Happy Summer!

Oh yeah! We have a baby!

I realized it has been months since I did an update on Lilia! Bad mommy! Having daddy is home is distracting, (in a good way.) So Lilia! She's growing! She's learning! She's changing! Here is what she is up to now:


For the past 3 or 4? months she has been cruising up a storm. She walks along walls like spider man. She is not walking on her own yet, though, and I have to admit it bothers me a little. I know a lot of it is the extra weight she has to balance, but she is sooooo heavy! It would be nice not to have to carry her as much. Speaking of weight, she has actually slowed down considerably. Her appetite is very small and she is only nursing once a day now - and even those days are numbered....

Speaking of no appetite, somehow this kid makes do. She is a fireball! She has sooo much energy throughout the day and can get herself from room to room and into trouble in the blink of an eye. Good thing she hasn't figured out how to open doors yet. I tried taking her with me to the travel agent the other day and it was hopeless. She wouldn't sit on my lap for even a minute. I would put her down on the floor by me with some toys and *blink* she was gone. Literally out the door down the hallway. *sigh* We had to come back the next day to complete our travel plans. No, wait.... it actually took a total of THREE days to get everything done.

She isn't using a lot of words, but she definitely understands a lot of words. Her receptive language is tremendous, and thus we have turned to signs! Lilia is a signing champ. She can communicate most of her needs with the signs I have taught her. Her favorites are "more," "milk," and " all done."

She loves to sing and dance. She has a xylophone that she likes to play, but she never plays without singing along. Kind of funny.

She knows a lot of animal sounds. She can moo, trumpet like and elephant, make monkey sounds, snort like a pig, and hiss like a snake.

She likes to play with her baby doll and rock her and make her clap her hands.

She loves to comb her hair and comb and brush our hair. She also loves to wear bracelets and when I tell her she looks "pretty" she waves her hand like a beauty queen. She also loves to watch me put on blush and she often helps and then puts some on daddy as well.

About a month or two ago we taught her parts of the face. She knows eyes, ears, lips, nose, teeth, and tongue. When I ask her where my ears are she is too funny. First she points to one ear and then she PUSHES my face to the side to get to the other ear! Geez!




She love love LOVES her daddy. When Cliff comes home she beelines for him and then scrambles to find a "gift" to give him. This could be a shoe, a toy, and piece of fuzz off the floor. It's hilarious. It's like, "Daddy is back home! What can I give him! Hurry!!!! Must give him something!!!"
Here are a few more somewhat recent pictures from the past couple of months.


At the park for a friend's birthday! Notice that the other two are in motion while Lilia sits and looks bewildered...
She's up to something..... what could it be?
SMOOSH!

Hammin' it up with daddy.

Lilia has another trick. It's not a very pleasant trick.
See what I can do, mom?

Fourth of July with our friend Abbie!
Lilia "cleaning" the table at our favorite Indian restaurant. Moments later they turned on the T.V. and she proceeded to dance to Bollywood music videos for the remainder of the meal.
Lilia still LOVES her baths and yes, I still bathe her in the sink. Why not? She still fits and I don't have to bend over or be on my knees! She loves it and often stands to look out the window now. This has raised some eyebrows from the occasional passerby, but whatev. I see it as a win/ win.

This last one is actually from back in May when my family was here, but too cute to forget!

Last day in Kyoto

Before we headed back to Kyoto Station we decided to check out one more temple. Our hotel was just a few blocks from the famous Toji temple grounds. Toji boasts the tallest wooden tower in Japan. This five story pagoda is often considered the sybol of Kyoto. The grounds are supposed to be especially beautiful during the cherry blossom season. Isn't everything, though?


Turtle pond
Some of the ancient buildings on the temple grounds housed hundreds of statues of Buddha and his incarnations. Photography was prohibited inside, but we were able to get our temple books signed.



And that sums up our trip to Kyoto! We saw a lot, but barely made a dent in the city. Will we go back? I sure hope so!

Kyoto Day 3 (continued) Nijo Castle

Nijo! Another world heritage site not to be missed!!
First of two moats.
Nijo was a fantastically gorgeous and impressive castle, but unfortunately they did not allow photographs inside the buildings. Nijo was both an imperial palace and a fortress of protection for the ruling samurai class. One of the coolest things about this fortress is the "nightingale" floors. To alert the samurai of intruding ninja the floors chirp!! We got to walk on them and it was super cool! There was also a floor plan of all of the imperial rooms and their uses and models of the shogunate and some of their ladies in waiting.
My mom makes friends wherever she goes!
After we got to Nijo Lilia needed some refreshment. We all did. A morning like Fushimi Inari will do that to you...
What a cute kiddo! She was the best little traveler ever.
Nijo Castle was Cliff's favorite place in Kyoto. With all of the delicate carvings, painting, and detail that went into creating this masterpiece I can't really blame him. I wish that we could have taken pictures of the fabulous tatami rooms and the windows and doors from the inside. Hopefully the impressive craftsmanship of the outside will give you an idea of the effort and importance behind this fortress and political playground of the shogunate and Japanese imperial class. They were well taken care of.




Again, because we were not allowed to take pictures inside the palace, we took a TON of pictures of the details outside.
I just love how the palace is decorated with motifs of flowers and birds and still manages to look imposing and masculine.







expertly manicured grounds and gardens. I suppose it is to be expected at a Japanese castle...


Moat. Nijo had two, an outer and an inner, for double protection!
This was all wisteria. It would have been soooo pretty a month or two before we were here.

Before we left Nijo Castle we were lured towards a stage in a traditional Japanese garden. We could hear strange music being played and our curiosity got the better of us. Turned out that an imperial style wedding ceremony was taking place! We decided to watch for a while and wait for the bride and groom to make their exit! We stayed and watched... forever - BUT it was well worth it!
The scenery around the stage was really beautiful. There were rock gardens and a pool of water right in front of the bride and groom where we stood taking pictures.

The pictures aren't super great, but hopefully you can tell how happy these two were. They were having a blast!

I love seeing happy newlyweds. It's how it should be!
Preparing the bride and groom's carriage.

Last minute touch-ups for the bride and groom before their families, (and a ton of bystanders,) see them off!
Helping the bride and her TWELVE kimono prepare to ride in the carriage. Apparently the lady of the imperial court at Nijo traditionally wore 12 kimono. Geez that would be heavy!
The wait was soooo worth it. We got to see the bride and groom escorted through the castle grounds all the way to the street outside! (We sort of crashed the wedding party and jumped in their wake to take pictures...)

Hands down the best (ok, and only) imperial style wedding I have ever witnessed!