Chill Out!

Last night Olav and I were relaxing on the couch...watching our daily evening entertainment (Lily)...when she turned to us and said in her big girl voice....CHILL OUT! We burst into laughter! This a phrase that Daddy frequently says to Lily when she gets worked up or whiny.

So then I got to thinking....she often borrows phrases from her daddy's vocabulary but not mine...why?

Our hypothesis...I am always speaking to her in Spanish..and since she prefers English...she has no phrases to repeat. Of course that is just our current hypothesis!

Download before I forget!

Lummi Sticks at Gymnastics

Bat Girl...upside down!

This is what no nap looks like!

Readoption Day

Readoption day...Lily wants to swing on the jury bar

Chillin with Daddy

Playing with brother Fredrik

Super Cool Lily with upside down "lentes del sol"

There has been so much I have wanted to write and so many pictures I want to put up...but I never seem to have the time or energy. So I thought I take a quick moment to download my thoughts before they escape me!

Lily's re-adoption hearing was about 2 weeks ago. In some ways it was just a formality, basically cementing Lily's adoption by US law and giving her a certificate of Foreign Birth birth certificate that can be obtained through the Department of Vital Records. I didn't think it would affect me too much emotionally, but I did feel the tears welling beneath the surface as we went before the judge. What was interesting is that of the 10-15 re-adoptions being done that day...we were the only husband-wife group re-adopting. A sign of the times huh? All the others were either a co-parent or second-parent adoption of same-sex parents. We tried to get a picture of Lily with the judge, but the best we got was her swinging on the jury rail next to him!

Lily loves gymnastics. Her favorite things are the ladder and the rings! We are so thankful to our friends who gave her this class as a welcome-home gift!

Have toddler...will travel...to Denmark and Norway! Are we crazy or what...we shall see! We hadn't planned on going to Norway as when I priced it earlier it was going to cost over 5K. However, a dear friend told me about an airline sale through SAS for half-price. We decided to do it! However, we decided to go through Denmark and see Copenhagen and Legoland! Should be fun! Either that or we will come home with bullet holes through our heads!

Lily has started the "bailar" phase. She only wants to wear dresses that she can "bailar" or dance in (really spinning around). Also lately she only wants to wear her "zapatos de tacones or zapatos de bailar" (Shiny shoes or dancing shoes). She even wears them to sleep!

I can't believe her 3rd birthday is coming up in less than 2 weeks! We are going to have a small family birthday party for her! I am excited I got her a "digital camera"...so she can "click, take a pic" like Dora!

She remembers!

I can't believe it! She remembers! In Guatemala women frequently walked on the streets selling tortillas. They carried the large baskets on their heads. Last night we were playing and Lily put a pillow on her head (like she had a basket) and asked us if we wanted to buy tortillas. I was in awe...I couldn't believe that 5 months here and she still remembers that! How cool!

Sellos and Trees

As Lily's vocabulary develops she constantly brings a laugh or smile to our faces. The other evening...Olav was eating fish Sticks and a spinach salad. Lily exclaimed..."Daddy look fish sticks and....you could tell she was searching for the word...finally, she did her best...and said "TREES"!" She knew that the spinach leaves looked like tree leaves!

Yesterday Olav was walking around shirtless...as some of you may know he has a large tattoo on his shoulder of an American flag and Norwegian flag. Lily, saw the tattoo and exclaimed, "Look Daddy sello".  Sello is the Spanish word meaning stamp (similar to what she gets after her gymnastic lessons). Needless to say, we were rolling on the floor. Let's just hope she decides she doesn't want a "sello" any time in the next 18-25 years:)

Adjectives Abound....and Princesses

Lily is truly amazing to watch. I just love watching and listening to her. Seeing the world through her eyes is always a joy.

One of the things I love is her new use of adjectives. A few weeks ago we went into American Eagle with Fredrik, she picked up a bright orange shirt and exclaimed, "Oh so pretty!" She can be heard frequently commenting on how beautiful, pretty, or even awesome something is!

Then there is the fascination with princesses. Not sure where it came from...but man...we have princess fever in our home. A while back our dear friend Colleen bought Lily a treasury of Disney princess stories in Spanish. It has become Lily's favorite book. Even though she doesn't really let us read it...as it does have lots of words on the page and they are all in Spanish, she loves to look at the pictures. She knows all the princesses by name...even the ones I don't know like Mulan. I guess there is something innate with little girls and princesses!

Mixed emotions

This weekend has been filled with mixed emotions.

On the fun side...I can tell Lily Pad is going to be a fabulous shopper. Yesterday when we went to the mall with Fredrik, she would pick up an item and exclaim, "Oh so pretty". Tonight we went to a hibachi restaurant to "celebrate" my sister's new job. I am not sure if Lily loved it or was terrified of it!

In sad news, my sister recently accepted a job in NYC. That means over the next few months, Lisa and her family will be transitioning to the NY/NJ area. Very sad for me. And of course Lily pad. I had so wanted her to grow up with her cousins close. Oh well...so is life...

Download

Well, it has been a while since I have posted so I wanted to download some random thoughts.

Ever since Lily has seen Beauty and Beast with her Spanish teacher one day she has become fixated on princess stuff. My girlfriend had bought her a Spanish treasury of princess stories. She won't let me read the words, but she LOVES the pictures. Especially Belle, Jasmin, and Pocahontas.

A funny thing happened recently while we were reading/perusing the princess book...one of the characters was Mr. John Smith from Pocahontas. Lily's uncle is named John also. She made the connection that Mr. John Smith had the same name as her Uncle John...she said, "Look Mommy...Tio John!" (That is what she calls her Uncle John). Needless to say, Uncle John was quite tickled to be "referenced" as Mr. John Smith

She has also developed a love for anything Disney...that's my girl...much to her daddy's disappointment. He is still trying to brainwash her to think Mickey is a rodent. I look forward to the day when she is old enough and we can take her to Disney. Olav said he would never go...but I have a feeling he will change his mind:)

Tonight we were reading The Jungle Book. In one of the pictures, the monkey is holding Mowgli by his shorts. Lily exclaimed, "Look Mommy he is going to pull the pull-ups off!" Oh if we could capture it and bottle it!

Lily got to finally meet her other brother Fredrik today. She took to him immediately! I do hope we get to see more of him!

That's all for this download...hopefully, I will post some new pics soon!