Liliana is 7 Months old already?

Next time you're half-awake at 5:45 am, and you roll over sleepily, half-squinting in the sunshine coming in your window, imagine your 7-month old daughter, who probably shouldn't be awake, and shouldn't really be standing yet, and definitely shouldn't be looking over the railing of her crib at you with the biggest smile she can muster. Yup folks, our daughter is a motivated little girl- much to our delight, and to the disruption of our sleeping patterns. However, since she's also the sweetest child in the world, it's extremely easy to forgive her.

This month, we had her first camping trip, first meat (albeit blended in a baby food jar), developed a love for cheerios, banana puffs, and "veggie booty," and first road trip (to the Oregon Country Fair, which somehow we escaped with no pictures- not sure how we failed there). Liliana still isn't much of a laugher, but can smile with the best of them. She is crawling faster and farther, and she's still in love with her cousin Logan.

Us? We're very much enjoying our summer, with less visitors but still busy, and we look forward to seeing most of you as we head into the fall. Enjoy the pictures- we should have some videos posted soon, too.

Love,
liliana, marita, and ian

Liliana 6 Months from g-MO!

Aloha Folks

I wanted to update everyone on "Life with Liliana", as I just got to spend a week with her in Hawaii. I was so excited to get to finally "meet" her again. It seemed like such a long time ago, that I witnessed her birth in Seattle. I have loved her blog, and look at her online pictures all the time. Does it get better than having your grandbaby come to you in Hawaii? Wow...there is nothing like being able to snuggle with such a warm little bundle. I really got used to seeing her big bright smile first thing in the morning.

Her Hawaiian heritage was really showing in her LOVE of the ocean. I've almost never seen a baby so comfortable and smiley in the water. She was like a regular at all the great north shore beach spots..Rocky Point, 3 Tables and Waimea. (Not to mention the bonus rounds at the pool at Turtle Bay Hilton.)

Did I mention that Ian and Marita's Hawaiian vacation was an Ohana event with Tom and Liz also on Oahu? It was terrific to have several delicious "Double Adoring Grandparents" -dinners with the whole extended Family. Lucky Lady, this little Liliana. Plenty LOVE going round.

One of the highlights for me was having Marita, Ian and Liliana hang for a Summer Solstice Party at my new Tribalteaz Dome in Waimanalo. (kind of a long term ag project and art studio) We had a great work party in the garden, a sumptuous potluck and a great Fire for the Solstice. Ian was the total hit of the night, gracing us with the most incredible 2 hour guitar song set. There were moments of pure poetry and some pretty awesome community singing if I say so myself. Thanks Ian! You Rock!

Well... there is a little mini Hawaii report. Gabby left yesterday with M, I & L, to hang with the posse in Seattle for a few days until I get there on July 1st. See you soon Liliana!

Much Love,

g-Mo

ps more pix @

http://web.mac.com/alohacynthia/iWeb/LILIANA/Liliana%20in%20Hawaii%202008.html

p.p.s. from ian and marita

Um, we thought you should know that Liliana started crawling yesterday. Really crawling. She has been creeping in a 360 for a few weeks, but now we see butt up forward movement. It is CRAZY how fast she is growing and learning. She also found her talking voice in Hawaii and babbles more and more. If only we could say the same for her sleeping . . .

Alice's Visit (Liliana 5 + months)

A tale of two (amazing) children.

I sneaked in a brief visit to the beloved Seattle Group this past weekend--arriving as May 31st rolled over into June 1st, most graciously retrieved from SeaTac by Ian, and then delivered back to catch the redeye Tuesday night, June 3rd. Not the most leisurely trip, but worthwhile in every way. As usual the 43rd Ave. South Collective warmly welcomed me, and included me in their lives with generosity and love.

Now--the children! Logan is in perpetual motion, the most curious child ever. He gets into anything that isn't nailed down, and a few things that are. The most fun is watching him figuring things out. You can almost see the wheels turning as his gaze flicks from one part of a process to another, and then: eureka! He turns to you with his crooked little grin and points, as if to say:"I got it!" Case in point--I was rooming in the back "nursery" and my suitcase was tucked in a corner. When it comes to zippers, buttons and straps, Logan is like a little Houdini; he just keeps at it till he solves the puzzle. So of course, he scampered right past two dozen books and fifty toys to get into my luggage and pull out the little Delta Airlines headphones I schlep around with me so I can plug into whatever passes for in-flight entertainment. He looked at them and immediately put them to his ears; but there was nothing to hear, of course. Marita, characteristically looking to reward his curiosity and tenacity, grabbed an Ipod and plugged the headphones into the set so that Logan would hear music. As soon as he heard the music he started trying to figure out how that all had happened. He took the Ipod, yanked out the plug that connected it to the headphones; looked up at us; then, in one smooth, completely confident motion, he inserted the plug back into the correct jack and grinned as the music started up again. Folks--this boy is just a little past one year. Let me say it now: we are going to hear from him in years to come, and it's going to be worth hearing!

And then there is Liliana. She has the sweetest face and the happiest personality. It is a joy to watch her attack the spoonfuls of carrots and bananas, splash in the bath, rock and roll in her saucer seat as she spins herself from one toy to the next. There was one priceless moment when Marita had her absolutely giggling, really belly-laughing--and then in a second the hilarity tipped right into a full-throttle wail, tears and all. But I have to say, what I love best is what I think of as "the Liliana scan." When you come into her line of sight she gazes deeply at every feature of your face, studying it; almost, it seems, searching for clues: Who are you? Do I know you? She holds this utterly serious, unwavering inspection for long enough to make you a little uncomfortable as you wonder what it is she sees there. And then--your reward. Her face lights up with a dazzling smile and she reaches out to grab your nose, or hair, or whatever is within range. She seems to forget--or ignore--the fact that she is only five months old. Whenever possible she pulls herself to a standing position. Her dexterity is incredible, and what was just recently random grabs at whatever came within grasping distance, is now determined, targeted reaching for the item she wants. I was amazed to watch, in the span of just a few days, as she transitioned from one developmental stage to the next. When I arrived, every time she was placed on her stomach she would sort of collapse, and snuffle her face into the carpet and cry with frustration. By the time I had to leave, when placed on her stomach she just hoisted herself up on her elbows and arms, looked around with a kind of "up periscope" motion and tried to pull herself toward the toys just beyond her reach.

Life is a miracle, to be sure; and in Logan's and Liliana's stubborn, insistent, headlong drive toward growing, you can watch it unfolding minute by minute. What a privilege it was to see.

Grandma Alice

5 Months!

All she wants to do is stand. I know she's little for this, and you might think I'm pulling your leg- but really people- stand, stand, stand. We're not quite sure whether to be proud, or nervous or what, but we're hoping Liliana will take the time to crawl before she walks. We're not sure she will, though. In the meantime, as you'll see from the pictures, Lily loves eating solid foods (and her Grandpas love feeding it to her), taking baths with her cousin, and being outside. It's been amazing to watch the little changes- how much better she's getting with her hands when she's playing, how strong her legs are becoming, how much more she's able to interact with Logan and with the rest of us. They're simple changes, but they mean so much from day to day. Other news? Liliana and her Mom are taking swim classes in preparation for our big trip to Hawaii. Visitors this past month include Grandpa Tom, Grandpapadopolis Russ, Uncle Andy, Aunt Gabby, our friend Chris Bentzel from Boston, and a total of 4 random skaters who were all lovely (courtesy of Uncle Andy, of course). Coming up next, Grandma Alice, Uncle Richard and Canuncle Aaron, followed by Lily's first trip to Hawaii. Stay tuned!

Love,
Liliana, Marita, and Ian

Liliana 4 Months . . . a little late

This was an incredibly busy month for Liliana. Like always she handled all the new adventures with patience and smiles. Lily went on her first plane trip to New York City! Not only did she get to see her grandparents, Great-Aunt Janet, Uncle Dan (not to be confused with all her fake uncles/funcles), Liliana was able to meet her Great-Grandpa Ben for the first time! It was truly incredible to witness the joy of connecting generations as Liliana smiled up at her Great-Grandpa Ben. She enjoyed her first Passover Seder and her first taste of food beyond milk--matzo! She will have to spend the next year trying to learn the four questions for next year's Seder.

She also went on her first road trip to Boston. It was amazing to see our friends Gretchen and Chris, and to meet their daughter Ramona (Liliana's Lao Tung), who's less than one month younger than Lily. They were such amazing hosts that we were even able to have a dinner party at their house so that Marita could catch-up with an old high school friend. It was also fun to expose Liliana to her first political debate (between auntie Carrie and Ian, of course) on the drive up.

While in the city Liliana got to meet lots of new friends, too. We just can't believe how incredibly lucky we are to have such an easy and pleasure filled child. She was such a good sleeper that she even put herself down for a nap on the kitchen table one day while mom and dad folded her laundry. No really, she did. We have the picture to prove it! Truly it is amazing to have seen her grow and change even over the few days we were away from our home and family in Seattle. Liliana is alert and super strong. She loves to sit up on her own and would be standing if she didn't need help to do it. It's fun to watch her drool as she puts EVERYTHING in her mouth. It's even funnier when she gets her binky into her mouth herself, only to pull it out and then fuss about how someone stole her binky. She is just so funny. And we love her, of course. It is such a pleasure to watch her grow and develop even though it is hard to accept how fast it is all happening. You'll be laughing next month when you see the pictures of her eating solid foods for the first time. Can you believe it? Liliana is already trying solids by 4 months and she LOVES to have her daddy feed her. I can't even imagine what other updates we will have next month!

3+ Months . . . from Liz

Liliana has so much hair, i can't even tell you. There are photos of it - one moment - okay, here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/thebazil (um, scroll down a bit).

Also she's showing Erica up and rolling over plenty often. (For the uninitiated, Erica is three months older.) And Lily smiles at you and god, i love it when babies smile at you. And she has the cutest crinkly little smile and she peeks up at you and it's just absolute perfection. And you know you look at the pictures and you think she's cute, but then you meet her and she's so much cuter. (I totally meant to get a million pictures but then i got there and was too busy being awed. I have come to the realization that i am in love with baby noses. So small! So nuzzly!) So we got to their house (because they are so talented with the direction giving, those Seattle folk) and we all traded babies and cuddled for a bit and Liliana is so zen that Marita could go off to an appointment (well, leaving us with Mike still home, but busy) and we got to completely monopolize all the babies - both Liliana and Logan (who is shockingly running around awfully well at not even one yet, making one think about babyproofing very very soon and up to at least three feet), plus Erica - which was a little chaotic, but fun - and Liliana could just cuddle us strangers and be perfectly happy. Wow. And then Marita came home and we had more musical babies and cuddling, and then we went for a walk because their neighborhood has a nice park and a lake and whatnot (albeit at the bottom of a very large hill) with us two and our matching Ergos. Heart. (Tie dyed baby clothes. More heart.) And then - then! Marita is a hero.

Did y'all get that? A hero.

Because only a very extraordinary person could make many pans of lasagna, enough to serve, what, a dozen people, even sending some of them home with more lasagna and still having leftovers, while having a three month old. (Especially a three month old this cute, who you just want to cuddle and cuddle and cuddle.)

Let me also mention the insanity that is having lots of kids close in age all in one room: you realize exactly how short this all is. That, sure, we're carefully combing through The No-Cry Sleep Solution right now, but when she's eight or nineteen she almost certainly won't still be waking up at two and wanting to nurse. That Logan is able to do all these things, walk, run, terrorize the dogs, show motive and decisiveness, throw things across the room, and we're more than halfway there with Erica, agewise, and Lily is more than halfway to Erica's chattery wigglebutt stage. And while they are people now, they are very rapidly growing and becoming and turning into toddlers and real kids. This is all so vastly different from a year ago - back then none of us knew what was coming. Quite honestly i don't think we know what's coming now, either, but you get these daddies and they look at their babies and smile because everything is completely different, now, and i always say everything is like the sun coming out but it's like the sun coming out. And you never knew there was a sun. And Marita is glowing with it (official MILF inauguration, right there) and Ian is pretty glowy himself - whenever Liliana is near either of them they get that goofy, unaware grin. Did i say yet that they were great parents? Great parents, and great lasagna-makers, i should point that out.

I just have to marvel again (because i have a new space for it, whee: i tricked them into letting me on their blog! king me! captured! Borg wins! ahahaha, everything is my blog!) that people have been feeling this way about their daughters since the beginning of time, right? They must have. And people said we'd love our kids, but noone mentioned that we'd feel like this. And people said everything would change, but nobody told us everything would change. And someone might have said how nothing else would matter, but nobody commented on the crashing irrelevance of all that had gone before. Um, Other People? Where are your communication skills?

Love from Vienna,
Liz, Matt, and Tiny-But-Now-Slightly-Larger Erica

3 Months

Since we last spoke, it snowed in Seattle- twice. Liliana rolled over- more than twice- I think we're up to seven or eight times now. She took a bath and dunked her head under the water. More family came to meet her, and more friends. I'm not sure if its how quickly Liliana passes milestones, but its been a very long and amazing 3 months. This installment includes the first shots of Logan and Liliana really getting to play together. There's pictures of Liliana in a very special gown sewn by her namesake Grandma Neva (We have heard that this gown was sewn from seven antique linen pillow cases!) Tonight she laughed- I mean really laughed- for the first time. Every day brings new richness, new marvels, and new ordinary moments, and they're all wonderful. Enjoy the pictures!

love. marita, ian, and liliana