Happy 2nd Birthday Liliana!

Liliana dearest:

Today you are TWO YEARS OLD!  It's AMAZING to me that you're growing so fast.  I thought that the first year of your life flew by, but this year was EASILY faster.  I felt like we had your first birthday party two days ago.  In one years time, you have changed so much.  We really are getting to know you as a PERSON.  We know that you are a smart, pretty, and hilarious girl, but the main thing we've learned this year is that you are so very KIND.  Your favorite thing on earth is to give people hugs.  You also adore giving heart felt kisses to just about anybody that is willing to look at you. 

Your hugs are nearly indescribable.  They're so sincere and full of love.  You squeeze tight on to anybody and have never, not even for one second, had an ounce of stranger anxiety.  You've never cried when you've left anyone's arms.  You're more than willing to do just about anything. Daddy loves to call you his sugar glider because when someone is holding you, you cling on so tight!

Your vocabulary is still VERY impressive.  I stopped counting how many words you could say months ago because I don't think Mommy can even count that high.  Now I'm just counting how many words you're stringing together and I think the longest sentence you've said is 6 words long.  You can count to about 10 in English and to 5 in Spanish.  We're still working on colors ... you can say a ton of them, but don't get them correct when being asked.  This is one of those things that Mommy always worries about and Daddy says, "SERIOUSLY?  Have you heard her speak?  The milestone says 2 to 3 words together and she's saying 6!"  Oh, by the way, the longest sentence you've strung together?

"No doggie, that is Liliana's cake!"

As you can see, you're still quite a fan of food. ; )  The ONLY thing you won't eat?  EGGS!  Weird huh?  You won't even TRY them.  We don't fight it much becuase you eat squash, cauliflower, and just about anything else, so if you have one thing that you're not a fan of, we're understanding of that.

You are NOT a girly girl at all (not that there's anything wrong with that).  This is what you wanted for your birthday and was Mommy and Daddy's birthday gift to you (thanks for choosing an $11 gift by the way!  That was pretty much our budget ... c'mon, you wouldn't remember if I told you we got you a million things right?).  We took you to Target and let you choose a toy.  We narrowed it down to 2 and the car is the one you wanted.  Daddy wanted to get a Tonka truck, but Mommy said this one was cuter.  I have no problem with you playing with boy toys, but since we know we're having 2 girls, might as well get pink stuff in case Gloria is girly girl.

Another favorite of yours lately is having us sing.  You like hearing Mommy and Daddy sing Ring around the rosie, old mcdonald, row your boat, happy birthday, itsy bitsy spider, and just about anything.  You try singing the words along, like giving us advice as to what animal Ol Mcdonald had at his farms, and have little dances that you do to each.

I'm not exactly sure how much you're weighing lately, but if I had to guess, it's about 31 pounds.  You're not a small thing, that's for sure.  You're still VERY tall, though I don't know the exact measurements.  You've been in 2T clothing for about 4 months and no longer fit in to any 24 month clothing.  You even have a few 2T items that are snug, and it's usually because they're too short.  Long torso and legs will do that to you.  You've continued to sleep like a champ.  You've never woken up before 8 am, EVER, and your average is 9 am.  Thank you for that!  I can't remember the last time you woke up in the middle of the night and we had to go in there to sooth you ... maybe when you were 4 months old?  Yeah, we're spoiled.  You still don't have all your teeth.  Those molars are still trying to come through, but other than that, we're complete. 

Your FAVORITE books on this entire planet are two that your Padrino got you for your first birthday: "Goodnight moon" and "nursery rhymes."  Both of them have recordings of people reading them to you, but since we read with soft light before bedtime we have to read them to you.  You've chosen these two books SO many times that Daddy has hidden them from you.  I think he's getting a WEE bit sick of reading them. ; )

You're a great helper around the house.   You put away your dishes without being asked, you clean up your toys in the living room without being asked, you ask for a paper towel when you spill something to clean it up yourself, and never have issues when we say "help do ________."  In fact, you like it!  You get a kick out of feeling accomplished.

One thing that gives us a GREAT laugh is your obsession with body parts.  You have been known to tell MANY women that those things on their chests are their "boobies" and then you pat yours and show them yours too.  Oy ... it gets worse.  You like patting "booties" and just yesterday, started screaming "GINA!" (vagina) while touching yours.  We originally taught you all the names of things you were curious about because with a Daddy as a Urologist we realized that body parts couldn't be a thing to be embarassed about in our house.  That being said, we're starting to tell you "no, we don't say those things in public." because it was getting a wee bit embrassing when you were screaming out "Mommy and Daddy's booty!" while grocery shopping. ; )  I only put this paragraph in this letter so that one day when you're getting married, I can read this at your rehersal dinner.

You've been ready to be potty trained for quite some time now but Mommy and Daddy have, quite frankly, been lazy about getting the ball rolling.  You've tinkled in the potty  a few times because you take your pants off and go sit there.  You're giving us a heck of a sign!  You've also done #2 a few times too.  We plan on doing the initiative this upcoming weekend and will hopefully have you mostly potty trained by the time sissy arrives.

LOVE you baby girl.  LOVE you so very much.  Birthdays get me so emotional, but not for a bad reason.  Just because I grow more and more proud of who you are as a person every minute.  We are honored to be your parents.

Mommy

Liliana at 17 months

I haven't written on Liliana's milestones for a few months. I wrote letters to her most months for the first year of her life, but unfortunately when I stopped doing that, I stopped documenting her changes.  So, I just want to write her a little update letter.  Before I forget: don't forget to enter the Shutterfly giveaway below!! I am giving away SEVENTY FIVE FREE Chritmas cards to THREE readers!  I'm drawing on Monday and not many have entered, so chances of winning are really high.

Liliana dearest:

 I'm not going to lie, months 13 - 15 were pretty difficult in our household.  You started walking around 12 1/2 months and somehow, that newfound independence came with difficulties as well because it meant you wanted things done YOUR way (you still do BTW, but know what NO means).  The temper tantrums at this time were pretty rough. As you know, Daddy and I run a pretty strict household and while it took a couple months to teach you not to open the DVD cabinet or mess with the potpourri balls on the coffee table, we got it.

As a result, this last month has been my favorite month of being a Mommy since ... well ... quite possibly ever.  You are doing SO much and changing on a daily basis in the best ways ever.  For example, just last night you learned how to say "cheese" while grinning AND learned where your teeth are (you have 11 so far by the way).

You point to and says where your teeth, hair, ears, eyes, mouth, toes, and nose are.  You're saying a HUGE amount of words, many in Spanish and English.  For some reason, you really respond best to Spanish words. You say many words in Spanish before figuring them out in English.  Last time I counted, you're saying over 55 words already!  You're very advanced in this department, which doesn't really surprise me, because they say teaching kids multiple languages has this effect.  That being said, you also ... well ... do things such as put a bucket on your head and proceed to walk straight in to the coffee table!! HAHA!!  It was the funniest thing I've ever seen.  Daddy and I couldn't stop laughing.

Right now, you have two big passions:  shoes and climbing.  You LOVE to climb on EVERYTHING which has led to quite a few tumbles, but we learn from falling right?  You climb on the couch, in to your booster seat, on the bench outside, on my chairs at work ... you get the idea.

 Your other love?  Shoes.

I'm ok with this.  This means LOTS of fun shopping later in life! hee hee.  Whenever I'm getting ready to go somewhere on the weekends, you get ALL my shoes and put them on my feet for me.  You don't understand why your shoes don't fit my feet just yet, but we'll get there.  Your favorite pair of shoes are my tennis shoes which makes me love you EVEN MORE.  I don't want you to be super duper girly girl.  So you likes shoes but want to run around while wearing them! ; )

Another fun thing you're doing is imitating a ton of animals: monkeys, dogs, cats, horses ... and even more that I can't remember.  Your favorite word to say lately is "no."  You especially like pointing at the doggies and saying "no doggie!"  You point (as indicated in the picture below) which gives even more personality (which by the way, you have A TON of). Lately you've enjoyed telling me when you run out of snacks by saying "no crackers!" with a pouty face. 

You're still VERY in love with food.  You weigh a little over 26 pounds and have been in 18 month clothing for a couple months.  In fact, you're mainly wearing 18 - 24 month stuff.  You are absolutely beautiful and your eyes get everyone's attention.  I love you.  I can't say it enough.  Daddy and I are absoultely crazy about you.  You have made our lives immensely better.  Thank you for being our daughter.  We are so privileged to be your parents.

Love always and forver,
your Mommy

Happy Birthday Liliana!

Liliana dearest,

This month marks the last of Daddy's and my monthly letters to you because believe it or not, you turned a year old a few days ago ... I can't believe it.  I must admit that I cried about 10 times the week before because I knew you were no longer a tiny baby ... you're growing in to my gorgeous sweet girl. On May 20th, before we put you to bed, I took you in my arms and tears were streaming down my face.  I knew that when you woke up the next morning, you wouldn't be "11 months" when people asked.  You would now be an entire year old!

 You were such a pretty and happy girl on your birthday!

You're not quite walking yet, although you cruise and walk behind ANYTHING in sight.  You don't only walk behind your actual walker ... you think your high chair makes an excellent one and believe the same about the bubble wrap we bought to help secure our things when we move!  I think you'll probably be walking pretty darn soon here.

 I don't know why, but seeing you all naked is adorable.

At your yearly check-up we received some wonderful news!  Dr. Scott said your verbal skills were in the NINETEEN month range!  You really do say QUITE A FEW words...about 20 last time I counted.  My favorite ones are:

(1) Bye Bye
(2) Hello
(3) Hi
(4) Peek a Boo
(5) Doggie
(6) Ball
(7) Shhh
(8) Uh oh
(9) Zapatos (the only words you say in Spanish ... shoes ... you really are my daughter!)

 Look at you walking in for your big birthday debut!  You were the star of the party!

He seemed really impressed by this, and we are too!  Whenever we're in stores with people, they always act amazed that you look them in the eye, wave, say "bye bye" and then proceed to blow them a kiss.  They're shocked when I say you're only 11 or 12 months old.  Just before you turned one, you started with the "hello" or "hi" with your wave too.  To say you get attention when we're out is a complete understatement.  In fact, Mommy counted the other day ... we were in Home Depot for EXACTLY 30 minutes and THIRTY people came to say how beautiful or how charismatic you were.  This is what we've been going through for AN ENTIRE YEAR.  We have never been able to go out without at least ten people saying ooh and ahh to you.  I honestly don't blame them though.  You just have something about you ... that thing that attracts others to you.  You're perfect.

 Your eyes are HUMONGOUS.  They never really changed colors after you were born, so we never have been able to ascertain what color they are ... our best guess is green, gray?  DEADLY combination with your dark hair and olive complexion! 

Daddy's going to have to be beating the boys off with a stick!

At your 1 year old visit, you weighed 21.5 pounds and were 30 inches.  You were in the 75th percentile for both.  Pretty impressive for a preemie!  You were wearing size 3 diapers, although we quickly transitioned you to size 4's in the evening right after your birthday to help you not wake up with pee pee everywhere.  You had five teeth on your birthday!  In ONE WEEK you had three teeth come out the day before your birthday.  It was quite eventful but as usual, you handled it like a pro.

 You went through THREE birthday outfits.  Mommy only bought one of them ... but I am SO glad others had bought you some because you got kinda dirty when you got a hold of your cake .......

 Oh yes ... this happened.

Some of my favorite things that you do are:

(1) give people high fives whenever they put their hand up
(2) look at Linda (the dog) and say "the doggie!" and then bark (it's the cutest thing...you bark like a beagle and tilt your little head up while saying "ooooo")
(3) you take my cell phone and put it up to your ear and make babbling noises as though you're having a conversation with someone
(4) you brush my hair and your hair (even though you still don't have much of it)
(5) You point at your feet, say zapato, point at the shoe, and then lie on your back with your feet straight up in the air.  I guess you like having your shoes on! ; )

Thank you for being our daughter.  I simply adore you.  I think you are THE BEST baby any set of parents could have asked for ... we are so thrilled we had a baby girl first ... you fit us perfectly.  I LOVE YOU.

I think you like frosting ...

Love with ALL her heart,

Mommy

Happy 10 Months Liliana!

Liliana:

This letter is a couple days late, but I wanted to write you your 10 month birthday letter.  You are SO awesome at this age.  I ADORE it.  It's so easy to actually "teach" you things.  It's like you completely understand what we're talking about and we're becoming a little interactive family.  I love that time together.

You're my gorgeous, beautiful baby girl.  We can't go ANYWHERE without a millon people stopping us.  Flying with you is an EVENT when EVERYONE wants to say hi and play with you in any line.

So, you're still in size 3 diapers and haven't transitioned in to 12 month clothing yet, but my guess is we'll be there at your 11 month birthday.  You crawl, pull-up, and cruise on EVERYTHING now!  You are so incredibly mobile, especially walking around any table around.  It's difficult to prevent you from wanting to climb on to anything.  You aren't a sweet little calm girl.  That isn't AT ALL how I would describe you.  You are SO active, SO talkative, SO happy, and SO perfect.

You dance to music now and nod your head and shake your boooooty.  FINALLY, something similar to Mommy! ; )  You clap whenever I say "clap your hands!" or "yay!"  If you do anything cute, you start clapping and look at me like "heeeey...where's my YAY?" haha.

Family picture on Match Day!

You wave to everyone and say "bye bye" which is adorable.  On our way out of the house, you like to wave and say bye bye to the washer, the dryer, the door, the sofa...needless to say, it takes a while to get out the door.  That's probably my favorite thing that you're doing right now.  I think it's hilarious.

You're saying "doggie" and "bottle" still too.  You also know what a kiss is.  Whenever I say "Liliana kiss" you open your mouth wide and stick your tongue out and touch it on our cheek.  It's slobbery goodness!

Also, you're starting to know that WE are your Mommy and Daddy.  When I picked you up from daycare recently, you got a big smile on your face, put your hands up, and said loud and proud "MAMA!" I LOVED it.  Still though, your favorite word it "dat."  You point at everything, especially fans, and say "dat? dat?"  Cute.

You LOVE the swing at the park!

 Another favorite thing of yours?  The give and take game.  Take a foam letter, give it to Mama, clap because it was exciting to give it to Mommy, and take it back two seconds later.  Then repeat the cycle...50 times. : )

I can't WAIT to see what other million things you do in the upcoming month.  You're really making progress with the possibility of walking already and take my hands incessantly so that I'll help you walk around.  It makes me a little nervous to see how much you're progressing in every way. I am so proud of you.  I can't believe we'll be having your birthday party soon.  I love you.  I adore you.  You are the best baby girl I could have ever asked for...you are brilliant, beautiful, and wonderful.

Love,
Mommy

You like the puppy SO much.  One of the funniest things you do is you kick her out of her bed because you LOVE laying in the dog bed!  It cracks us up!

oh and P.S. You eat EVERYTHING in sight.  At daycare, they give you chicken noodles, beef stroganoff, etc.  I didn't know you were ready for that, but you eat it ALL and have maybe perhaps possibly be known as the baby that leans OVER to steal food from the babies sitting next to you! HA!

Happy 8 Month Birthday Liliana!

Dear Liliana:

Happy 8 Month Birthday my darling!  What a month it has been: your first Christmas, your first New Years, AND your first Three Kings Day!  You, of course, were a complete joy throughout it all.

 You put grass in the shoe box for Three Kings and they brought you some books in Spanish!

Let me see, what kind of things can I tell you about this month?  Well, you still don't have ONE tooth!  Silly girl, you're just like Mommy who didn't get her first tooth until she was 11 months.  You still aren't crawling, which I must admit, has Mommy concerned everyday while Daddy continues to say that you still have a few MONTHS before we would have to worry, haha.  You still are EXTREMELY mobile though.  You army crawl in circles and ROLL EVERYWHERE.  You can roll from one side of the room to the other in less than a minute, it's pretty impressive actually.  The thing that has you army crawling the most?  Your nasal aspirator!  I don't know what it is with that thing, but you'll do just about anything to get to play with it.  Nope, not the billions of toys that you have, but your nasal aspirator.

 Mommy became VERY attached to you over the 2 weeks she was off for Christmas break.  She CRIED the entire night before going back to work.  She just knew she'd miss that smile all day.

But, Mommy LOVES work and soon remembered that she still gets to share SO many special memories with you.  You'll be a little Beethoven before we know it.

Everybody over Christmas had SO much fun with you.  They all said you were the sweetest and most easy going baby they had ever met, and I truly think they meant it.  You also got some comments on how ... well ... BIG you are!  Not just necessarily fat, but BIG.  You're a big baby, just like your Daddy was.  You're weighing 20 pounds already, and for a girl, that's pretty large.  You're in all 9 month clothing, 6 - 9 month stuff looks hilariously small to us.  You're still in size 3 diapers, and, I gather you'll remain in those for a while.

Grammy made sure to spoil you with love and gifts over Christmas!

And by the looks of this picture, I think you like being with Padrino just as much as he loves being with you!

You're eating pretty much every single fruit or veggie under the sun.  You get one helping of each every day and eat 6 ounces every four hours otherwise.  Somehow, your sleep got EVEN BETTER this month: 13 or 14 hours straight at night sometimes.  Usually, WE have to wake you up on our way to work so we can take you to daycare.

You love your jumperoo and go NUTS jumping up and down in it.  You also move forwards and backwards in your walker very easily.  You LOVE playing peek a boo with people too. Your favorite activity though? TALKING!  You now say Mama and Dada regularly.  Today you said Daddy, so now we have three real words that you're repeating. 

The main observation I made about you this month was how darn observant you are.  You're such a wiggle worm and love to touch anything in sight, especially if it's something I'm messing with: the computer, remote, phone, or even a piece of paper.  You could sit and watch people all day if we let you.  At the grocery store, you love sitting in the shopping cart up front.  You look like such a big girl!  Your ability to sit in the front of the cart has made shopping MUCH easier, so thank you.

Thanks for giving us so many laughs and for being such an easy going beautiful, intelligent baby girl.  We can't believe you're already 8 months old.  I love you Liliana.  I really simply do.   You are my sunshine.  Daddy and I love nothing more than to sit in your little playroom (that used to be the dining room) and play with you for hours.  It's BY FAR our favorite past time.

 You are GORGEOUS by the way.  We can't go 5 feet without being stopped by people commenting on your eyes.  They sure do shine. 

Love, Mommy

Happy 7 Month Birthday Liliana!

Liliana,

You are SEVEN months old today.  I can't believe it.  It's amazing the strides you've made in the last month, and to be completely honest, out of every month so far, this has BY FAR been my favorite with you.

 One of my favorite pictures this month, heck, one of my favorite EVER.

This month has allowed for LOTS of time just between us two and for lots of time with the family.  Daddy was out of town for nearly a week this month and it was just us two.  I must admit that at first I was TERRIFIED.  What if you didn't sleep well?  What if Mommy got completely exhausted?  But, you were AMAZING.  You slept your typical 11 hours straight, you went down for naps without a single tear, and we played so much together.  On the time that Daddy wasn't traveling for residency interviews, we were able to get a lot of family time in.  We had over TWENTY hours on a roadtrip and you were amazing throughout the entire thing.  You added 20 minutes to each trip for a feeding and THAT IS IT.  Yeah, that's really special Liliana.

 You are SO cute with bows in your hair.

You've really started developing preferences for things this month.  For instance, you'll eat ANYTHING that's put in front of you, but gnawing on cell phones would probably be your biggest passion right about now.  You get pretty upset when I take them away from you.  It's kind of funny to see how quickly you stop your crying when I put the cell phone back in front of you, but sorry to say, I don't give in.  It's hard not to give in when you want something, but we've both agreed that you can't always get what you want or you're going to soon start becoming a difficult baby instead of the world's easiest baby ever.

 Daddy took this shot.  You are simply a STUNNING baby.  We can't go ANYWHERE without a million people swooning all over you.

You know the phrase "growing like a weed?"  Well, you put that phrase to shame.  Your 6 month outfits are funny looking on you: the pants are so tight that they show every glorious roll on your legs and the shirts are middrifts and expose your cute belly button.  Recently, thanks to a few generous Lacefield family members, you got a HUGE amount of new 9 month clothing items.  Thank goodness they decided to buy you some clothes because you would have been out!  You're wearing mainly size 2 shoes, however, in certain brands you're requiring a size 3.  You wear size 3 diapers.  As for food, you're getting 6 oz. of formula every 4 hours and get one helping of rice cereal and veggies each day.  In a couple weeks here, we'll introduce you to fruit, but your pediatrician didn't want us doing that too early because he feared you wouldn't eat your veggies if we introduced the deliciousness that are fruits first.  I can't wait to give you apples!  Seeing you adore squash, sweet potatoes, and peas has me convinced you'll love your fruits too.

 You play with these blocks ALL the time.  They're your favorite.

As for your developmental milestones, you always kick them in the butt and never have us worrying.  You started sitting on your own before your 6 month birthday.  You grab items ANYWHERE that they are.  You'll roll around on the floor (which has me thinking we'll need a full time pack and play in the livingroom full time) until you get whatever it is you want to get your hands on.  You do push ups on your belly and scoot forward or backwards.  You're getting ready to crawl and frustrate yourself when you're not able to hold yourself up on all fours for long.  You've started walking backwards AND forwards in your walker.  We have to keep turning you around every couple minutes because you just get moving and grooving in that thing.

 Look at the cellulite on those legs! ; )

The two things that I would remember from this month though are: (1) growling and (2) laughing.  You GROWL.  Yeah, all the darn time.  It's so funny.  People get a kick out of it.  Also, you laugh at just about anybody and it's so contagious.  This upcoming month will be so special because we get to share a Christmas with you.  That alone will make it the best Christmas I've ever had.  I am so fortunate to be your Mommy.  Thank you for being the perfect baby.  I love you.  I love you more than I ever thought possible.

 Merry Christmas a few days early Liliana, and Happy 7 Months!

Love,

Mommy

Better Late Than Never: Happy 5 Month Birthday Liliana!

Liliana:

Five days ago you turned five months old!  I hope you forgive me for writing this so late.  Things have been VERY busy with Mommy and Daddy the last week: Mommy started a new job and Daddy has been interviewing for residencies like a mad man.  However, this letter isn't about us.  This letter is about the AMAZING daughter that you are.  Because truly, you are.

One thing is for sure.  You have made us laugh CONSTANTLY this month.  You give us the silliest faces.  This month, you became a big fan of your jumping jack and your exersaucer.  Even though we placed you in it last month too, this month you really started PLAYING with it rather than just sitting aimlessly in them. 

At 5 months, you're a whopping 16.5 pounds and wearing size 2 diapers.  You are in 6 month clothing, and depending on the brand, you'll fit in to 6 - 9 month clothing.  The vast majority of your 3 - 6 month outfits don't fit you anymore because believe it or not, you're too tall!  Maybe you will be a WNBA star like your Daddy desires.  Your main change, developmentally, is how much you grab out and hold on to your toys.  I can't put ANYTHING around you or you'll grab it and bring it in to your mouth.  You've already tried eating my wallet, cell phone, and keys. 

This month was really special because for over half of it, Daddy was home with you.  He LOVED every minute with you and captured some special moments.

Every single smile of yours made his day, and mine too.

A HUGE change is that you've now been eating rice cereal, barley, and oatmeal for over a month!  You're really good at eating it.  I mean, REALLY good.  You basically sit on your own if you have any kind of support.  However, you're not sitting completely by yourself yet.  You need a pillow next to you at least.

A few funny changes this month are the noises you make with your mouth!  You LOVE to blow raspberries.  Seriously, you could do it for 20 minutes straight and not stop.   Just when I was getting used to that though, you started doing another new thing...GROWLING.  Yep!  Growling.  It's the weirdest thing ever.  haha.

Also, you've started sleeping like this.  I can't figure out why you do it, but you do it in your crib too.  I find you in about a million positions in the crib now: on your belly (even though we always put you on your back), with your hands through the rungs (which gives me a heart attack just about every morning), and then your favorite (the picture above) where you practically break your neck. 

It's all good though.  You're a cool girl.  I mean, after all, your parents are pretty kick ass.

I know all parents say this, but I can tell you're smart.  Within the first week of eating your rice cereal, you practically started feeding yourself.  You are quite independent, just like your Mommy.  You didn't want ME feeding you, so you took that spoon out of my hand and said "look Ma, I can do it too!"

On your 5 Month birthday, you fed yourself your entire bottle for the first time.  Previously, you have done a few of the ounces, but only the last few because your bottles are so heavy (you like to eat, what can I say).  However, since then, you have fed yourself the entire bottle every single time.  It's very impressive!

I love you.  I can't say it enough. I never knew I could love somebody so much that I've only known for 5 months!  But somehow, each month, I love you more and more.  And, I can't wait to see you change everyday.  You are, and will be, an amazing baby, girl, and woman.  Thank you for letting me witness it all.

Love you, Mommy

Happy 3 Month Birthday Liliana!

My dearest Liliana:

Normally, I have a word document on my computer just for this monthly post and I update every new and adorable little thing you do.  However, since this month I didn't have my computer with me since we were in San Antonio for Daddy to do an away rotation, the word document did not happen and now I'm scared I won't give you every nitty gritty detail that you so rightfully deserve.  So bear with me just for this post, because I assure you I will get back to my proper documentation very soon.

This month had a lot of firsts for you.  For starters, you became a big Puerto Rican girl and got your ears pierced!  While you did cry pretty loud right when they did it, you forgot all about it 5 seconds later.  I know you're probably thinking, Mommy I was 9 weeks old...WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?  But in Puerto Rico, this is the way they do things!  Mommy got her ears pierced when she was 3 days old and in the hospitals there, they do them in the nursery.  Mommy searched  high and low for a place that would do the piercing nice and early and believe it or not, Claire's won!  The lady was really nice and you had quite a crowd watching you saying just how cute that "little one" was.

Liliana getting her ears pierced on July 23rd.

Liliana and Mommy right after she got her ears pierced! 

Look at those little diamonds (aka cubic zirconium).

Currently, you're in size 1-2 diapers and you are really getting quite chunky.  You've developed quite a few nicknames such as chunkey monkey, roly poly, Lilibear (because Lilibug just wouldn't fit...you're more squishy like a bear), Lili, and of course we still call you Liliana all the time too.  Last time we weighed you, you were around 14 pounds, but that was nearly a week ago, so who knows how much you're weighing now!  You are fitting in to 3 month clothing and have been for the last couple weeks.  In fact, you even wear some 6 month clothing because sometimes baby clothing sizes are really crazy.  For the most part though, that 3 month clothing is fitting you just right.  I don't foresee you fitting in to them for too much longer because the seams get awfully stretched with those thunder thighs (yep, you've got 'em.  Lots of rolls too and they're the cutest thing ever).

The biggest developmental milestones you've made this month is to REALLY becoming attentive and alert.  You smile ALL the time now especially when I tickle your little chest.  You coo a whole bunch too and like having conversations with us.  Another great discovery we've made is how much you adore the water!  We have gotten you in at least a couple times a week and Daddy even dunks you a little bit, but you stay cool as a cucumber.

Liliana's first pool experience. 

We had put her in the kiddy pool in our backyard before this, but this was her first big girl pool and she loved it.  Not even one slight cry.  Just a sweet content baby.

Someone's POOPED after swimming!

As for your sleeping, you are truly the perfect baby!  You sleep through the night and have been since you were 9 weeks.  For instance, last night you slept from 10:30 to 8:00.  We can't ask for much better!  Thank you for making that easy on us.  We read to you every evening when we're putting you to sleep and you like looking and staring at the books.  This last week we've been reading "There's a Light in the Attic" and those poems are too cute for words.  I can't wait until you start asking us for specific books.

The other big changes are how much you love putting things in your mouth.  You gnaw on your hands and your blankets all the time.  Unfortunately, you still hate your pacifier, so the hands will have to do!  You've spent so much time with family this month and everybody just adores you.  Titi has been taking care of you a whole lot while Mommy studies for her teaching certifications, so make sure to give her kisses when you can!  Oh, and last thing you started rolling over again yesterday!  As I said in your first letter, you rolled over when you were 11 days old but then stopped at around 6 weeks.  Well yesterday since your head control and strength has improved so darn much, you rolled over twice!  I was glad to see that, but I'm also a little scared because you move those legs around like you're wanting to crawl already...oh boy...hee hee.

Liliana, we adore you SO much and there just aren't enough words to explain it.  Every smile you give me makes me feel like the luckiest Mommy alive.  You are beautiful, smart, and are our perfect little girl.  Happy 3 month birthday my angel.

Liliana's SWEET smiles!  11 weeks old.

Happy 2 Month Birthday My Precious Lilibear

Liliana:

You are two months old today.  I have a feeling I'll be saying this every month, but wow how time has flown.  Yesterday night when Daddy and I were putting you to sleep I told him I don't know how we lived without you!  You are a part of this family now and it is perfect, absolutely perfect.

Your second month started with what we feared last month...your hair on the top of your head just fell out!  It was the saddest yet cutest little thing I've ever seen!  It's starting to grow back more so your mullet is fortunately going away some. You also developed some cradle cap so we called Uncle Danny, our favorite and free pediatrician, and he told us to put some baby oil on their for 15 minutes.  We did that, but then you got acne!  Oh, we just couldn't figure things out!!  But, eventually within a week, it was all ok and we stressed out needlessly (that's what parents do Lilibear, just get used to it).  Somehow though, through all of this, you stayed as the cutest baby of ALL TIME.

You are a fan of just sitting there hanging out with Daddy!

It was July when you were 2 months and I realize I have you in a jacket, but it wouldn't have fit otherwise...sorry Liliana!  I promise I turned up the air conditioner, but you looked too cute to pass it up.

You had a month of firsts too: you cooed on your Uncle Danny's birthday for the first time, you smiled and continue to smile pretty often (especially when Mommy talks to you), AND had your first laugh today.  Now this topic just breaks my heart, because thanks to the stupid freaking bar exam, I missed your laugh.  You see Mommy has been studying until about 3 in the morning every night because it's when you're quietest so it's the best time to get work done.  And in the morning, you were asleep and Daddy and Grammy heard you laugh.  They said it was just plain adorable.  I can't wait to hear it over and over again.

You adore your mobile.  I'm not surprised...your Daddy chose this mobile just especially for you.  When we put you to bed, you just look at the lights projected on the mobile over and over again.  Whenever the music stops or the lights stop, you immediately start crying, so we've figured out that we just press that button over and over again to ensure you stay entertained.

You were taken care of by so many wonderful people this month while Mommy continued to study for her bar: Tata was here for two weeks and took you out for a 45 minute walk every single day.  Daddy took care of you the next week and you were a complete joy for him.  He adores you more than he ever thought possible.  In fact, you're too good Liliana...Daddy wants us to have a million siblings for you.  Yikes!  Then, this last week you had Grammy come take care of you.  She shows you toys and you just look at them and even try to grab them already!  Everyone has loved spending time with you and Mommy just can't thank them enough for their help.  They have been life savers, but you know what?  I'm pretty darn positive that they love every second of their time with you.  Who wouldn't?

 We got so many sweet packages in the mail from family and this was one of our favorite outfits.

Everyone already adores you...I don't blame them.

As for sleeping, you're becoming a pro slowly but surely.  Of course, we've had some rougher nights, but that's because you're a baby!  Fortunately though, you've gone seven hours between feedings a few times and you're averaging about five and a half to six hours between feedings every night.  Thank you for doing that!  I hope this trend continues and continues. 

You definitely gained weight this month and when you don't get your food you SCREAM.  I mean, SCREAM as loud as you can.  You're like your Daddy...you love your food!  We figure you're probably about 13 pounds now, but since you were born a month early, you're doing more than fine.  You have pretty much outgrown all your newborn clothes and fit in most of your 0 - 3 month outfits.  Today, you're in a 3 - 6 month outfit!! Oops!

Those long beautiful eyelashes are the most beautiful thing I have ever seen.  I just can't believe how wonderful you are.  Having you is, by far, my greatest accomplishment.  Thank you for being our daughter.  You have enriched our lives more than we ever thought possible.  We can't believe how beautiful and how smart you are!! You are such a smart little baby!  Did you like all these pictures that Mommy put in this post?  I just wanted you to see how cutie you are.  I love you Liliana Rose.

 Look at you doing the Gig 'em sign...

you must have been dreaming about going to games at Kyle Field!  

Every evening when your Daddy puts you to bed (and every evening when I was pregnant), he tells you the same thing:  "I love you more than all the stars in the sky and more than all the fish in the sea.  You're a perfect baby girl."

Love you and I can't wait can't wait can't wait to finally spend every waking moment with you when this bar exam is done!  It'll be just you and me girl (well and EVERYONE else in San Antonio since we'll be there for the month while Daddy does his rotation with Urology). 

1 month old

Liliana:

Happy 1 Month Birthday!! 

I can't believe it...you're already one month old!  The time has gone by so quickly, and Daddy and I have loved getting to know you.  I wanted to write you a letter every month for the first year of your life so that hopefully, when you're older you can read these and see who you were from the very beginning.  Maybe when you have children of your own, you can pull these letters out and see the similarities and differences between your own little girl and yourself.  I have been making notes throughout the last month of your most distinguishing features, so here we go...

In general, you've been a great sleeper through the night.  You wake up around every four hours and gulp down your milk.  You did have about three rough nights, but in the first month, that isn't bad at all!  At the end of your first month, we started not setting alarms on when to feed you, so now if you decide to sleep through the night, we'll just let you!...last night you made it 4 hours and 15 minutes, so it's baby steps. : )

You love the warm baths we give you every other evening.  However, you absolutely hate being dried off and getting lotion on your body.  I've tried explaining to you that one day, you'll LOVE it when you're getting massages with lotion, but you don't seem to hear me through your cries of terror.

Around two weeks of age, you discovered the art of stretching your neck...it's the cutest thing.  You put your arms straight up, pucker your little lips, and stretch that neck nice and high. You had hiccups constantly the first couple weeks.  When I was pregnant with you, you had hiccups all the time, so I wasn't surprised that you had them so often.  You only get them a couple times a day now, and that seems to make you happier.  Sometimes you get them in the middle of the night and it's adorable because you fall asleep between each hiccup and wake up and get very frustrated with yourself. 

The first couple weeks, we were worried about your bilirubin levels because you were born so early.  We had to go to the hospital a few times, but thankfully, you fought through it all and we never had to put you under the bili lights!  That made Mommy, Daddy, Tata, and our wallets very happy.  Speaking of Tata, she spent two out of your first four weeks right by your side.  Tata already adores you and thinks you're an amazing baby. 

As for your developmental milestones:  you ROLLED OVER when you were 11 days old!  This was an AMAZING accomplishment and we were so impressed.  Daddy, in particular, started telling lots of people about how brilliant his little girl is.  Now, we try to do tummy time every day together, but you roll over so often that it's not very fruitful.  Your head control is outstanding too.  You hold it up for a few seconds and proceed to get frustrated that you can't hold it up any longer. You aren't cooing yet, but I can't wait to hear that little noise.  You are smiling already, but not because you know what you're smiling at...it's usually because you're pooping or about to pass gas. ; )

You were born with so much hair.  When I was about to push, I told the nurse that your hair was the physical feature I had been most curious about when I was pregnant and I kept wondering if you would be born with hair.  After just one push, the nurse said "I can tell you she has hair, and lots of it!"  We've been worried the hair on top of your head is going to fall off and you'll be left with a crazy mullet.  So far, this hasn't happened, so we're lucky.  I'll update next month if this changes!!  We'll have some pretty bad blackmail pictures if this does eventually occur. Speaking of hair, you LOVE LOVE LOVE grabbing on to my hair when I'm holding you and ... it kinda hurts Lili Bear!  But, I love it.  Mommy needs to cut her hair pretty badly, but doesn't want to because she loves it when you grab on to her hair and her necklaces.  It makes her feel so close to you.

As for your relationship with your Daddy, you guys are already like two peas in a pod.  He just adores you and loves spending time with you sleeping on his chest.  You crack him up already when you try to crawl while on his chest.  My favorite thing so far is how similar you look to his baby pictures.  Really, it's uncanny!!  Grammy brought pictures of Daddy when she came to see you for the first time and we all were amazed at the resemblance.  Speaking of Grammy, she loves you so much!  I think she sees a lot of Daddy in you, and that must be so special.  We shared a great moment together the day before your month birthday.  On our first Father's Day as a family, Daddy got the kiddie pool ready and put you in your cute speedo swimsuit that he bought you.  Guess what?  You didn't cry, not even once when we put you in the pool.  I think he was so proud. 

Liliana, I love you more than I ever thought possible after just one month.  I love seeing you grow, I love seeing you sleep, I love seeing your smiles, heck I even love seeing your poopy diapers.  Thank you so much for coming in to our lives.  We adore you, never ever forget that.

Love,
Mommy