Mind Your Manners

We've been working on manners with Lilian. It's going a little slow, but she seems to be catching on. We finally got her saying "No, mam." She still doesn't quite know when to use it--she'll use it to mean "yes" and she'll say it to Daddy--but, sometimes she gets it right.

And, we're going to have to continue working on food etiquette...

Year and a half

It's hard to believe, but Lilian is already a year and a half! She has done a lot of growing in the past few months. Right now she is working on talking. Although most of what she says doesn't really make sense, she tells you with feeling and intensity. She is also imitating everything that we do (or at least trying!).  Here she is trying to make the same faces as me. 

Here are some random photos from the last few weeks. 

She loves to talk on the phone. (You'd think we do it all the time...).

The beaches.

She loves to label faces. One morning, she woke up really early and Justin put her in the bed with us. I couldn't go back to sleep because she kept poking me everywhere saying "eyes, nose, mouth..."

Volcano Trip

This past weekend we took a trip to the tallest volcano in Costa Rica, Irazú.  It was a lot of fun, but I think Lilian had more fun playing with mommies glasses and her friends.

Happy Birthday Avery!

Avery Mercer, had her first birthday party this past weekend.  Lilian had a blast.  I would dare say that Avery is one of the only girls that can challenge Lilian on cuteness.  As you look at the pictures, pray for the Mercers.  They are going to Mexico in August.   

I'm a big sister!

Lilian is gonna be a big sister! The new baby is due on October 14, so about 2 weeks before she turns 2. Lilian seems to be excited...ok, she doesn't really seem to care. She was very curious about this ultrasound, though. She may not have understood that the little moving peanut was a real baby!

The Dance: Energy of the Hands

Lilian has been doing this dance for a few days now. I promise I did not teach her. Either she learned it from school or she is a modern choreographing prodigy!

So cute!

This is just a cute picture of Lilian.  

Pretty pretty

Lilian's fashion senses are unmatched.  

Piñata Fun

Lilian went to a princess ballerina pajama party.  I said that right.  There was a piñata at the party.   Each child got a shot at it even Lilian.  

Talk it up!

Sorry for the lack of posting. We have had some trouble loading videos. We don't know where Lilian got this from. We don't really talk on the phone that much.

Silly Lilly

Lilian is getting sillier and sillier.  Here are some pictures at snack time and a video of her doing something outside.  I guess she was racing.

Lilian wanted to say thanks to Nana & Pawpaw and Papa Bear, Mawmaw, Aunt D, & Uncle Bear for the Christmas cards. She still enjoys dancing to them!

A Healthy Baby

In my child development classes that I (Allison) took in school, I remember learning that a healthy 14/15 month old is one who is into everything. Well, it's seems we have a healthy little girl. Here's a little video of the result of Lilian's fun in the bathroom.

Cardboard Christmas 1

We tried to load this video yesterday, but had some trouble.  Here is the first half of the video.  

Cardboard Christmas

Since we are only in Costa Rica for a year and we can't really take any extra stuff with us to Argentina, we wanted to get Lilian some "disposable" presents. So, we decided to make a present out of a cardboard box. Maybe this makes us green (or maybe just cheap), nonetheless, we made a cardboard kitchen for her to play with. After telling Allison's mom about what we planned to do, she was really nervous. So, hopefully this video will put her anxiety at ease!

 

Funny Chick

Punta Leona

Monday we had our first view of Costa Rica outside of San Jose.  We went to Punta Leona (Lion Point) a beach about two hours southwest from San Jose.  We weren't really sure if Lilian would like the beach or not.  We went this past summer and she was afraid of the water.  She loved the water.  She ran in and out of the water.  By the end of the trip she was sitting in the surf sorting through the rocks in my hand.  

The place had a great kiddy pool.  Lilian really enjoyed it.  There was a slope in the pool that went into the water.  Lilian ran up and down that thing.  It was inevitable that she would eventually fall.  When she did her chin caught her.  You can see the mark on her chin below, but she was still all smiles.  

The area was beautiful.  It was a tropical climate with all kinds of animals and plants.  The people at the beach said this tree was four hundred years old.  It was pretty cool.  

Here is a picture of Lilian in the kiddy pool.  It is probably the best kiddy pool I have ever seen.

The first time at the beach Lilian got sand all over her.  This picture was taken after we wiped most of it off.  

It was a great trip and a great place for kids.  If you want the full story of the trip, you will have to check the Rayburn Mensaje.  

More pictures of Lilian

Here is a pic of Lilian and Hannah chilling after some play time

There is a park on every corner.  Lilian loves to go to them and hates to leave.

My smart girl has learned what opens the door.  When she wants to go outside she asks for the keys and goes to the door.  

Hannah loves Lilian.  She always hugs her and follows it with a body slam.  Allison caught Lilian this time.

Settling in

Lilian is adjusting just fine to life here in Costa Rica. Although we are still in Central time zone, we've had to adjust our daily schedule just a bit. Life here starts when the sun rises...which means Lilian's new wake up time is somewhere between 5 and 6 am. Check out this video, and see what I mean...

It is a common practice for people to pay mariachi bands to play songs outside of people's homes for their birthdays. This could happen at anytime during the night--1 am, 2 am, 5:30 am--whenever. What wife would not be appreciative to know that her husband loves her enough to wake her in the middle of the night with sweet sounds of Costa Rica?

Lilian is really enjoying having a playmate around all of the time. Hannah is 18 months old and is a great little hostess. She loves to give hugs and is even really good with sharing her toys. She's also really easy to talk to; Lilian loves having heart-to-hearts with her. I don't even want to know what she's told Hannah about all of us. 

  

Lilian has also become Miss Social Butterfly. At our IMB Christmas get-together at the language school, Lilian had a great time running through all of the kids. She got to meet a lot of knew friends and was so excited to see old friends that we met in Orientation. 

So. things are going well. We are all really excited to get in a place of our own next week. We hope by the 12th to be showing you pictures from our place!

Christening of our new home...

So, Lilian (and Allison) is so glad to finally be here. In fact, Lilian was so excited on the way here that she peed on herself (and Allison) on the connecting flight to Atlanta AND the flight to San Jose. Then, when we got to the family's house where we are staying, she was so happy to be staying with little 18-month old Hannah that she wet all over herself and daddy's bed. Then, this morning as our hosts showed us around the town, she peed on herself again. Then, right before her nap, for her diaper change, she decided to christen my bed (along with my clothes, her clothes, and a suitcase). It's been about 4 hours since the last accident (which is longer than she has gone since we left). Although she is still really excited, maybe she has gotten her bladder under control!