hanging out..

Daddy came home early today so we just hung out in her room and played.. she has a little runny nose, so we just took it easy..
Mom are you taking a picture?? wait let me get my "look" on!!

We got these blocks from Jasmin, and Lilja loves them.. I put them in a basket for easy access and she will go into her room and play with them. Balancing the block on her head is one of the exercises from Tumbling Tots.. she is really good at it..and then will shake her head to have it fall off.

she is getting the hang of it...

Ok, now she is really walking behind it.. plus I realize you can now see she is finally growing, as last picture with this toy she couldn't almost reach the handle..remember?? ( that picture is under the July ones) I have just looked at both of them and you can really see how long she has gotten. wow!!

and what is her destination?? her room.. She loves to sit in there and play with her blocks, or look at all the books..

Lilja's words

Sorry no new photo's of Lilja this time, but I did have to share some amazing news.. lilja is talking...well kind off. She is starting to get some of the important ones and is getting pretty good at them.. here they are: daddy, mama, oma, apple ( we feed the horses one every morning), tank yu( that's how she says is;)) gentle.. (for pulling our noses) and "slapen" which means "go to sleep" in Dutch. I was telling her in Dutch to just close her eyes and go to sleep in the car and low and behold, with a little voice "apen" came from the back seat..of course she is still just mimicking our words, but definitely understanding a lot .. her sign language is getting good too... "All done", "more" and "bird" are being used by her frequently and in context.. smart little cookie!! Plus her blowing kisses, is getting better and better.. instead of hitting her face it actually looks like a kiss being blown .. too cute.. Well this weekend is our last family weekend before the big Holland trip.. so we'll post some cute pictures then and we are also waiting for the professional pictures that we had done last week.. so be patient and they will come...

another use for feet...

Lilja found a new way to hold her bottle... with her feet..

Lilja's Kuspuk

I work with a girl named janet who is from the same tribe Lilja's family is from: the Yupik tribe. Janet's mother made a traditional dress for Lilja; a Kuspuk.. it's a little big but what a special gift.. here Lilja is modeling her new clothing.. tonight we are going to take family photos by a friend of mine who is also a great photographer , and hopefully we can take some photos with this cute Kuspuk..

Is Lilja learning the model pose already... one leg forward. (wink... auntie Brigitte)

early morning

A very early morning this morning.. Aran left for hunting at 4:50..and I was ready to snooze just a little while, but at 5 Lilja woke up and did not go back to sleep. We had a busy day yesterday and she went to bed early, so she thought waking up at 5 was OK.. Plus we do think now that second tooth is coming in.. Yeah!! Look how bright eyes and bushytailed she is!! I don't look like that right now..

Every morning she can pick out two toys to bring into our bed with her.. Lately it is this doll that my mom made years and years ago.. we call her "Dolly".. (how original) Lilja loves to point at her eyes, nose and mouth and wait for me to say the words..

JT 's birthday

Today was JT's birthday.. I run the dogs for his family and I take care of him sometimes.. he is a cool little kid and fun to be around. They had his party at the Mason center, during the week all kinds of Gymnastics are being taught there , but in the weekends the equipment is for the birthday parties.. Lilja was the littlest one but did not show it. She started out in the cube for a while but then she started pushing the scooter and off she went without looking back or to see where mom was.. p.s see those rings in the background, Lilja liked hanging on those.. she is so strong!!

Peekaboo mommy!!

Lilja's first painting!!

Lilja made her first picture at Shannon's house.. and not to toot Lilja's horn, but Shannon was surprised how good she could color.. and asked if I color a lot with her.. well, we have not colored yet together, but crayons and paper will be bought today!!
See the beautiful blue lines on the top right.. Lilja was very proud to show the picture to me.. you can see the colors she used in this one better than the first one..

HAPPY BIRTHDAY OMA!!

It my mom's birthday today..

Just want to let you know we love you and we'll see you soon..

Our little lake

After a nice run around this lake for momma, we all took the doggies swimming.. just a perfect ending to a wonderful Saturday!! dinner time!!

the hummingbird..

We have a hummingbird feeding in the backyard and this week Lilja finally noticed them, within that week she also learned the sign for bird.. and is using it everytime she sees a bird.. smart little cookie!! the sign for bird is putting your thumb and pointer and middle finger together and make them go up and down .. do you see the hummingbird on the feeder next to the white pole??here it is as a close up for you who need glasses ;)we went swinging after that silly time with daddy to calm her down... she is staring at the bird and i think it is almost time for nap...Yep, there is the stare of tiredness. sleep tight Lilja..

silly Lilja

Lilja is making up for her week with a cold.. today she has been such a silly girl.. Aran came back from bow hunting (no elk yet..) and the first thing he always does is put Lilja on his shoulders.. today she found everything silly about that.. finding daddy's nose and leaning sideways and laughing out loud.. must be all that melon she had for snack..

This morning we (Lilja and I)played peekaboo with one of my scarf from work.. I think this is the silliest picture i have made of her as of today..

today

Today I woke up realizing that it is Jessi's birthday.. . Look back at this year, I want to thank everyone for supporting us.. through the happy times but especially through the painful ones.. I believe everything happens for a reason and when I look at my beautiful little daughter, I know Jessi and her family and the situation that happened taught us valuable lessons.. all of them making us better parents for Lilja.. It brought us closer together.. Aran and I, our families and our friends.. Thank you... we love you very much!

Lilja's cold

So this last week became Lilja's second cold of the year.. it started out like it looked like she had allergies, a runny nose, watery eyes and breathing through her mouth as she couldn't breath through her nose.. But always a happy girl even when we snuffer that snot out of her nose every hour!!!but...

After two days of "allergies" Lilja woke up with a cold.. and some funny hair... don't look any further if you have a squeamish stomach... dad, yes, you ... turn away from the computer...

because per request, here is the result of a very restless night.. finally we found the culprit of the fussy nights and runny nose.. a cold.. this is the way she woke up.. with a booger the size of Holland stuck to her nose and in her hair!!
Luckily.. i have an amazing support of mommies (and my own mom) around me who gave me some great advice... Vicks.. The one medicine I vowed to NEVER give to my child as I think I had Vicks on my chest every hour of every year of my life!! but OK, it worked.. Vicks on her feet with little socks on and voila!! . Thanks Mom!!!

the Hamper, still the best toy!!

Aran showed Lilja that being pushed is even more fun than doing the work herself..Mommy, will I go faster if I shake the hamper??

Hold on tight Lilja here we go!!!

practising EVERYTHING!!

Lilja has graduated to eating with a spoon.. most will end up on the ground for the doggies, but some will find it's way in her mouth.. Here she is eating couscous with kale in it.. a trick from a friend of mine and Lilja loves it..she loves to feed us too.. I am making sure I like her food now too.. One for me, and one for mama!!

If you look close in the bowl there are three little owls in it.. a papa one, a mama one and a little baby one.. If you want Lilja to eat a little more, ask her where the owls are and she will eat until she sees one on the bottom.. too cute..

FYI to all parents, and those who knew.. yes, I finally got it.. don't buy those expensive carts she can push around.. the best cart??? the hamper!!! there she goes!!!

Trying to make a great photo for her birthday invitations.. How about this one??

p.s look at that tooth!! so proud of her.. she is getting so big!! others are coming, if drooling and chewing on everything is any inclination!

Lilja's first day

School has started and my Tumbling Tots classes are up and running. When I was looking at this Fall, we realized that Lilja would not like to be with me the whole day on Thursdays so we found a great home daycare near by.. and it doesn't hurt that Shannon (the childcare provider) is a very good friend of mine who I have known for 7 years..Lilja will go to "school" one day a week, there are 6 other children, three that are Shannon's, two other boys.. and a little 8 month old that seems to be come Lilja's buddy.. so here we go.. Lilja is going up so fast!! So i dropped her off at 8 and she was a little fussy, Shannon provides breakfast at 8 so i had just given Lilja some pears and raisins.. so she was hungry . Ofcourse I was hovering as Lilja was crying and felt I could not leave then.. As shannon was getting Lilja some food.. her 5 year old came over to Lilja with a hand puppet and Lilja face lite up!!! ShayLynn is the baby wisperer we were saying today..That was my sign to leave and she had an amazing day!!

Hopefully these two will become buddies.. Avery is 2 months younger than Lilja.

She did great naps and Shannon took this photo of her as she was hidden under the blanket.. tired girl after playing with so many kids..

Lilja will come with me to work the other day at SunUte.. so more kids to meet..