Oh, Little Jada! Happy Birthday!
This is Jada playing with her giraffe while Joli and Mia rip open her presents..!

"Uh, guys. I'm a little nervous about turning 1 year old! Anyone hear me? Grover? Worried??"

"Next move... Disney. Once I get this walking thing down, I'm outta here!""I DID IT!!"

Happy 1st Birthday, Jada!!
Jada had a beautiful first birthday with all her East Coast family and friends, and we could not have asked for better weather!

We rented a bouncy and all the kiddies exhausted themselves in it. Even Jada got in on the action!
Joli and Mia hosted a Dance Party while Jada was taking her 2nd nap.
Jada finally emerged from her nap and enjoyed some time on the slide!
"BYE, everyone! Thanks for coming to my party!!!"

"MY A-DIDAS!"
There happens to be a really great story about Jorge and his wish for a pair of Stan Smith Adidas sneakers. Let's just say, after NINETEEN YEARS, Jorge finally got his first pair of Stan Smith Adidas originals! Congratulations Jorge! He was making so much noise in celebration that Andy came upstairs to see what all the "racket" was about (Stan Smith... Adidas.. tennis star... "racket"...) ouch.

Joli also looks mad-stylish in her new glam Crocs. These shoes are the best - mostly because she can put them on by herself in a jiffy! Jada also got a new pair of stride rites as she's walking a little. Sorry about the YouTube feed- sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. But, trust us, she's starting to walk! Maybe before her 1st birthday??

NOW PLAYING: "JADA TAKES HER FIRST STEPS!"

We had a nice Easter this year! Joli and Jada got a slide for the livingroom and a little rocking pony that they love! Joli was awesome and helped to put the stamps on Jada's birthday invitations - not an easy task! The girls have the best time in the bath, although Jada is having trouble following the "do not splash water outside of the bathtub" rule. She thinks it's hilarious to throw water out of the tub, and when I correct her, she simply says, "ehh!" and laughs at me. Great. Joli is very helpful, though, as she loves to shampoo Jada's hair!
Jada's birthday is in 1 week! My goodness! She loves to crawl and even stand up unassisted. She talks and talks and talks and talks all the time and sings when you ask her to "Sing Ariel Song!" She also loves "If you're happy and you know it, clap your hands!" and can sing along with the CD. Our daily routine? Jada wakes us all up around 6:15am, demands that Barney is turned on, and then sits quietly until about 6:30am when Joli wakes up to snuggle in bed. Jada then gets her bowl of cheerios -- which she quickly unloads in our bed -- and then sings along with the TV. She's now forward facing in our car, and she seems so much happier to see all things going on as opposed to just facing the car back seat.

Jada also knows how to "blow kisses" and "hug" and says "yummm" when you give her food. She loves the remote control (and TiVo-ing programs), climbing all over Gordon, and splashing in the toilet. Yes, the toilet. Which we have quickly stopped her from doing. She also drinks milk from her sippy cup and eats lots of yummy grapes and pasta.

OHMY GOSH!! I'm watching Jada walk!!! Gotta go!!! (where's the darn camera??)

Just some stories...
No pics right now, just some stories!

The girls are cracking us up every day! Jada is having kind of a tough time sleeping at night, but oddly enough she wakes up refreshed and ready to go at around 6:30am. She sits up in bed, slaps Mommy in the face, says "Heehh, ehhh!!!" and then sits on Mommy's head. Soon after, Ate Joli comes in and wants to snuggle, but Jada would rather use Jo as a climbing wall. Thankfully, Joli is pretty even tempered and allows Jada to lunge over her all while pulling her afro.

Joli is Jada's best cheerleader! We always hear Joli saying, "Good JOB, JADA!" Joli says it when she sees Jada standing unassisted, ("Good job, Jada! Good standing!") or if Jada eats all her breakfast ("Good job, Jada! Good eating!"). But, Joli also says it when Jada is being particularly naughty .. like when Jada slaps Mommy in the face, ("Good job, Jada! Good slapping Mommy in the face!"). I guess Joli is still learning differential behavior. Great.

Let's see... what else? Joli has a new found infatuation with her bird feeder that Jorge bought and set up outside. She checks it every morning when she wakes up and stares at it for about 2-3 minutes before getting in the car. She loves that bird feeder! Joli also has a favorite pet -- no, not Gordon. No, not Jada. But, this little stuffed dog she calls "Ella." We can't go anywhere without "Ella." Oh, and "Ella's blanket" because it would be a tragedy if Ella got "cold."

Joli also loves getting her nails done. Poor Tita Mari used to do them at least 1x a week, and now Tita Elma does her nails. She loves it! Today, Joli is wearing "red" which she calls her "grown up color." Tee he hee!

Jada loves Mommy. Okay, she loves Daddy, too, but she really only cries when Mommy leaves.... she basically chases me around the house and cries until I pay attention to her. Oh, and she loves to turn off the tv. Even when we say "no, Jada. No touch!" She turns off the TV and then looks at you and says "Hehh!"

Oh, Jo!


This is a bit delayed, but here is Joli's tigger picture -- 44 months old on March 17th (yes, a little late!). She is super hilarious - someone taught her "hey, I have a secret.. come here.." *fart*. She said that Uncle Andy taught her it.. is it true?

Her hair has been the big topic of conversation as of late. It's a gigantic 'fro, but when we actually style it and put product in it, it has these beautiful big curls. Today, we stopped by the local candy store, and Joli is always so sweet (no pun intended). She has incredible manners, is very responsive, and well, isn't a "brat." Even the women at the store were commenting on how sweet and well mannered Joli is. When we left the store, Joli said, "Mama, I have good manners." Yup, she does. She's the best!

Jada is 11 months old
Can you even believe it?? 11 months old. 6 teeth (I think). Says MAMA, DADA, can drink from a sippy cup, is starting to drink regular milk, plays peek-a-boo, claps, close-open-close-opens, eats just about everything, and even bosses around Gordon.
Oh, and she keeps messing with my laptop while I try to type....
She can also "sing" the Ariel song, talks on the phone non-stop, and loves to tease her daddy! She also can pour water over her head to wash out the shampoo, naps 1-2 times a day, and knows how to turn any television on-and-off.
Jada can stand for a few seconds unassisted, crawls incredibly fast, and is awesome about listening to directions (especially "no mouth!")

Go Jada! Next major picture will be of her at 1 year old!! Woah...

I sometimes can't believe what a big girl Joli is and how verbal she is for her age. We were snuggled in bed and she told me the entire "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" story in really good, descriptive ways. I mean, it didn't sound at all like a little kid telling a story. Joli has a great talent for that!

Mari is so cool!

Check out Mari with Apl from the Black Eyed Peas! She was in the recording studio with him in Burbank, CA the other day. Jada and Joli will be thoroughly impressed, Mari! They LOVE the BEP's! (so do I). She asked Apl if she could take a picture with him after they recorded - and said that her sister Liza would "beat her up" if she didn't get one. She's right. I would have....

Seriously... Joli is amazing....

But, first, Jada had a great EUA the other day. She was a trooper and didn't cry that much with her drops. Of course, all is well with Jada.

Now for Jo...!

We just got back from Boston and Joli had her 2nd office appointment (her first one was 6 months ago and it was mildly tough). This time Joli was absolutely amazing. She had her eye drops put in and DIDN'T CRY EVEN ONCE! NOT EVEN ONCE!! She didn't even whine, wince, or anything. Unbelievable, because these drops actually do sting when the go in. So, that was the just the start of a great day! Then, she was so wonderful waiting for the doctors and played so quietly with her little puppy, Ella, and read some books. She was then brought in to see the nurse, and she sat all by herself in the exam chair and did the eye chart all by herself. We then met with one of the fellows in the office, and Joli again sat in the exam chair all by herself and allowed the fellow to flash the light in her eye and look up-down-left-right. We then waited for Dr. Mukai to come in, and Joli was again, great! She let Dr. Mukai exam her and she almost seemed like a professional sitting in that chair. Dr. Mukai then said, "Okay, Joli, we have to look behind your prosthesis." So, I said, "Oh, gosh, here we go." Dr. Mukai said, "Would you like me to take it out?" ...

okay, quick break..

so, last time Joli had to take her prosthesis out, she was screaming/crying/floundering around/etc. It was truly a scene. I had even warned some people I was sitting with in the lobby that they might hear Joli screaming when we go into the exam room...

okay, time in....

So Joli says, "No, Dr Mukai. I can do it myself." I then shook my head and whispered again to the fellow, "This could be bad...."

Well, Joli reached in and in about as much time as it takes me to take out my contact lenses (aka about 1 second), Joli's eye was out. She held it up and said, "here you go."

(**Whhhhaatt?????!!!!****)

Then, she let Dr. Mukai mess around with her eye socket and pulled on her lids. All the while, Joli was fine and attentive.

Cut to the chase --- Joli is FINE!! And, Dr. Mukai has cleared us to see him ONCE A YEAR!!! WHHHAAATT!! HURRAYYY!!!

So, it was time for Joli to put her eye back in. Dr. Mukai said, "Would you like some help putting your prosthesis in?" Joli says, "No I can do it."

So, I get up and start to head towards her and said, "I'll do it. She's never done it before and she gets a little nervous."

Dr. Mukai points to Joli and says, "Really? Because she's doing it right now."

And, sure enough, Joli had about 99.9% put her eye back in - the right way up and everything!! I simply had to just tug on her bottom lid a little and it popped right in!

Truly, I was trying to describe it to Jorge as an "out of body experience." I almost couldn't believe it was our Joli doing all this!

As we were getting ready to leave, we met a nice family in the waiting room who had just been diagnosed (stitches on the eyelids are kind of a give-a-way). I felt for them. I still do. And, all those same shock-feelings came back. I guess 18 months ago, I never would have thought we could even find our footing. And, now look at Joli.... truly amazing.

Jada -isms....
Because I'm getting in trouble for not keeping up with the Jada progress, here you go!

Food: Jada pretty much eats anything at this point. We're going to start a little more dairy into her diet as she's all mommy-milk. She eats all types of fruit, food, has had some apple juice courtesy of Jorge, and she's probably had some donuts-- courtesy of Lolo (he's in big trouble).

Fun: In her little lifetime, she's been to Arizona, New York (twice), Pennsylvania, and all over MA.

Facts: Jada loves to sing the Ariel song from Little Mermaid. She can do "close-open" and "clap", and she responds remarkably well when you tell her "Jada, no!" She's all about the rules, baby! (takes after Mommy)

Frolicking: She is a crawling machine! Jada could win the Indy 500 of baby crawling. She also likes to stand up while holding onto something, and she's getting very daring with letting go. She holds her hands up high and can stand for about 5-6 seconds, and when she falls, she screams in delight!

Function: Jada loves her Fisher Price Laptop. I dare say she is obsessed with it. She can download email, make a tune, and do all sorts of typing. She also loves to dance, but she does the "Cabbage Patch". It's hilarious. Jada also loves to wiggle her toes when she dances.

Face: Lots of teeth. Let's see.. let me count.. 2 on the bottom and it looks like 4 on the top. Her hair is curiously straight though.

Friends: Basically, her cousins. She loves her cousin Mia and I think she really misses Gavietron.

Talking (fine, I ran out of "f's"): She babbles. Says Mama and Daddad, and Lola swears she's said "Lola" uh-huh.

Doctors: Jadie is now 18.9 pounds! Wish us luck as she has an EUA tomorrow....

We had so much fun in NYC this week! I was there on business, but Jorge, Joli, Jada and Grace came along, too, to hang out. The girls rode on their very first subway (even though Joli is, technically, a native New Yorker!) and Joli even rode in her first cab ride! It was absolutely freezing in NY, but both girls were just the best! Jorge took the girls (along with Pops) to the Museum of Natural History and Joli "was losing her mind" as Jorge says when she saw the giant whale and the dinosaurs. The girls ate in Times Square, went to the gigantic Toys R Us, American Girl Place, went to the M&M store and the Hershey Store. Jorge and Grace also very bravely brought them to an antique store!

Joli, Jada and Jorge rode this subway to visit Grammy, Pops and Ped!

Joli also got to ride the ferris wheel with Tita Grace at Toys R Us! She loved it! She also went to the American Girl store and bought her little sister her very own baby doll.
Despite the freezing cold weather, we all had a great time and can't wait to go back again next year!
*See, Mari... Jada is completely bundled up. Note the 2 jackets and fluffy hat.... now, stop freaking out!

We miss Gavin and Mari!
It's amazing how quiet it is at Lola's house... here's a great picture of the cousins on their last morning together! Tita Grace made matching pajamas for all of them and Uncle Lons took this great pic!

We miss you Gavie and Mari!

While we're thrilled that they get to go home to Uncle JP, we're sad that Gavin and Tita Mar have returned to CA. Congratulations on surviving the most difficult year we hope you ever have to face. You kicked cancer's butt, Mari! We love you all and can't wait to see you soon!

I had to take this picture of Joli because her hair has taken a new turn. It's weighing itself down and now developing into these great ringlets! Jo's favorite thing to do is to hug people about a dozen times before they leave. She's also totally into "waving at the window" to anyone leaving.

Here's Jada at 10 months! She now has 5 teeth, has tried to stand without leaning on anything (she falls on her bum and laughs!) and claps-claps-claps! (that's her newest trick). Jada also looooves yelling at people. Mari calls her a "little old lady" because Jada points her finger and waves it around and yells "eehh! ehhh!".

Lots of activity!

We've been really busy this past week! Jada was christened on Sunday, February 11th and we now welcome Ninong Jon and Ninang Mari as her official godparents (we figured they spend the most time with her around her -- thanks ya'll!).


Thanks to Lola, Joli and Mia went to see Disney Princesses on Ice and it was so much fun! We all sat in the 4th row and the girls went crazy when they saw Ariel and Cinderella -- or was it the 3 bags of cotton candy they ate?

This week was a big celebration week -- Mari and JP's wedding anniversary, Lola and Lola's wedding anniversary, Aunt Kirsten's birthday, and Mari/Gavie's farewell! They'll be leaving at the end of the week to go back to the warmth of Los Angeles! We'll miss them so much!!


Joli also helped to make wonton soup for the first time. She did awesome! Truly! That was the most delicious wonton soup we've ever had!


Here are the girls' 43 months and 10 months pictures! Stay warm!

MORE FROM JADA'S BAPTISM
Thanks to Aunt Marie who sent us these pics! Go,Jada! Thanks to Uncle Pedro-spectacular who braved the Chinatown bus to come and visit us for the weekend!

Jada has joined the Christened club!
Congratulations to little Jada Grace who was christened today! It was a great ceremony - thanks to everyone who came! (special thanks to Aunt Marie and Uncle Andy who took this picture!). Jada's godparents are Uncle Jon and Tita Mari! Jada was not very happy in the morning as we were getting her into her christening gown, and she remained pretty miserable throughout the ceremony. When it was her turn to be baptized, she tried to grab the pitcher of holy water from the priest and then tried to wriggle out of my hands as he poured water on her head. Then, to top if off, she was on the alter to receive her blessing, spun around and bonked her head on the alter! Oh, great. But, then everyone came back to our house for some yummy food, fun, and of course, Guitar Hero. Thanks to everyone who came and celebrated Jada's special day!

Jada is composing a new song....

This was just too cute. When we put Jada on the floor in the living room, she goes right for the piano, pulls herself up, and starts to play and sing! It's awesome! Maybe one of the next posts will be of Jada playing - (I'll check with my tech guy and see if he can hook that up!).

THIS TIME LAST YEAR....

Okay, so this time last year, we were finishing up our last day of chemotherapy with Joli. I can't believe it. I can't believe that she's been a year post-treatment. I'll post some pics this weekend, but it's amazing to think that "far" back. It seems like just yesterday, yet so much has changed -- Jada is here, Joli's hair is outrageously afro-licious, Mari got diagnosed/started/finished treatment, Gavie wasn't even crawling and is now standing up and peeing on his cousins (more on that later).

Jada's baptism is on Sunday, and while we don't want to eclipse Jada's special day, we'll have a little cake for Jo, too, to celebrate her 1 year post treatment! Hurrah!

Yes, yes... pictures will be forthcoming!

Girls Day Out!

While the men stayed home and played with the kiddies, the ladies finally went out for the first time to celebrate Jenny's upcoming wedding and Mari's upcoming return home to LA!

We had so much fun at Foxwoods (Jenny and Kirsten's first time there). Unfortunately, "what happens at Foxwoods stays at Foxwoods" so I can't post anything .. other than we had an awesome time!

I hear that Joli and Jada were such good girls with Jorge!

Hey, everyone. Nothing major to report. Just wanted to post these cute pictures of Jada's teeth (she has 2 on top and 2 on bottom) and a picture of Joli and her hair! Jada is a crawling fanatic - she's at that stage where she'll crawl up to you and tug on your pant leg to have you carry her. So sweet! Joli's been hilarious (see the previous posts) and just being all around silly.

Mari and Gavin are heading back home in a few weeks -- boo hoo! The good news is that she is done with treatment and doing well, but the bad news is that we'll miss everyone!

My stomach hurts from laughing....

For posterity sake, I have to write these stories:

I'm currently in the hallway, Joli is on the potty, Jorge is sitting in Joli's bed.

Joli: Mom, I have to poop.
(pooping occurs)

Joli: Mom, the poop are not going to the poopie party today. They are going to the poop store.

Liza: Jo, what are they buying at the store?

Joli: (sigh), well, poop toys of course.

(giant poop occurs)


Joli: (sigh.. of relief) Ahhhh.. that's a nice crap.

Liza: runs to get laptop to write about it in the blog. goes to sit in the hallway.

Joli: Mom, why are you in the hallway? Does my poop stink?

Liza: Yes. yes it does.

Joli: Well, if it's too stinky, you can go in my bedroom. Oh, wait. Dad is there. He farts. Maybe you'd be safer in your room.

AND..... TODAY AT 6:30AM, JADA SAID "Mama" and "Dada!!" and then she giggled!

9 months and 42 months

We missed a month of the "tigger/grover" pictures, but here is the latest one of the gals at 9 months (Jada) and 42 months (Joli).

We spend our Saturdays drenched in the pool (check out the cool new bikinis!). Jada has 4 teeth (did I write that somewhere already) and is hilarious! She is officially a crawling baby now! She likes to wreck the television set and the DVDs -- yes, payback for having the most angelic baby for 9 months! She babbles non stop, unfortunately can sit and watch tv quietly, and is eating just about everything a baby could and would eat.


Joli's hair is outrageous these days - today, she put 3 clips in her hair, and I had to feel all around her scalp just to find them! She's got herself a great solid afro puff!

As of today, we also noticed that Jada's hair is starting to curl in the back! Wow!

Today, Mari/Gavin, Jenny/Mia, Joli and I went to a "play gym". It was so fun! It was great seeing how much Joli and Mia look out for each other, and how much Gavin wants to basically run and destroy everything in site! :) AND, check out the fact that Joli kept her glasses on the whole time!! (Of course, the minute we hit the parking lot, she took them off!).


Here's Mia with her crazy static hair!


After we paid all that good money for Gavin to go to Scaliwags, he decided to play with the toy kitchen -- which he could have done for free at Lola's house....

So Fresh, I didn't Know What to Do!

I admit, sometimes when talking to our dog, Jorge and I aren't the nicest nor the most polite to poor old Gordon. Oftentimes, when he's scratching at the door or barking to go out, we say things like, "Alright already, Gordon!" or "Knock it off, Gordon!" or even some slightly more harsh phrases.....

Today. Joli and Jada were in the bathtub and Joli was calling for Jorge:

Joli: "Daddd! Oh, Daaaaad!"
Liza: "Joli, Dad is doing something right now."
Joli: "I was talking to Dad, Mom. Now, shut up already...."
Liza: "gaaaasp!!"

Yet, it was one of those moments where I wasn't sure what had just come out of her mouth... did she REALLY just tell me to "shut up already???" I went to tell Jorge and for some crazy reason, all we could do was laugh. Not in front of Joli, of course. But, we just couldn't believe our ears!

Earlier that evening, Joli said the funniest thing while she was on the potty (yes, I'm sure she's going to be absolutely horrified when she's older that I'm writing this).

Joli (on the potty): "Mom. The poop is ready."
Liza: "What???"
Joli: " I said the poop is ready."
Liza: "What's the poop ready to do?" (said with hesitation)
Joli: "Well, you see. The poop is ready to go down the butt slide, splash in the water, and join the other poops in the potty at the poopie party."
Liza: "Excuse me?"
Joli: "Yeah, and then they'll allllll go around and around and have fun on the flushing roller coaster."

Jada-da-da-da

Thanks to Tita Mari who has reminded me that I have to work every day and am missing out on the limited time that my children are little.... no, really. No guilt there....

Here are some cute pictures of Jada standing, which, yes, I am missing....
Jada is almost 9 months old, has 4 teeth (gosh!), and is waking up every hour at night whimpering as her teeth are hurting her. Poor little bugger.



also, congrats to Mari who has her LAST RADIATION TODAY!! Big up, sista!

Sorry! I forgot to add the video feed of the girls in the morning. Hopefully you can all see it!

Also, my family keeps reminding me how little I have been documenting Jada's progress and changes... I had pretty much journaled every single thing Joli had ever done in her life, and they all feel that Jada is getting the short stick!

So, Jada is in crawling mode already! She isn't quite doing the traditional crawl, yet. She sort of arches her back like a little tent and then projects herself forward! Pretty cute! She also has 4 teeth now, is eating just about everything, still is breastfed 3-4x a day, and is still quite independently playing. She does cry when she's left alone in the playroom and all her cousins are running around, though. Her favorite toy is this little yellow egg that seems to be filled with rice or something rattle-like. She loves that atiqnge32`1 (that right there was Jada grabbing my keyboard and trying to add her own blog entry!!) toy like crazy!

Today we're heading to the pool, so I'm sure we'll have more cool pictures. The girls both have little bikinis (which, is simply for functional reasons - much easier to change a diaper when a baby is wearing a bikini than a full suit!).

Can't wait for Cousin Mia to come back to the East Coast! She's been away with Jon and Jenny at Grandma Laura's wedding!

A typical morning....

In my desperate attempt to get to work on time each day, I thought I'd put a snippet of what our morning looks like (and why I'm perpetually late for work).

Once I finally get the girls in their coats (which you'll notice Joli does NOT have on because she decided she had to go to the bathroom just as I locked the house door and if I didn't let her go she said she would pee in my car), it's still a struggle to get them both into their car seats. I'm sure our neighbors get a chuckle out of us in the morning. Hey, we're better than any morning talk show!

Here's Jada's new thing -- she doesn't want to get in the car seat. Usually I can count on Jada to be smiling and giggling once she gets her pink coat on, and she usually loves the car seat. But, now, Jada is doing the "straight as a board/fight the power" move when I put her in. This morning, I let her stay "straight as a board" in the seat while I reached down to get Joli and lift her into the car(and, for some reason, she has lost her jacket since leaving the bathroom and today's temperature is all of 41 degrees...). I stood straight up and then saw Jada leaning over the car seat and facing the front of the car. Urghh....

Then, I finally got Joli into the car and she decides to ask over and over and over again for "treats" (aka chocolate).

Now, on most days, I would have lost my "cool" and gone nuts...

But, today, I joined the masses of amateur journalists and grabbed my laptop to document the wild and crazy times of our little family - all before 7:45am.

Enjoy!!

Party at MGH!
We had a great time at the MGH holiday party! Joli brought Jada and Gavin and Tita Mari along, too. All the kids got their caricatures drawn to add to Lolo's gallery of family caricatures, Gavie got a "bug" painted on his hand, and Joli had fun dancing around with Mickey Mouse and Frosty the Snowman. Thanks to everyone at MGH for a fantastic time!

Joli getting her nails professionally done! Woahh....


Gavin's "bug tattoo"

Gavie and Jada


Joli decorating cookies!

Joli having a ball dancing