Things to remember

Liliana is officially three, as of last Wednesday. This past year she has really become great at speaking in clear/understandable ways and has been using increasingly complex language. She also began giving "bubble kisses" which are basically non-spitty raspberries and kisses at the same time. She came up with them and named them on her own.

Last night, after we put the kids to bed, David and I were watching a movie (Despicable Me) downstairs. More than halfway through the movie we heard a strange noise down the hall and went to see what it was. Liliana had not fallen asleep, but had quietly come downstairs without our realizing it and had been watching the movie for who knows how long! It was going on 9:30 at night and she's usually in bed by 7:30. We asked her how long she had been there, but she really doesn't have any concept of how much time has passed (especially when she gets "sucked in" to a movie - which is why we don't let her watch movies more than about once a week at most), so we have no real way of knowing. We laughed and put her back to bed and she fell asleep pretty fast after that. Silly girl!

More, please. Thank you!

Saturday we celebrated Liliana's 3rd birthday. She was a little confused when I told her that she wasn't actually going to be three until Wednesday. "But I thought I was three years old at my party," she said. I explained that we were having her party on a day when more people could come and celebrate, but that her actual birthday was on the 19th, which is Wednesday. I'm not sure she fully accepted my explanation.
On Saturday Emmett started signing, "more". This morning he started saying, "thank you," in sign language. So now he can say, "More, please. Thanks!" with his chubby little hands.
Emmett also continues his climbing fetish. As I am typing this, he has climbed onto the coffee table and from there, stretched over and crossed the small gap to get onto the piano bench. This week he has learned how to climb into his high chair without assistance and makes me nervous each time he does it. He also regularly tries to follow his sister's lead and climb up the end of the bunk beds, since I took the ladder down to prevent him from constantly getting on the top bunk. I foresee a possible career in spelunking in his future.

Puzzles and Patience (or lack thereof)

Liliana received a little boxed Winnie the Pooh puzzle for Christmas from her Uncle David. She has been able to do puzzles that have little puzzle board trays with the outlines of the pieces for nearly a year now, but she has never tried puzzles without the form tray. She asked me to open the puzzle box and then went quietly to her room. After a few minutes I went to check on her and she had already assembled a couple of the characters. I was fascinated by how she was putting the characters together rather than starting with the flat sided pieces from the outside in, like most of us do. I called David over and the two of us watched her assemble the entire puzzle with no assistance from us.

Today I was getting ready to take a bath with Emmett and he came running when he heard the water running (as usual). I had just stepped out of the bathroom to grab a few items of clothing for Emmett when I heard a loud thud and splash. I came running into the bathroom to find that Emmett's enthusiasm for bathing had caused him to open the shower doors and climb into the tub - fully clothed! He had a surprised look on his face, like he wasn't sure how I was going to react. Once I started cracking up, a big grin spread across his face and he started to laugh and splash around. I called David in to snap a couple of pictures and then I got to strip off Emmett's soaked pj's, onesie, and diaper. I think patience is a virtue that Emmett doesn't have time for (at least when it comes to something as exciting as a bath)!

Walker says, "Please"

It's come to my attention that I never wrote about when Emmett really started walking. He has been able to walk and would take various steps at a time for awhile, but it wasn't until the Wednesday before Christmas that his walk-crawl ratio tipped more heavily into the walk side. Ever since he's become more and more of a walking champ. I love watching him waddle walk in his penguin-like way! That same day Emmett also "said" his first word in sign language. He said, "please" to Liliana to get her to share some toy with him. He has attempted a couple other signs since then, but always goes back to "please" when he wants something. My little guy is definitely getting to be more of a boy than a baby.

In the words of Liliana

The other day Liliana was sitting on the toilet and she said, "I'm going potta." "What's potta?" I asked her.
"Potta is potty in Spanish," she responded matter-of-factly.
I have been teaching her some Spanish vocabulary ever since she was very little and occasionally she'll ask me how to say something in Spanish or she'll say a Spanish word and ask me to remind her what it means. This, however, was the first time she had created her own Spanish word. I taught her the correct word for potty, but she still likes to use "potta" for now.

As we were driving home from church today, Liliana asked if she could have a cookie after she ate her lunch. David and I said that would be alright. Then she said, "Actually, I need two cookies because I'm two."
"How many cookies will you need after your birthday this month?" I asked her.
"I will need three," she replied, "because I will be three years old."
"Do you know how old I am?" I asked her.
"No."
"I'm 28. So does that mean I get 28 cookies?" I asked.
"Yes. How old are you, Daddy?" she asked.
"I'm 27," David answered.
"Daddy is an old man," I interjected.
"Daddy is old so he has to go in the garbage," Liliana said.
[*Insert peels of laughter from me here]
:)

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.

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!