pictures with happy and sad faces, so that seemed to go well. I bet they'll get used to it and more engaged as we continue our attempts at our co-op preschool.

I noticed Emmett's third tooth on the bottom popped through last week. He's up to 7 now. My baby just keeps getting bigger and bigger every day. He looks more like a little toddler boy than a baby now. How the time flies.

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Conversation with a 2 year old

Liliana to me: "Wiggle your ears, Mommy."

Me: "I don't know how. Only Daddy does."

Liliana: "I want Daddy to stay home with me with no Mommy. I want her go to work."

Thanks, kid. Now that's loyalty for you!

Friday, September 17, 2010

Lili-isms

Last night as Liliana sat on the potty, she looked at me and said, "Pretty soon I will be a boy."
"Just a minute, I want you to tell Daddy," I responded. I called David in and had her repeat herself. He looked at me with a confused grin. "Why do you think you'll be a boy soon, Liliana?" I asked.
"Because I am."
My only explanation is that she is surrounded by boy cousins, a brother, and mainly boys in her nursery class at church, playgroup, and her preschool co-op that we're starting. Also, her cousin, Mason, had been here earlier that day and since they are both potty training, they would follow each other into the bathroom with real interest in what one or the other was doing in there. I asked Liliana, "Don't you want to be a girl like Mommy?"
"No," was her simple and very quick response.
"I'm sorry to break it to you, Liliana, but you're a girl and that doesn't change, honey."
No response. I guess I'll never know what she thought about that!

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Words of Lili-Wili

Some days I let Liliana jump in the bath with me while Emmett is taking a nap if I didn't manage to get showered before David heads off to work. Today I put Liliana in the tub first while I finished gathering towels, clean clothes, etc. When I came in the bathroom, ready to shower, Liliana said, "Mommy, I don't want you get in the bathtub because I want to pee in it." I assured her that I didn't want to get in either if that was the case.

Later, while Emmett was still napping, she said, "I want Emmett to go away forever."
"But won't you miss him? Don't you want him to stay so you can play with him?" I asked.
"I want him to go outside. He can look for his daddy at his work," Liliana replied.
"Emmett is just a baby. He can't even walk yet. He would get lost if he tried to find his daddy outside all alone," I explained.
"Ok. Emmett can stay and play with me," Liliana decided.

Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Farewell Fangs

As of last week, Emmett's center top teeth have really started coming through, so he no longer looks like he could be Dracula's son. Since vampires appear to be "in" right now, it was kind of fun to joke about Emmett being one of them with his silly little fang teeth on top. None of the pictures I took really do his hill-billy vampire grin justice, so we'll just have to remember how funny it was.

Emmett is getting braver with his standing. He will let go of whatever wall, person, or furniture he is steadying himself with in order to get his hands on a toy or reach to be picked up. He can only balance for a moment though, so don't go thinking he's about to walk any day now.

Liliana continues her antics. She's talking up a storm and parrots every word or phrase she hears - especially the ones we don't want her to repeat! It's amazing how bad some things sound when they come out of a two-year-old's mouth. I thought I had such clean language because I'm not a swear word user, but even some of my expressions of annoyance make me cringe when I hear my little one repeating them. "Stupid thing", "dang it" and "jerk" are definitely not as innocent as I once believed. It's amazing the things I learn and change about myself by being a mom!

Monday, August 9, 2010

Nearly there

The kitchen remodel is almost done. We installed brand new cabinets last month, had measurements taken for our counter tops, and then waited while the counters and sink were made. This morning they were installed and once David gets off work he will connect the plumbing to the new sink, put in the new faucet, and connect the dishwasher. I should have a beautiful and complete kitchen before I go to bed tonight!

In other news, Emmett has figured out how to get up the bottom step. He is hesitant to continue going up the rest of the stairs, but we definitely have to watch out because the ability to get up them is there! He is in such a hurry to move around and climb up things. He uses just about every surface to pull himself up to a standing position now. He's getting brave, too, because he'll move from holding on to one wall or piece of furniture, to grab another. I guess he's just determined to keep up with Liliana, whom he seems to think is the greatest person in existence. :)

David's new job at Microsoft is going great. He loves having his own office and access to free drinks all day long.

Liliana's aunts, uncles, and cousins are all in town for my brother's open house and Liliana is having a blast playing with everyone. Each morning she wakes up asking for an aunt, uncle, or one of her grandparents!

Saturday, July 31, 2010

Standing for Something & Running from Mommy

Tuesday morning we came in to get Emmett out of bed and guess who was standing up with his hands on the crib rails? Since then, he has been pulling himself up on just about every surface or person he can get his hands on.
Liliana was being a trouble-maker the other day so I told her she could make a choice: listen to mommy or go to her room until she was ready to listen. She ran down the hall loudly saying, "I not listening to you!" and slammed her door loudly. Within a few minutes she said, "I'm ready to be sweet," and I let her out of her room. At least she accepted one of the decisions I had offered her. Oh, what will the future hold?

Sunday, July 18, 2010

Camping, Crawling, and other fun

We left for our 4th of July trip to Seaside, Oregon on July 1st. We had a fun-filled week of swimming, kite flying, carousel riding, ice cream eating, dutch oven cooking, parade watching, mini-train riding, biking, beach bumming, sandcastle building, firework gazing, and relaxing with family. As we drove out of the campground David asked Liliana if she had had fun camping. She responded with, "I want to go camping again!"

The day before we had left for our trip, Emmett officially started crawling. He is still improving and getting better at it, but he's able to get around without all the rolling and pivoting on his belly that he used to do. Emmett's third and fourth tooth have popped through now as well. The third one came in just a day or two after the second tooth and the fourth one just poked through a couple of days ago. He now his his two bottom center teeth and two by-cuspids, but no center top teeth. I think he's going for the kindergärtner-about-to-enter-first-grade look!

On Sundays I try to get the kids to take at least a short nap before church to avoid the head-spinning, blue-liquid spewing that often accompanies missed naps. However, since we have to leave for church right about the time naps normally start, this effort does not always prove successful. Today was one of those days. I put Liliana down and she was quiet for awhile, falsely leading me to believe that she had fallen asleep. After some time, I heard strange sounds coming from her room and ventured to see what bizarre acts could be causing the noises. At first I was surprised not to spot Liliana in her room. Then some movement from above caught my attention and I realized she was on the top bunk of her bunk bed - to which we had removed the ladder so she wouldn't be able to climb up without us present. "I'm on the bunk bed, Mommy!" She exclaimed proudly.
"How did you get up there?" I asked.
"I climb down that and that," she said, without actually giving me any useful indication as to how she had got up.
I took her down from the bed and looked at the assortment of things she had shoved off the bed (which was the source of the sounds that had brought me to the room to investigate). David had been using the bunk bed to store random toys and other items that he didn't want Liliana playing with for one reason or another and Liliana had started tossing them off the bed, while sitting under the little red table that was being stored on the bed as well. She had used the table to climb up and open the curtains in her room, which resulted in David putting the table out of her reach. I invited Liliana to climb the bed again so I could see how she did it, but she ran out of the room saying, "That's naughty?" She did demonstrate her monkey-like climbing skills for David after we got home from church and we recorded them, so I'll have to link them to this post sometime soon. Now we'll have to decide whether we want to go ahead and put the bunk bed ladder up; take the bunk bed down and find someplace to store it; or try and convince Liliana of the danger of climbing her bed and trust that she won't do it anymore (highly unlikely).

Monday, June 14, 2010

Move your hand, Daddy

Tonight, as part of our Family Home Evening, we were reading an illustrated scripture story to Liliana. She was laying back in David's lap and they were sitting next to me on the couch. Liliana kept squirming around and pushing David's arm. She told him to move his arm and hand out of her way and he asked where he should put it. Liliana paused to think a moment and then said, "Right there," while pointing at my chest. David asked, "You want me to put my hand on Mommy's boob?"
"Yes! Put your hand there on Mommy's boob," she replied.
David, always wanting to make his little girl happy, was more than willing to oblige!

In more modest news, tooth number two is officially through for Emmett! Now he's got one on the bottom in the center and one on the top, to the right of the center. He's got a hillbilly smile!

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Scary Kitty

Sunday we went to dinner at the home of one of David's coworkers. Liliana followed their two cats to their climbing tower in the corner of the living room behind a chair. After a few minutes, she came hurrying out from behind the chair saying, "That kitty scary." Suspecting that she may have done something to make one of the cats swat at her, I asked her, "Were you bothering the kitties?" Liliana responded with, "No. I not bother the kitty. The kitty bother me!"

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Tooth or dare

Emmett's first tooth poked through a week and a half ago (May 22nd). I knew it was getting close, but his Auntie was actually the one who first spotted it while she was holding him at Cousin Tasha's bridal shower. He's officially a danger when he's nursing now! Daddy was helping him get some gum relief by giving him a cold piece of apple in one of those little mesh baggies to chomp on. By the time Emmett was finished with it, there was no evidence remaining to determine what fruit he had started with.

Last Thursday, as we were preparing to leave for a camping trip at Soap Lake, we were informed that there was a problem with the reservation. We decided to go to Idaho to visit David's parents instead - surprising Grandma with a knock on the door at 6:00am Friday morning! The kids entertained Grandma and Grandpa Hernandez all weekend long. David and I took Liliana to an indoor water park since the weather was cold and wet, while Grandma and Grandpa played with Emmett at the house. David and I even got to go out and see a movie one evening. We came back Monday and got to sit through the lovely west-bound post-holiday weekend traffic on I-90, but I know David's parents were really glad we came.

Tuesday evening we were out running errands and stopped to pick up a bite to eat. Emmett was sitting in the high chair in the restaurant and looking around, babbling happily, when all of a sudden he said, "Da da." He continues to say it over and over now. I know he isn't really calling David, but I'm still a little bummed that he chose to say that before saying, "ma ma." I mean, come on - who changes most of your diapers, kid? Who feeds you and plays with you most of the time? Who finds you much more interesting than the computer? That's right! It's Mama! Daddy - boo, Mommy - yay!

Liliana has become quite the little parrot. She says things like, "Oh, my goodness!" and this morning she asked Emmett, "How are you doing today? You ok? Oh, good. I'm glad." I ask her something similar each morning when she wakes up.

This morning Liliana decided that she didn't want David to go to work. While he was in the shower, she asked me, "Where Daddy gonna go?"
I turned it back on her and asked, "Where do you think he's going?".
"He's going to work?" she asked. I confirmed it and she said, "I don't want Daddy go to work. I want Daddy stay home and play with me."
"Well, somebody has to go to work to get money to pay the bills." I responded.
"Mommy go to work," was her sweet little response.
"Don't you like it when mommy stays home to play with you?" I asked.
"Yes."
"But you want mommy to go to work?"
"Yes."
"And you want daddy to stay home with you?"
"Yes."
"Ok, go tell daddy."
She went to tell him, but he didn't understand her over the sound of the shower and the fan running in the bathroom. I told him when he got out of the shower, and I saw a huge smile spread across his face. Then when it was time for him to leave, Liliana ran to the window and watched him pull out of the driveway. "I want my daddy stay home with me!" she cried. She began to fuss and climbed off the couch and walked over to me, asking to be picked up. It was sad and cute all at the same time. I wonder if she ever misses me that much when I go places...

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Mobility and more chewing ability

While Emmett is probably too heavy to be able to start crawling any time soon, he has figured out how to get around some. He has been able to roll over from his stomach to his back since he was just a couple of weeks old and he's been able to roll over from his back to his stomach (but only to his right) since about a month ago. He realized yesterday that he can put these skills together and get places. I watched him work his way slowly from the living room into the kitchen and then spin around in circles on his tummy in the kitchen. I'm sure it won't be long until he realizes he can just keep rolling, rather than stopping between rolls to check everything out. Then I'll really have to keep an eye on him!

This morning Liliana was singing songs with me when I caught a glimpse of something white towards the back of her mouth. When I looked closer, I saw she had a new molar half grown in at the back left corner of her mouth. She has been such a good girl (well, not fussy - but still her trouble-makin' self) that I had no idea she was getting more teeth in. Thinking back over the last few days, I can say that she's been eating less and asking for softer and colder foods like applesauce and yogurt, but there really hasn't been any crankiness or recognizable discomfort. She has been such a good teether with each of her teeth. I hope Emmett will be the same!

Liliana has started "reading" now. She's getting really good at remembering what stories say on which pages and will recite many of her stories pretty much verbatim with the correct pages. If I point to words that match the pictures they are next to, she can say the words. It will probably be a little while before she can actually recognize the words on their own without the pictures, but she's really getting a lot of these emergent reading skills now and she really loves books, pretending to read, and being read to.

Friday, April 23, 2010

Dirty hands, plugged noses, loads of gross fun

A couple of nights ago I went visiting teaching and left David with the kids. They were in bed and falling asleep (so I thought) by the time David arrived and I had to hurry out the door to make my appointment. When I got home, Emmett was crying in his crib, Liliana was calling out from her room, and David looked unhappy. I was greeted with a, "why me?" from David as I walked up the stairs. When I asked what happened he told me that the kids both decided not to go to sleep like they were supposed to. Emmett had fussed most of the time I was gone (only about 35 minutes) and Liliana had called out to him continually from her door. Wanting to see Liliana since she had gone to bed before David had made it home from work and church meetings, David let her out of her room for a few minutes. She told him that she wanted to sleep in our bed - which is strange because she hasn't slept in our bed or our room at all since she was less than 6 weeks old. For some reason David put her in our bed and told her to go to sleep. He closed the door and went to try and calm Emmett. After awhile, he heard Liliana running around in our room and went to check on her. When he opened the door, David saw Liliana behind our bed. She held up her hands to him and said, "My have poop on my hands." And sure enough, she did! Apparently she had loaded her diaper and decided to stick her hands down her pants to check it out (which she had never done before then and hasn't done since). David was not happy, to say the least - especially when he realized she had spread the poo on our quilt, too. By the time I got home, he had cleaned Liliana up and put her back in her bed, but he let me know that I was going to have to take care of the bedding - Thanks a lot, honey.

Last night Liliana was eating dinner very slowly. David and I both finished and got up to put away left overs and tidy the kitchen. I heard Liliana start giggling and making this weird sniffy-snorting noise. I asked her what she was doing and she said, "I eat my corn with my nose!" Sure enough, she had shoved some corn up one of her nostrils. I have no idea where she got the idea to do it, but she did! David held her other nostril shut and told her to blow hard. The corn came out and we both struggled so hard to hold back the laughter. Oh, the joys of parenting a two year old!

On a not-gross note, the ladies in the daycare center at my gym are crazy about Emmett. They say he is always smiling and that he laughs about almost anything. I weighed him with our bathroom scale yesterday (which so far has been within a few tenths of a pound of what the doctor's office weighs my kids at) and he weighed 24.5 pounds. Granted, he was wearing a slightly wet diaper, so maybe he's just 24 pounds, but that's still ridiculously huge for a 5 month old! We had to get a new car seat because he was too tall for the infant one that is supposed to fit about 97% of one-year-olds! What can I say, I have little baby monsters - one is a monster in size and the other is a monster in behavior, but I love them all the same. They definitely make life a joy - even with all the craziness!

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Roll-y poly

Emmett started rolling from his back to his front last week (Tuesday, April 6th), but he still only goes to the right and won't even try to roll the other direction. Today at one of his nap times, he was getting really cranky and fussy, rather than falling asleep. After several minutes, he was suddenly quite. I went and peaked in his room and found he had rolled himself onto his tummy and immediately fallen asleep with his head resting on his folded arms. I kept checking on him to make sure he wasn't smothering himself, but he was sleeping so great that I didn't want to roll him back. Besides, he'd probably wake up, fuss some more, and then roll back onto his tummy. Liliana became a tummy sleeper when she started rolling over too. I'd always lay her on her back, but she wouldn't stay that way. I guess it runs in the family!

Today when we were leaving the gym, Liliana didn't want to settle down and get into her car seat. I finally got her buckled in and she said she wanted a treat (animal crackers or an occasional cereal bar I keep on hand for her when we're running around and she gets a bit hungry). I told her that she didn't get a treat because she wasn't doing what mommy asked her to do, but that if she was a good girl she could earn her treat back after lunch. She started whining and I asked her, "Do you want to be a good girl and get your treat after lunch, or do you want to be naughty and go straight to bed when we get home?"
She answered with, "I want to go to California!" (Apparently she'd rather go visit family than be a good girl for mommy - see previous post)
I asked, "What are you going to do in California? Are you going to visit Great-grandma and grandpa?"
"Yes. And go swimming." That little girl has a good memory because we haven't been to CA since last summer - when she was only 18 months old!

Friday, April 2, 2010

Movin' Out

Today Liliana was being a trouble maker. I told her, "You can either be a good girl or you can go straight to bed and take a nap."

She responded with, "I want to go to Utah!"

I asked her, "Are you going to live with Auntie Ney?"

"Yes. And Kaden and Daxton!" Then she asked to call Renee on the phone. Aunt Renee was pretty excited about the idea of having Liliana come live with her, so Liliana left that phone conversation encouraged about her plan. Later, when I put Liliana down for a nap, she emptied the entire contents of her dresser onto the floor. I am guessing that she was preparing for her move, though she did not admit to it.

Liliana may end up trading places with my nephew, Daxton. Renee said she had to run after him as he went down the road on his scooter the other day, and when she caught up to him and asked him where he was going, he answered, "Seattle." These kids crack me up!

Thursday, March 18, 2010

What will she say next?

We had the wonderful opportunity to attend my brother's wedding in Utah last weekend. Joey married his sweetheart, Harmony, in the Manti temple. Now all my siblings are married! We made a mad dash down to Utah, attended the "preception" on Friday night, the wedding on Saturday, and driving back home through the night again, stopping in Tri-cities so Great-Grandma Dianne could meet Liliana and Emmett, and arriving home Sunday evening. Now that we've been home for several days, I think we're just about caught back up on sleep. The night we arrived home, Liliana saw a fly buzzing around our living room and she said, "I see a bug right there inside the house." David and I just looked at each other and shook our heads - we couldn't believe how clearly she said what she had.

The other day I walked past the nursery and saw Liliana sitting on the floor with my nursing pillow wrapped around her and her baby doll laying on top of the pillow. As I walked in, Liliana lifted her shirt and asked, "Where's my boob?" Once I got my laughter under control, I helped her figure out how to "feed" her baby.

As part of dinner last night we had corn bread muffins. Liliana asked for one and then took her spoon handle and sawed it in two pieces. She said, "I cut the muffin in half." I still don't know where she picked up "half" from. I guess we must have said it here and there in reference to things, but I can't remember any specific instances. That little girl has a good memory!

Today Liliana followed David into the garage and asked him what he was doing. He told her about what he was looking for and let her help him look. After he came upstairs and she had stayed downstairs, he noticed it got quiet. David leaned over the stair railing and asked Liliana what she was doing. She had gone back into the garage and as she walked back into the downstairs room she said, "I'm just checking." We still don't know what she thought she was checking, but it was an interesting response, none the less.

Emmett is gaining more and more control over his hands and is able to grab his toys fairly well and get them to his mouth. He laughs and smiles a lot and really enjoys watching his sister play and dance around. He still rolls over from his stomach to his back, though I think his chubbiness is making it harder because he doesn't do it as often or as quickly as he did a month or two ago. At his 4 month check-up this week, Emmett weighed in at an amazing 20lbs 10oz and is 27.5inches long. He's still off the growth charts for both height and weight! He is wearing size 9 month clothes, but will need to move up to 12 month size very soon at the rate he is growing.

Monday, March 1, 2010

Fascinating Fingers

Emmett has been really checking out his hands the past few weeks. He will lay on his back and put his fists straight up in the air in front of him and just stare at them. He will also watch his hands while he's sitting up and tries to work them into his mouth - sometimes both at the same time. His little swing has a couple of hanging toys on it that he slowly and jerkily works to make contact with his fists. I call it "punching Clifford" because one of the hanging toys is a little red dog. You can see his look of concentration as he struggles to get his hand to go where he wants it to go. About two weeks ago, I was holding a set of rings over him while he was laying on his back and he managed to work his fingers through one of them and grab hold. Since then he has continued to improve his reaching and grabbing and is getting pretty good at getting his hands on his toys with a bit of effort. I can't believe how quickly he's growing!

David stood on the scale with Emmett the other day and then subtracted his weight to get a rough estimate for where Emmett is at. There was a 20.3 pound difference! Even if we subtract an entire pound for Emmett's clothes and diaper, that still leaves him weighing over 19 pounds when he's only 3 and a half months old! I'm certain that this kid cannot keep up this growth rate for much longer, but he continues to do so for now. He's wearing 6-9 month clothes and is quickly getting to the point where most of the 6 month stuff is too short in the arms or legs and/or not big enough around the middle. Where'd my little baby go?

Liliana is speaking ever more complete and increasingly complex sentences. Just tonight she saw David working outside and asked what he was doing. I told her he was fixing the cargo box (the kind you attach to the roof of your car). She responded with, "Daddy's fixing Liliana's cargo box for Liliana's car?" I hadn't mentioned the car, so I was pretty surprised that she remembered they went together. Liliana is also learning more words and phrases in Spanish and says things like, "Te quiero mucho, Daddy" (I love you a lot, Daddy) and "Quiero ver Sean" (I want to see Sean).

Last night we had Liliana video chat with Grandma Mary and Grandpa Hernandez. Grandma asked Liliana what she was supposed to do when she was happy (referring to the "If you're happy and you know it" song). Liliana wandered off and I thought, "Squirrel" (refer to the movie "UP" if you don't know what that means). However, she returned quickly with her musical Elmo toy that she got for Christmas and pushed the button that plays the "If You're Happy and You Know It" song. She clapped and danced for Grandma and Grandpa and then selected some of the other songs to perform for them. My favorite was when she played the wheels on the bus and had Grandma and Grandpa doing the hand motions with her on their end of the video chat line! It was really cute and I know Grandma and Grandpa got a kick out of it. :)

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Reproached

So a couple of days ago I was pretty tired after a rough night and running short on patience. Liliana has become aware that when I'm nursing Emmett, it's pretty hard for me to reinforce whatever I ask her to do and often won't do anything I tell her to do until I am able to get up and fulfill the consequences (like putting her in time out). Well, I had asked her to pick up her blocks and books while I was feeding Emmett and she would pick up a block or some other toy and then find something else to do with it, rather than cleaning up. I counted to three and told her to go to time out and she just said, "No." I told her to go to her room and shut the door and she walked down the hall to her room and then came back out and said, "No, I don't wanna go to the big girl room!" I began raising my voice and got a bit sharp with her. Finally, Emmett was done eating and I got up and picked Liliana up around the waist and held her over her blocks and books to get her to pick them up. She was laughing and thought this was a great game. I was still feeling rather annoyed that she had not listened and didn't do what I asked until I "made" her do it. Then she started singing a part of the song, "I am a Child of God", but not just any part...she sang, "Kind and dear. Kind and dear." Boy did I feel like a shmuck! I gave her a guilty hug and decided that unless it's an emergency or really necessary, I'll just wait until I'm not feeding or changing Emmett to ask her to do things until she's a little older and better able to follow directions without getting so easily distracted.

Monday, February 8, 2010

Laughter,

Emmett has been giving us radiant little smiles since just before he turned 6 weeks old. He's also been giving us some cute little chuckles for a few weeks now, but his first real laugh was on Sunday, January 24th. David and I were sitting in Sunday School at church and Emmett was in his car seat on the floor by daddy's feet. David looked down and said something to Emmett with a smile on his face and Emmett let out his first real laugh. That evening he laughed quite a bit at one of our home teachers who came to visit us. He's been such a happy, smiley kid. We love having him around.

Liliana is becoming ever more fluent in her speech. On Saturday morning we went for a walk and she stopped to point in someone's yard and said, "That's a big rock right there." She can debate in full sentences now as well, such as, "No. I want mommy do it." Or, "Liliana not want eat that. I want Apple Jacks!" Sometimes when she ends up in time out she says, through her streaming tears, "Liliana be a good girl now. No time out!"

Liliana's singing is coming along too. Before I could only recognize the Happy Birthday song, but she surprised us with "I am a Child of God" on Saturday. It sounds more like, "I na na chial a God. [some gibberish here] kind a dear." During sacrament meeting yesterday, every time the organ began a hymn with prelude music, she'd start singing her rendition of that primary song - loud enough for half the congregation to turn and look at her :)

She has also been working on saying prayers. She has, "Heny Fawder" down really well and will usually repeat that a few times until someone steps in to help her. Occasionally she'll add in a, "Thank dee fer dis day" or something to that effect, on her own. It's so precious to hear her say prayers.

At Liliana's 2 year appointment and Emmett's 2 month appt. on January 19th, Liliana weighed in at just over 30 pounds and 34.5 inches tall. Emmett just about broke the scale at 17 lbs 4 oz and 25 inches. Needless to say, Emmett was off the growth chart!

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Freakin' out

Last night Emmett was having a fit while David and I were trying to get Liliana ready for bed. David asked Liliana, "Is Emmett freakin' out?" and Liliana said, "Emmett freakin' out!" Then she said, "Mommy freakin' out."
David said, "Mommy's not freakin' out. Mommy's just a freak."
Liliana responded with, "No. Mommy not. Mommy OK."
Good job Liliana - I'll give you that cookie I promised you after daddy goes to work!