Our 16 Month Travel Expert

Last week while visiting New York we decided we would try Liliana on one nap per day.  It was a disaster- she basically fell asleep on her feet, and was deleriously exhausted by the time we put her to bed. No problem- 2 naps it is.  Only. . . here it is one week later, and wouldn't you know it- we are 5 days into a completely easy and successful transition to 1 nap per day.  I know, I know- what's the point?  The point is that I can't believe how quickly Liliana learns, changes, and grows.

Anyway, Spring has for the most part arrived here in Seattle, and even graced our visit to NY for awhile, so there are lots of park pictures this month. We even have pictures from both the Seattle and Bronx Zoo. Liliana does love the zoo!  There are shots with too many friends and family members to name in NY and Boston.  Liliana was amazing on the plane, in the car, and just about everywhere in between.  She was totally engaged and dancing this year at Sedar, and developed quite a taste for soup, even simple saltwater & egg soup. She had her first real taste of NY pizza and bagels (not to forget BBQ ribs), and learned to skateboard(thanks to Uncle Andy).  She even had her first sleep over at her friend Ramona's house (okay, Mom and Dad stayed over, too).  Enjoy the pictures.

Liliana 15 Months!

Welcome back! Sorry we're a bit late this month. In the couple of weeks we've had a slew of visitors, and we have just a minute to catch our breaths before we head to NY next week. Pictures of all of that will come next month- we haven't had time to process, but it was great to see Grandpa Tom and Grandma Liz, cousins Derek, Jessica, and Evan, and of course Tommy O. This month we get to see the entire Schecter clan and lao tung Ramona.  Then we'll have a visit from G-Mo, Pop-Pop, and Auntie Gabby (Andy, are you coming too? Hope so!) for Logan's birthday. Whew!

I guess it's a good thing that Liliana seems to have enough smiles for everybody. This month has been a gratifying one, indeed- Liliana laughs at least twice as much as she ever has before (usually because Logan cracks her up, seriously) and has added the the greatest 3-word phrase in the world to her repitoire: "I-nu", or as we would say it- I love you (hold on while my heart melts and I pull myself back together). . . . . . . . .Okay, I'm back- thanks for waiting.

Lily grows up so much every month. It's amazing to see her skills grow, whether her ability to climb at the park, paint a picture, or communicate what she wants. She has an uncanny knack for waking up at 6:07 AM, and knows that by 7:15, she can start asking to watch Sesame Street and we may let her ("Ehmo, Ehmo, Ehmo"). The swings have become her clear favorite at the park. She is fearless in the bathtub, whether floating on her back or "swimming" on her stomach- having her head under water just doesn't phase this kid. Her favorite foods? Avocado and strawberries. Favorite toy? Her blankets. The point is, it's amazing to watch our little girl develop a personality. It happens so quietly you hardly notice, but all of a sudden ,you can tell people things about her- and not just what she's capable of, but what she prefers, and what makes her happy, and which people she knows as soon as they walk in the door. It's a pretty amazing time. Thanks for stopping in and sharing it with us.

love,

liliana, marita, and ian

More birthday pictures

Hi all,

We found some extra birthday pictures from January (January 17th to be specific), when we had Liliana's party.  Enjoy the additional, and in some cases, better shots.  Also, our 14 months postis  coming later today!

love,

liliana, marita, and ian

14 Months with Sweet Liliana

There is simply too much to say in regards to Liliana's growth, development, and emerging personality.  So we will just describe her yesterday.  She woke up at 6:20 am and cuddles with Mama in the recliner until almost (she still isn't much of a cuddler so Mama is already missing the more dependable morning cuddles that last until 7:15 or even 8:00!!).  Liliana wanted to read books.  She popped up and declared "book book book."   She crawled over to the book basket and no surprise to Mama she pulled out "Faraway Farm" (we have read "Faraway Farm" at least 6-8 times a day since we borrowed it from the library).  Then we turned on the lamp and pointed out animals and made lots of animals noises.  Luckily for Mama, Dada came in sent Mama back to bed for her weekly morning nap (Mama appreciates a day to go back to sleep until say 8-8:30).  Dada and Lily read more books, snacked on cheerios and banana, played with blocks and Potato-head and watched birds and squirrels out the window. She ate a hearty breakfast of eggs with spinach and cheese, Morningstar veggie sausage, and plain yogurt with blueberries.  Instead of our regularly scheduled a.m. park venture, Liliana got to talk to her Gram Alice and Great-Grandpa Ben on Skype (Happy Birthday Great-Grandpa Ben!! It should also be noted that we talked to Grandpa Tom and attempted a chat with Great-Nana, the next day).  She sang some songs and said "ga-ma" and "ga-pa" a lot.  Then a quick nursing session and books with Dad before a nap.  Liliana incredibly and quite thankfully falls to sleep rather quickly for her naps.  We are pretty darned lucky!  Mom and Dad spent the nap period picking out the web-album pictures and preparing Liliana's daiper bag for an afternoon adventure.  Then we ate lunch and waited because Liliana slept for nearly 3 hours--this never happens!  At-any-rate, we took our well rested sweetheart to the mall (she ate her lunch in the car).  We hate to admit it and rarely is it true but we did in fact spend the afternoon at the mall.  Liliana helped Mom and Dad buy new running shoes and then played with Dad while Mom attempted to buy some new fun shirts (Mom would rather buy Liliana clothes!). Lily was amazing and patient through-out the whole shopping ordeal.  She especially loved 1-2-3 Swing with Mom and and Dad, looking into the windows of EVERY store, and playing with the belts.  Then we went back to the car, had some milk, and Lily promtly fell asleep on the way home.  Dad dropped Mom off at Babies-R-Us to buy some car window shades (we are looking foward to sunny weather in our future) and a cushiony fireplace guard (yeah, check out the shiner she got hitting her head on the bookcase--we don't want to risk the stone fireplace).  Liliana simply slept.  Sweet Liliana woke up two blocks from home after nearly another hour of napping!  So when we got home and it was still sunny we decided to take her to the park since we missed the park in the morning.  She had the most lovely time on the swing and with the digger ("dig-dig") in the sand box.  Then we headed out to our neighborhood healthfood coop for a piece of free fruit (pretty awesome that kids get a piece of fruit for free every time you shop there) and a few small items.  THEN we went out to dinner at a new pizza restuarant in our neighborhood.  While we waited for our table and our extended family--Rach, Mike, Logan, and Kaya--Liliana befriended a 3 1/2 year old and tested out said new firend's tricycle.   Then boy did we have an eventful dinner.  There were children seated at every table of this small pizzeria. While we waited for our pies the kids walked around and "chatted" with the kids from the other tables.  They especially liked the 10 month old butt-walker (baby never learned to crawl because she is so skilled at sliding on her booty).  And then, yes, we ate pizza--lots of pizza.  By the way, it was during dinner that mama felt Liliana's mouth and found that her fourth bottom front tooth had finally broken through alond with TWO molars.  Um, when did that happen?  And how has Liliana been so cheery and loverly and not-so-teething-baby? Anyways, we headed home for a quick bad and too bed.  Liliana was so tired she didn't even want to read books and was asleep by the time Mama left her room.  It was quite a day.  

So, yeah. See why I didn't tell you about all her growth, development, and emerging personality?! You would have had to read more of my rambling!!  HA!  Quick note that Funcle Jacob visited us and we've had lots of adventures to the park, the zoo, the children's museum, and in the front yard full of SNOW (Um it's the end of February). Now Mama and Dada need to go to bed so that we can enjoy another week with our ridiculous, somersault-loving, raisin-munching, big teeth-grinning, crayon-nibbling, pen-tasting, black-eyed little Curious George.  We love our life!

Liliana at 13 months . . . .

Happy New Year everybody.  Out with the monkey and overalls, but that doesn't mean we don't have the normal array of pictures from the park, at play with Logan, and of course delicately eaten meals to share with you.  

This is our sweet diva Liliana at her birthday party in January where she played with friends, opened presents (and didn't want to share and might have thrown a little fit because she actually wanted to play with the new toys instead of just opening more), sat in blissful awe while we sang Happy Birthday 3 times, almost blew out one candle, and ate a homemade from the box sugary delicous cupcake.  It was a wonderful celebrations with all our very generous and supportive communityof parents and friends.  

We are also honestly in a constant state of giddy awe watching Liliana grow up day by day.  She is just so silly.  Her communication is ever expanding to all our delight.  It is so satisfying for Lily and her parents to know that we are being understood and listened to, even when we don't reaaaally want to sing "I'm A Little Teapot" again. ;) AND her feet grew, too!   Which is good because she needed to fit into her new red big girl walking shoes from Auntie Rach, Uncle Mike, and her cousins Logan and Kaya.  

We were paid a lovely visit by Grandma Alice this month, and Auntie Gabby spent some more amazing time with us as well, finishing up her annual Christmas-New Year's visit.  We hope you all had joyful and eventful ends to your holiday seasons.  

love. 

liliana, marita, and ian.

The future of politics. . . Yes she can.

Liliana's 1st Birthday!!! 12 Months Old??!!!!!!!!!!!

December has been a happily looooooong month.  First and most importantly, we welcomed Kaya Kealani Caravalho to our household on December 18th!  Rachael, Mike, Logan and Kaya are all doing wonderfully, and we're excited to now have photos of 3 beautiful children to share with you all ( :

Now, on to Liliana--This month, it seems like

 she reaches new milestones everyday.  She walks, she talks (okay, not in complete sentences, but watch the video- this is a girl

 who can communicate).  My favorite are please, thank you, and when she does the motions for the itsy-bitsy spider.  She loves the itsy bitsy spider.  She laughs even more now.  She has always been a smiley girl, but she really cracks up, especially at Logan--her cousin, best friend and hero.  They share everything, usually without complaint, and have recently fallen in love with the game of tackling each other (I'm sure that will come back to haunt us one of these days).

And us?  Things get easier and easier, it seems.  As we reflect on this amazing year, we have learned so much not just about parenting, but about our daughter.  We assume that much of what we know is applicable to all children, but really so much of it is just applicable to her--our sweet Liliana.  Logan only eats what he wants to. Lily, on the other hand will eat anything, provided you're sharing it with her.  Logan is extraordinarily patient when figuring out a problem.  Lily, not so much.  I think that's what's made this such a great month- she's telling us so much more, and we can't wait to see what she teaches us next.

This month, we saw more snow in Seattle than in the last 10 years combined.  Lily and Logan built their first (and second) snowmen, sledded down the back steps repeatedly, and generally had a blast, as did their parents.  Our visitors this month included our cousins Justin, Jessica, and Evan, Carrie Russell, and the whole Henrie clan (Gabby, Russ, Cynthia, and Andy). We feel so grateful to be all together again this year for the holidays, especially when it took G-Mo and Pop Pop so long to get here because of this crazy snow!  It's truly wonderful to be surrounded by family in times of change, growth, and joy.

It's a time of year to reflect on the good people in your life, and the good things.  We hope your holiday season has been blessed.  Ours certainly was.

Love,

Liliana, Ian, and Marita