Bookworm

Jillian has a lot of books that she loves to have us read to her, including "Zoo Friends", "My Puppy" and "Daisy Duck". But when she received "Where's Spot?" from The Johnson's (see photo), that became her new favorite. When we first read it to her, she got so excited about the little doors opening that she wanted it read over and over and over again. Reading it to her usually means about 5 times at least. Once she figured out how to open the little flaps herself, she likes to pick up the book and go through it on her own.

Maternal Instinct

This past Christmas, Jillian received a baby doll from her cousin Rielee (see photo). It came with a little bottle and a backpack. Ever since she got it, Jillian has been practicing her mothering skills. She really likes to carry the baby around, sometimes by the head or foot. We've shown her how to feed the baby with the bottle, and Jillian will try to do the same thing, usually by smacking the bottle against the side of baby's head.

Hello?

Here's a video of Jillian talking on our house phone, one of her favorite "toys". She likes to press the buttons and hear them "beep", then hold the receiver up to her ear and talk into the phone.

Keep-a-way

It's not so much of a game to Jillian. When she is holding onto something, and she sees someone trying to take that thing away from her, she will try to hide it behind her back. It's pretty funny to see. No doubt, she's learned this after having many things taken away from her.

Ball Girl

Jillian was at Coach Mommy's volleyball practice tonight. She always loves going to the gym at Castle Rock because the bleachers are pulled out, and they are just the right height for cruising. Plus, she just likes being in wide open spaces and seeing her cousins (Meagan, Tierney and Macee) playing volleyball.

Grannie was babysitting, and to entertain Jillian, she put her into the ball cart with all the balls (see the photo), and pushed her around the gym. Jillian loved it! In fact, she loved it so much, that when would Grannie stopped pushing, Jillian would throw a fit, yelling and getting red-in-the-face. And you can imagine what happened when she took her out of the ball cart. Yikes!

Uh-oh

Daddy has been a slacker in not posting this for a while. It is a video of Jillian saying "uh-oh". She learned this from her Grannie, after hearing it when she fell down (or something similar). Now, if Jillian hears someone say "uh-oh", she'll repeat it over and over again. We tend to say it a lot, since she has a lot of spills and crashes.

Finger Foods

Jillian has gotten pretty good at picking up food with her index finger and thumb. We have been putting Cheerios in front of her and letting her go after them. At first she treated them like a toy ... she just hit them or swiped at them and sent them flying all over the place. Now, she has been grabbing the Cheerios slowly and bringing them to her mouth. The tough part has been letting go of them, since they tend to stick to her wet fingers. But when they end up in her mouth, she chews them real good with her gums and occasionally bites them with her 4 teeth. Here's a little video of some of the action:

Sighting No. 21

Here's a little bonus photo of Jillian on Christmas morning. She was a happy little girl all day long.

Christmas Day

Jillian really enjoyed her first Christmas Day! She traveled, opened presents and played, and hardly even fussed at all. She was a very good little girl, which is a good start for the next time that Santa Claus comes again.

The day started off nice and early with some presents for Jillian under the Christmas tree and in her stocking. Both Mommy and Daddy had nostalgic ideas about gifts, giving Jillian a wood xylophone (which Mommy got when she was about the same age) and wood blocks (which Daddy loved most when he was little). Jillian liked banging on the xylophone. After a few other presents amongst all of us, we packed up and headed to Scott & Cindy Stephenson's house.

After picking up Grandma Helen and then battling slushy snow, we entered to a full house with Scott & Cindy, Jason & Dany and McKenna & Lindsey. There were lots and lots of great gifts exchanged, and Jillian received so many neat things that she'll get to use for years to come. She spent a lot of time roaming around and playing with wrapping paper, bows and Josie the dog. When the snow really started coming down, we packed up again and headed to Grannie and Papa's house.

Jillian slept on the way there, but then woke up on arrival to find Grannie & Papa, Betty Uhlenkott, Uncle Dan & Aunt Robin and Cousins Ainsley & Tierney, Uncle Kevin & Aunt Julie and Cousins Cale, Ty & Brock. A quick bite to eat was followed by many more presents. Once again, Jillian received wonderful things from everyone, and enjoyed played with her new stuff (including a bottled water that Aunt Robin gave her). All of the presents wore Jillian out, as she and Mommy then took a nice, long nap. The day ended with a bunch more playing around with her cousins. When it got late, we packed up and headed home.

All in all, a great first Christmas for our little sweetie-pie!

Christmas Eve

It was Jillian's first Christmas Eve! We spent the evening with the Peterson family at the Verd house. It was packed, with Grandpa Ken & Bev, Uncle Clark & Auntie Greta, Auntie Sheryl & Auntie Denise, Mommy and Daddy and Cousins Meagan, Adam, Andy and Jillian (with the traditional appearance by Missy & Steven).

We had a big dinner of tacos with all the fixings, followed by whatever desserts we could cram in. Then we got down to the business of opening presents! There were lots, and throughout the evening, Jillian liked to roam around and check out what everyone else got, especially Adam and Andy's toys. Occasionally, she'd just sit and play with the wrapping paper (shown here). Jillian received many awesome gifts ... she sends out a big "Thank You!" to everyone. She has lots of serious playing to do with all her new toys, plus she'll look stylin' in all her cool new clothes.

After it was all over, she was one tired little girl ... she immediately sacked out when she got home.

Santa Claus

The Peterson family cousins all made a trip over to the Three Rivers Mall to visit Santa Claus today (Christmas Eve). This would be Jillian's first encounter with the jolly old elf.

Cousin Adam showed the way, making a dash for Santa as soon as he saw him, jumping into his arms and coming away with a candy cane. All of the cousins (Meagan, Adam, Andy and Jillian) then got together in a photo shoot, as you can see here. Andy and Jillian stuck in there pretty good, though Jillian started getting a little anxious towards the end.

Then Mommy and Daddy joined Jillian for a family picture, and this is when Jillian starting wailing. Until, that is, we gave her a candy cane to suck on ... then everything was good! She forgot all about Santa Claus, and we managed to get a decent photo.

Snowbunny

Here's a photo of our little snowbunny!

For the past week or so, it has been very snowy and cold ... pretty unusual weather for around here. Jillian didn't have the kind of clothes that we could take her out into the snow, until her Auntie Sheryl scored her these cute bibs and coat. So, we bundled her up and took her outside. When she got a chance to see and touch the snow, she wasn't too interested. As this photo shows, this is about as close as she wanted to get to the white stuff.

Elf Movie Night

It's almost Christmas, which means that it was time for the annual Kid's Day featuring the movie "Elf". This was Jillian's first time for the traditional event.

Cousins Ainsley, Tierney, Cale, Ty, Brock, Meagan & Adam all came over on Sunday evening to our house. Mommy got us started with pizza and snacks, then we watched the "Elf" movie. Afterwards, we played lots of board games before finally settling in for the sleepover in the living room.

One of Jillian's favorite moments was waking up in the morning to find all the kids still at the house ... she had a big smile and was so excited. She played and played with the cousins before they finally went back home.

Grinding

Now that Jillian's top 2 teeth have poked through (joining her pretty long bottom 2 teeth) she likes to grind her 4 little teeth together. It makes a terrible-sounding "crunching / scraping" that makes Mommy cringe when she hears it. We much prefer the sucking and popping sounds that she makes with her lips.

Big Tub

Jillian has outgrown the kitchen sink, so tonight she got to take a bath in the big bathtub. As always, she loved her bathtime. Mommy had bought a rubber mat to keep her from slipping around, and it did its job, but now our focus is to keep her from standing up, which she tried to do several times. This photo shows her favorite bath toys, some little squirters that she likes to dunk and chew on.

Some New Stuff

Our little girl continues to grow and change a lot. Here's just a few observations of Jillian in the last couple days ...

1. Her understanding of "mine" is beginning to show. First of all, she's got the iron grip, and it can be nearly impossible to take something out of her vise-like fingers if she doesn't want to let go. Secondly, she usually doesn't want to let go, and if something is taken away from her, she gets mad! The growling isn't so bad, but the crying (i.e., screaming) is. This is a new thing for Jillian, since before she was pretty indifferent about it.

2. She does not appreciate having a door shut on her if she's not along with us. Anytime we go outside (usually the back) and shut the door behind us, she crawls like a flash to the door, stands up and starts crying. The problem, then, is that we can't open the door, because she's in the way. When we come back in, though, everything's OK.

3. She is figuring out how to make a kissing-sound. We like to give Jillian kisses, and we tell her what they are ... and in those times, she has started making a suction-type sound with her lips, so they make a little "pop". But, she's still not much into giving or getting kisses, yet.

Walking Video

Finally, caught on video ... it's Jillian walking! Today was a good day for it, because she was a walking machine. If we put her on her feet, she'll usually try walking over to the nearest tall furniture.

Again!

Jillian is a little more expressive about letting us know about her wishes. For instance, when we are playing a game with her, and then we stop ... she lets out either a whiny cry or a mad grunt, telling us, in her own words, "Again!" So, if we're up to it, we'll keep playing the game.

Sighting No. 20

Here's another photo of Jillian and her big, blue eyes ... anymore, it is pretty difficult to get portrait-type shots of her, since she's always on the move (and moving fast!)

Children's Sermon

Today at the morning church service at Grace Lutheran, Mommy took Jillian up to the altar for her first children's sermon that Maggie Berryman does every Sunday. Mommy had Jillian on her lap while Maggie talked about Jesus as Light of the World. Jillian was a very good listener as she sat quietly (unlike the rest of the service). Soon, she'll be running up there on her own.

Little Logger

Mommy, Daddy and Jillian went to get their Christmas tree on Saturday. It was a cold, cold day, but no rain or snow. We went up to the tree farm on George Miller Road in Silver Lake, where we go every year, and looked around for a while. Jillian helped us look, and found a tree just her size (as shown in this photo) ... here she is clapping for joy! We eventually found our tree, as far from from the truck as possible so we had a long trek back. But it's home now, and Jillian can't wait to attack it.

Many More Steps

After taking her 1st step just a few days ago, Jillian went ahead and took a whole bunch more tonight. With Mommy sitting on the floor, Daddy picked Jillian up and got her standing just a couple feet away (although this took some time to do, since she was already trying to walk before her feet hit the floor). After letting her get her balance, she took a step towards Mommy ... then another ... and another ... it was probably about 5 or 6 steps in all before she finally reached her Mama's arms! This was followed by a big hug from Mommy, then lots of clapping and cheering by all 3 of us, of course. Then Jillian got down and got back to crawling, since it's much faster.

We did manage to get all this on video, but it's on the miniDV camera (which is more difficult to post to the blog). So hopefully soon, we can get a good pocket camera video of Jillian walking and get that posted here.

Standing Video

Here's a little clip of Jillian standing up in the kitchen. She likes to clap and yell when she does it.

Mommy's Clone

Does this little girl look familiar? Well, it's not Jillian. This is a photo of Mommy when she was about the same age!

Mommy showed this photo to Daddy, and asked "Do you think Jillian might be my daughter?" You can guess the answer ... talk about a strong resemblance! But now Daddy knows that when Jillian grows up, she'll look just like her beautiful Mommy.

Sighting No. 19

Here's a new photo of our little sweetie pie. She's about 9-1/2 months old, and changing so quick!

Leg Crawler

If she wanted to be picked up, Jillian used to just cry ... and usually someone would come and get her. Now that she's mobile, she takes the initiative and crawls over to our (or anyone else's) leg, grabs on and pulls herself up to a standing position. And then, she'll cry for attention to get picked up. At least this gives us a clue about what she's crying about.

A Leg Up

Jillian's newest trick is to get into a kneeling position, like this photo shows. From the sitting position, she will rock forward so that one knee is up and the other is down. This lets her get up higher, without actually standing up. Jillian does this a lot, especially when she's got a toy in hand.

First Step!

Jillian took her first step today!

Mommy, Daddy and Jillian were over at the Verd house having dinner with Uncle Clark, Auntie Greta and Cousins Meagan and Adam. We were all in the living room relaxing, when Auntie Greta got Jillian up on her feet. She has gotten pretty good at standing, so she can stay there as long as she wants. But, apparently she wanted to get over to Mommy who was sitting on the couch, because she took one little step in her direction, and stayed on her feet! There was lots of clapping and cheering from everyone!

Christmas Parade

The last time Jillian was at the Longview Christmas Parade, she was in Mommy's tummy. This year, she got to watch it all on Mommy lap, along with the Stephenson and Verd families. Since it was a little cold, she was bundled up nice and warm, which was probably the reason why she fell asleep about half way through the parade. Even the loud horns on the big log trucks didn't wake her up.

Shake, shake

We don't know why, but there are times when Jillian will shake her head around like this video shows. Sometimes it happens when there's music (for dancing), or when we say "No!" to her. Then, there's times that she does it for no particular reason at all.

Big Stand

If you put Jillian on her feet where she can't reach anything, she'll go ahead and stand there ... at least for 10 seconds or so before she gets bored with it and sits down. A lot of times, she'll clap her hands and yell while standing up. Occasionally, she'll also bend her legs and bounce a little bit. And, when it's picture time, she likes to give a big smile (like this photo shows).

One of Two

Just tonight, Meagan noticed that one of Jillian's top 2 teeth had poked through the gums. When we laid her back and opened her mouth, sure enough, a little bit of white on the top left tooth was peeking through. The one on the right was just about to come through, as well. This would explain why Jillian has been drooling a river the last couple days ... and also why she hasn't been sleeping well at all. So, that big cheesy smile of hers is about to get even bigger!

Stranger Danger

Jillian has been having more frequent bouts of "stranger danger" lately. There are a lot of people that she sees pretty regularly, and she's perfectly fine being around them or being held by them. But, if there is someone that she sees only occasionally (say, once every couple weeks), then she gets anxious and starts crying if she gets near them.

9-month Check-up

Jillian made another visit to the doctor today, this time for her 9-month check-up. The nurse started out right away by measuring her length at 28 inches (75th percentile), her weight at 19 lbs 3 ounces (100th+ percentile ... basically off the charts), and her head size at 18 inches (the same 90th percentile). So, Jillian continues to grow at a good clip.

Her resident doctor this time was Dr. LaGrande, with Dr. Liu also attending. Both doctors remarked at how happy Jillian was, probably because of all the smiles she was giving them. Dr. LaGrande checked her over and asked the usual questions, and said that everything looks good. They also both enjoyed watching Jillian perform all of her tricks for them (clapping, standing, talking, etc).

Then the nurse returned to apply a flouride varnish to Jillian's 2 bottom teeth. It must have been tasty, because she hardly flinched when the nurse stuck the flu shot needle in her leg.

Cheese!

Here's a great big cheesy smile from Jillian, after Daddy said "smile" before taking the photo. She likes to show off her 2 bottom teeth with the biggest smile she can muster.

By the way, if you're wondering why there have been no photos for the past 2-1/2 weeks, it's because Daddy had a little mess up. During a visit to Yakima, he left his camera bag (with both digital and video cameras) in a movie theatre. Fortunately, someone turned it in to management, and after many phone calls, he found the company that was keeping it for him. They wouldn't mail the bag, but agreed to hold onto it until someone picked it up. Dany made an attempt to stop by, but the business was closed that day (sorry, Dany ... thanks for trying!). Then, Grandpa Ken paid them a visit and came away with the bag (thank you, Grandpa!). So now, we're back in business, and hopefully lots of photos will be posted again.

Vocabulary

There are a number of words that Jillian seems to understand pretty well ... at least we think she does. We get a fairly consistent response from her when we say them. Here's the current list:

Mama
Dada
Jillian
Sweetie Pie
No! (or maybe not, based on how well she behaves)
Bye-bye
Open (mouth, when eating)
Up
Legs down (when on the changing table)
Doggie
Smile (when Daddy is taking photos)

She also seems to recognize the words from her favorite books (or at least the way we say them when we read them). If we say the words from her Zoo Friends book, "Hello Panda, in the zoo", she'll get a big smile on her face.

Shopper in Training

Jillian joined Mommy, Dany, Cindy and McKenna & Lindsey for some post-Thanksgiving day shopping on Saturday. It was an all-day affair, and Jillian showed that she will be ready to join the ladies soon ... she was a good girl, and kept on-the-go the entire day. Here's a photo (thanks to Dany) of Jillian next to the loot.

First Thanksgiving

This was Jillian's first Thanksgiving! Being almost 9 months old, she got to try out some of the great food that was served at Auntie Greta's. Mommy gave her some mashed potatoes and little bits of turkey, and those were just OK with Jillian. It was the cranberry sauce that she really liked and kept opening her mouth up for more. After playing around with cousins Adam and Meagan she settled down for a nap ... just like everyone else. Afterwards, it was on to the Uhlenkott's for desserts, though it was only the usual baby food for Jillian. After some more playing with cousin Tierney, it was back to home.

So what was Jillian's favorite part of Thanksgiving? It was being out of her house and somewhere different to explore, of course!

Teething Pains

As I write this at 9:00 pm, Jillian is one crabby little girl. It's been a very long day, with lots of crying and whining. She has been trying to gum everything that she can sink her mouth onto, so that tells us that her top 2 teeth are giving her some problems. It looks like it's going to be a looong night.

Cruising

Each day, Jillian gets a little more stable, and a little more daring, with her standing up time. For at least the past month, she has been able to "cruise" along the sofa or the ottoman, or the exer-saucer. It was a little slow, though, maybe only a step or two. Now, she is moving more quickly while standing-and-holding-on, stepping around with purpose (usually so she can grab something). The odd thing is, she typically only moves to her left ... it's hard to recall her ever going to her right.

Kid Games

Jillian has a lot of laughs when she plays with her cousins Ty and Brock. They like to play a combination hide-and-seek / peek-a-boo game with her at Grannie's house. They'll put her on the sofa, with one of them holding her up, and the other will crawl around the sofa, staying out of sight. Jillian will look all over for the hidden cousin. When Ty or Brock pops up, Jillian will giggle hysterically! The boys think it's pretty funny, too ... they said "Hey, Jill can play games with us now."

Separation Anxiety

Separation anxiety used to happen only once in a while ... whenever Mommy would drop Jillian off with someone, there might be some crying over Mommy leaving her. The (angry) tears were brief, so it wasn't much of a problem. Now, it seems like separation anxiety is happening all the time. If Mommy or Daddy is in a room with Jillian, and then we leave for even a few seconds, enough that we are out of her sight, she immediately starts crying out loud and doesn't stop until we come back into sight. It makes moving around the house difficult ... so carrying her with us is sometimes the way to go. The anxiety isn't just limited to Mommy and Daddy, either; she gets upset about being left by whoever is in the room with her.

Mama & Dada

Jillian definitely knows the names of her Mommy and Daddy. Whenever either of us calls on the phone, and Jillian has the phone put up to her ear, she'll say "Mama" or "Dada" depending upon who is talking. We've known for a while that Jillian knew Mommy's name, because whenever she would cry, she'd let out a long, wailing "Maaaamaaaa".

Weekend @ Home

Not only was Jillian sick, but so was Mommy and Daddy. So, we all had a quiet weekend at home, napping and relaxing. Jillian had a lot of congestion, so she had a hard time sleeping at night. And she didn't appreciate having a Kleenex wiping her, and a suction bulb stuck up her nose all the time. It was a lot of together time for us, but Jillian probably got a little tired of having us around all the time, because we said "No" a lot ...

If anything, Jillian is very persistent. We say "No" when she gets into something that is off-limits, and she'll stop for a moment ... and wait. Then, she'll reach for it again. We say "No" and she stops and waits, again ... and then reaches for it again. This repeats many times, until we go ahead and move her somewhere else. When that happens, she'll voice her frustration (or anger) with some growling / grunting! Then, she'll make a dash for the off-limit thing, again ... or go for something else off-limits.

Da-da-da

It would be nice to think that Jillian is trying to say "Daddy" ... but really, she's probably trying to say "Doggie" since everytime she sees Mocha, she starts making her "Da-da-da" sounds. Oh well. Here's a little video of some of it.

The Bug is Back

Last night, after being laid down in her crib for night-night time, Jillian woke up a short time later coughing and sniffling ... and had a much more difficult time getting back to sleep since she couldn't breathe through her nose very well. It was a very long night, and by morning, Jillian had a full-out cold. It seems like she just went through this (and in fact, she did!) So, Mommy and Sweetie stayed in the for the day and night; through it all, Jillian was still a happy little girl.

Jillian the Explorer

With a small house like ours, it's not going to take long for Jillian to explore the entire thing. She's made a good start of it today, heading down the hall and into the bathroom, where Daddy found her standing up by the tub and playing with the shower curtain. Then she headed into the living room and knocked down some of the "no touch" picture frames.

She also tries to follow us if we move into a different room. Jillian crawled from the living room to the kitchen, trying to catch up with Mommy this afternoon.

Mad Dash

Mommy sometimes calls Jillian a "Sneaky Pete" when she is silently getting into things that she isn't supposed to be in. There are certain things that Jillian knows are off-limits, and has been told "no" when she gets into them ... like the phone, the DVDs and the picture frames.

The funny thing to see is when Jillian is crawling towards something that is off-limits. As soon as we say something as a warning to her ... she speeds up, like she is racing towards the forbidden object before Mommy or Daddy can stop her! Those little arms and legs start scrambling fast, and she sometimes lets out a little squeal, knowing that she almost got away with it.

Phone Time II

When the telephone rings, watch out! Jillian has gotten so used to talking to Mommy and Daddy on the phone that when a call comes in, she gets very excited and thinks that it's time to talk (to whoever is calling). When we pick up the phone and start talking, Jillian will either watch us and wait for her turn, or just crawl over and start climbing our pant legs trying to get to the phone. She always gets a big grin on her face when she finally gets to listen to the receiver (and occasionally she'll even do some talking herself), but eventually her grabby hands take over.

First Sleepover

Rick and I left Jillian for the first time over night. We went to Ocean Park to celebrate our Anniversary. Jillian had her first sleep over with Auntie Greta, Uncle Clark, Meagan and Adam. Adam was more than thrilled to have "My Baby" stay the night. Jillian and Adam shared a bath together and played and played and played. Jillian likes to wrestle Adam to the ground whenever she can get a hold of him. Jillian spent the night in Meagan's room and only woke her up once. Apparently Tad the musical frog put Jillian right back to sleep. Greta said Jillian was a good baby and they enjoyed her very much.

Ladybug

It was Jillian's first Halloween, and she dressed up like a ladybug! Mommy found the outfit at Party City, and paired it with a black onesie, black tights and black shoes. Plus, Cindy Stephenson gave her some antennas with the little clippies.

It was a whirlwind trick-or-treat fest, going from Woodland to Longview to Castle Rock, all in a few short hours. Jillian did really well, and had a big smile for everyone she greeted at the door. After the first couple doors, she figured out how to grab as many candies out of the bowls as possible ... she didn't eat the candy, though, because that was Daddy's job. But, she liked to play with the candy and suck on the wrappers.

First Pumpkin

Here's a photo of Jillian with her pumpkin ... it's the one with 2 little bottom teeth that she's holding onto. And there's Mommy's pumpkin at top right, and Daddy's pumpkin at the bottom.

Standing

Jillian is really making the effort now to stand up without holding on. She likes to grab onto something (like her toys) and then pull herself up to standing position ... and then let go and play with both hands. Her balance is much better, so now she can stay up for several seconds before either grabbing onto something again (like this video shows) or falling onto her bum.

Power Squats

A new trick that Jillian has been using lately is the "squat". From her typical standing position, she'll hold on with one hand and lower herself slowly until she is sitting on her heels. While she's there, she'll explore from this new height and grab whatever's available. When she's done, she'll stand right back up again. Here's a short video of Jillian exploring the changing table:

Tough Cookie

There have been lots of thrills and spills for Jillian ever since she started climbing things and standing up all the time. It seems like she has a big crash every day or so. Even though she might bonk her face or head on the floor or against some furniture, her crying is short and to the point ... it sounds like she's just mad and wants to vent a little. After about 10-15 seconds of crying, she shrugs it off and gets back to exploring or playing. It looks like Jillian is going to be a tough (and fearless) little cookie.

Anniversary Day

Jillian made a trip down to Southwest Washington Medical Center tonight, to visit Mommy on her dinner break and to celebrate her
Mommy and Daddy's 2nd Anniversary.

With all the photos taken of Jillian, she now smiles whenever a picture is being taken. When she sees the camera, she looks right at it and smiles as big as she can (like this photo shows). We end up with a nice shot of her 2 teeth and her chubby little cheeks.

Chugging Along

It seems that Jillian is getting this crawling thing figured out, since she has started keeping her left knee on the floor more ... anything to make her move a little faster. Here's a little video of her latest moves.

High School Memories

In just the past week, Jillian has gotten to witness some of her cousins' memorable high school events.

On Thursday, she went to watch her Cousin Ainsley (pictured here) and Cousin Emmy's final volleyball match on the Castle Rock court, during Senior Night. Jillian has always loved to watch volleyball, and once again, she watched the Rockets win another match ... so, she is retaining her status as a "lucky charm".

The next day, she went to watch her Cousin Emmy represent the CR senior class as a homecoming princess at the high school football game ... and then she got to see Emmy be crowned the queen. We have a feeling that Jillian will enjoy hearing bedtime fairy tales that end like this.

Letting Go

When Jillian has been standing while holding onto something, there have been many times over the past few days that she has let go completely ... and stood there on her own! It doesn't last very long, and it's not too stable looking; there's still a bit of bobbing and rocking going on. But, she likes having both hands free to grab onto and play with things (such as banging toys together), so she keeps letting go, if only for a second or two.

Bye-bye

The next time you wave goodbye to Jillian, she'll probaby wave back at you. She does it in a big way, too, by waving her whole arm! Here's a short video of her waving "bye-bye" (... after Daddy had just waved goodbye to her).

One-hand Stand

With all the standing-up practice that Jillian has gotten, she's good enough now she only needs to hold on with one hand ... that way she's got a hand free to grab things, and even to reach out to hold onto something else. This photo is in her room, where she likes to climb up the rocking chair and show off some daring maneuvers.

And after plopping down hard on her bottom from the standing position many times, Jillian has decided she doesn't like that so much. So now, when she wants to get down, she will hold on tight and slowly lower herself to the floor ... the whole process takes a while (about 10-15 seconds) -- it's almost like she's moving in slow motion. But, she has a nice soft landing in the end.

Spooked

It's almost trick-or-treat time, so that means Halloween decorations at Grannie's house, including the big, scary black spider. It hangs between the kitchen and living room, and drops suddenly if there is a loud noise such as a clap. Jillian happened to be right under the spider when someone made a loud noise, and the spider dropped down right on top of her. It spooked her enough that now, whenever she's at Grannie's, she knows exactly where that spider is and always keeps an eye on it at all times ... Jillian has a long memory for those kinds of scary things. Here's a little photo of her (reluctantly) making nice with the spider.

Toe Fascination

Other people's toes were a little scary at first to Jillian. It started with cousin Michelle's toes while staying at Auntie Charolette's house ... she saw the toes wiggling and had a very concerned look on her face. Then she saw Mommy's toes at home, and gave the same concerned look and whined some about it. It wasn't but a day or two later, though, that she was more curious about toes than anything ... now she'll go after people's toes, or at least get up close to them to watch and wait for them to move.

Learning "No!"

The time arrived for Jillian to begin learning what "No!" means. It all started on the changing table, where she has been a handful, squirming all over the place and making it difficult to change her diaper ... and there was also the danger of falling off the table. So, Mommy finally gave a firm warning, saying "No!" to Jillian. That led to some (mad) crying and tears from the sweetie-pie. She learned her lesson, though, because the past few days she has been laying nice and still for Mommy on the changing table.

Jillian also had to hear "No!" from Daddy, this time when she was climbing the TV console to get to the DVDs. After several of the "No!"s and being moved away from the TV, she let loose with some (short-lived) crying and tears. Again, she figured it out, because she didn't get into the DVDs anymore ... at least for the night.

Sighting No. 18

Here's a photo of Jillian on a Saturday afternoon, holding onto the ottoman while practicing her standing. She's still got a cold, but she's still been a happy little girl.

Jillian the Destroyer

Very soon, Jillian will also be known as "Jillian the Destroyer". Like every little kid we know, she enjoys knocking things down. In this video, it's her blocks which Daddy had stacked up. She laughed every time she knocked them over, and eventually she could hardly wait for Daddy to stack them ... she just started swinging at every block she could see. And laughing while doing it, of course.

3-point Crawl

When Jillian crawls (and she can go pretty fast now), she does it while keeping her left knee off the floor. So really, she's on "threes" instead of all fours. We think she's doing it this way because that how she started out crawling in the first place ... by rocking forward with her left leg up. Now it just stays up, at least for now. Here's a little video of Jillian crawling.

Lotsa Action

One of the things Jillian loves to do is to watch Adam go, go, go! She has always gotten excited seeing him run and tumble around ... probably because she can't wait to join him. Here's a typical scene on them together, with Adam running circles around Jillian.

CD Toys

Even though Jillian is still a little under the weather with a cold, she has enough energy to crawl around and get into anything she can find. Her most favorite target is Mommy's collection of CDs, which sit on the floor next to the television. She enjoys pulling them out of the basket, looking at them (or biting them), then tossing them onto the floor. Here's a photo of Jillian getting caught in the act.

A Little Bug

The cold bug finally caught up to Jillian. Her nose is running like a faucet, so we are constantly cleaning her up with Kleenex. And all the congestion means that once in a while, she'll cough or gag ... and that makes her spit up (unusual for her), like she did last night and this morning. It also means a pretty restless night of sleep, for both her and Mommy and Daddy, though she has been catching up on her sleep during the day with lots of naps. Despite being sick, she is still our little go-go girl ... she is getting better (and faster) at crawling, and she even managed to make a mess of Mommy's CD collection today.

Crawling

Today was the first time that Jillian crawled! Here's a little video of some of the action. She was sitting on the living room floor, and was determined to get to the houseplant that sits on the floor next to the fireplace (she has been slowly ripping all the leaves off of it whenever she has been close to it). She moved on her hands and knees, scooting her legs under her as she moved her arms forwards ... and it got her to where she wanted to go. Watch out, all you houseplants!

J & A, Part II

Jillian and Andy caught up with each other again yesterday. Here's a photo of them sitting together. Mostly, they just enjoyed looking at each other ... until they started practicing their WWF wrestling moves on each other. The first time, Jillian grabbed onto Andy and thought she could climb him ... that one ended up a body slam as Andy fell backwards with Jillian landing on top. Andy would get his turn later, though, latching onto Jill's onesie and tossing her around.

Kickerfish

Just like she was taught to do in swim classes, Jillian practices her kicking while taking a bath in the sink. As she gets bigger, the splashing gets bigger ... and Mommy got soaked yesterday.

The Clapper

If something good happens, or she hears a "Yay!", Jillian might clap her hands for you. This is a new thing that she just learned. She picked it up after sitting on Mommy and Daddy's laps and holding onto our fingers while we clapped our hands. She always liked that, and now she's figured out how to do it herself. Here's a real short video of her clapping her hands.

Pirates Fan

Jillian was a big fan of the Pirate Volleyball team this season. She attended nearly every match, either watching her cousins Tierney and Macee play, or catching up on her sleep with a nice, long nap (despite the all the loud screaming in the gym) . She even got to wear her own team shirt that Grannie made for her (as shown in the photo). Jillian helped to cheer on the Pirates to an undefeated season!

NOTE: Thanks to cousin Emmy for showing me how to take photos with this cool color accent feature!

Ma-ma-ma

Jillian has gotten a lot of practice with saying "Ma-ma-ma" over and over again. It will only be a short while before she's yelling out "Mama" to her Mommy. Here's a short video of some new talking.

Jillian Rising

One of the big moves that Mommy and Daddy have been waiting for is finally here ... Jillian can now go from laying down to sitting up, all on her own. No more getting stuck on her back or tummy and then getting mad about it. She can now push up from her tummy to her hands and knees, then shift to her side and push up from there to a sitting position. Yippeee!

Fearless

We have to watch Jillian closely when she climbs up something and stands up on her own. She has been a bit of a risk-taker lately, because she has been letting go with one hand and try standing there with only one hand holding on. She's not quite stable or strong enough to stay up yet ... more often than not, this ends with a big crash to the floor; but she keeps trying to do it.

Baby in the Mirror

... or, in this case, in the oven door. We often put Jillian on the kitchen floor to play, and she always notices her reflection on the glass oven door. She'll talk to (or sometimes yell at) the baby, and reach out and try to touch her.

Pearly Whites

Jillian's two new teeth continue to poke up and are showing real good now. Here's a little photo for everybody to see them.

Vroom, vroom

Her engines are starting up, and she's about to take off! For this video, Daddy put the telephone on the floor, just out of Jillian's reach; this is her attempt at getting to it. Eventually, when she got close, she lunged forward onto her tummy and grabbed the phone. Victory was hers!

Pull Ups

Those are pretty strong arms that Jillian's got, because she's now able to pull herself right up to a standing position (like this video shows). Yikes!

Games We Play

Jillian and Daddy have a couple games they like to play. The first is a laughing game, and we usually play it on the changing table. We'll both start laughing, and then we'll both stop and wait quietly for 1 or 2 seconds, and then we'll start laughing again ... Jillian thinks it's hilarious, especially because of the anticipation while waiting. The second game is kind of like peek-a-boo, and we play this one while she's in the crib and Daddy is on the computer. While Daddy is looking at the monitor, Jillian will just stare at my back ... and then after a few moments, I'll quickly turn and look at her and laugh, and Jillian cracks up! She laughs and kicks her feet, and then goes right back to staring and waiting. We play both games until she loses interest, or I'm exhausted from all the laughing.

Almost Up

She's getting close now! From her tummy, Jillian can push herself up on all fours for a little while. Here's a sampler video while she was in Castle Rock celebrating Cousins Emmy and James' birthdays ... that's Rielee next to her, watching up close.

Familiar Songs

Jillian has learned a lot of new songs at swim lessons, and she remembers them really well, too. Whenever Mommy or Daddy sings one of the swim lesson songs to her, she listens closely and then gets a big smile on her face. So far her favorite songs (that we can remember the lyrics to)are "I'm going fishing", "Motor Boat" and "Wheels on the Bus".

Sighting No. 17

This is another photo of our little sweetie-pie, enjoying a nice Friday afternoon on the living room area rug ... one of her most favorite places to play.

Jabbering

Lots more talk lately from Jillian, now that her teeth have come in. Once in a while, she'll just start jabbering, using her tongue and lips to try making different sounds. Here's a short video of a little baby-talk:

New Chompers

Jillian has her first set of teeth! The bottom two finally popped out of her gums.

Grannie Woodruff was babysitting Jillian today, and noticed that she was a very happy baby ... which was different from the past couple weeks when she was a cranky girl. So, Grannie ran her finger over Jillian's gums, and found two sharp little teeth sticking up! Now that they had come in, Jillian was all smiles and played all day and took nice long naps. Mommy and Daddy are very happy.

Razzy

Jillian just learned how to razz, and now that she knows how, she won't stop. It makes for a big, sloppy, wet mess all over her face. Here's a short clip of her doing her razzies.

First Nosebleed

While sitting on the area rug in the living room playing with her toys, Jillian rocked forward up onto her hands. She was pretty high up and on the edge of the rug. Then her balance shifted forward even more, and she ended up falling face first into the hardwood floor. It was a short trip, but it still hurt, and Jillian was so mad that she let out the "silent scream". Mommy got her comforted pretty quickly, and then noticed that she had her first nosebleed. After getting cleaned up, Jillian got right back to fearlessly scooting around on the floor.

Biter Biscuit

Mommy gave a biter biscuit to Jillian this afternoon for a playtime snack, and she was all over it ... and it ended up being all over her. Grabbing onto her food is a new thing, and she loved it, of course.

Scooter

As we wait for Jillian to begin crawling, she has found another way to get around ... by scooting. It's slow and not always predictable, but she can cover a little bit of ground this way. Her neatest trick has been to spin around while on her tummy. The other tummy movement has been going backwards when she tries to push herself up. Her third way of scooting has been while sitting up; when she rocks forward and reaches out for things enough times, she ends up traveling around a little bit. The more Jillian gets moving, the more determined she has been at trying to get to stuff!

Crib Time

The crib has turned out to also be a playplace for Jillian. When we're using the computer, we'll put her in the crib and give her some toys to play with, and she's usually pretty happy to be there ... rolling, talking, throwing things around. Her favorite thing to do, though still, is grab onto the slats and pull herself up, and then suck on the railing. Here's a photo of one of those times.

Social Needs

Jillian wants company all the time now. There are still times when she'll play by herself without us around, but most of the time she gets upset if either Mommy or Daddy is not in the room with her. As long as we're in her eyesight, she stays content. In extreme cases, she's not happy unless she's being carried around ... though this probably has something to do with the teething pains.

Greetings

Jillian always gives Mommy (or Mama, as Daddy likes to call her) a big, happy welcome when she comes home from work. She gets so excited, she couldn't smile any bigger if she tried (and if you listen closely, you can even hear a little "snort"). Here's a video of Jillian greeting Mommy as she walks into the house.

Roll, Baby, Roll

Just a couple days ago, Jillian started rolling from her tummy to her back with ease. She learned to tuck her arms under and lean her head back, and softly roll back over. So now, she doesn't get mad when she's on her tummy ... she just rolls back over. This has meant a lot of rolling around, which is a big change. Before, we could put Jillian in one spot and she'd stay there, because she couldn't crawl, and she couldn't roll more than once (onto her tummy). With this new skill, she has now been covering a lot of ground, rolling over a couple times until she gets stuck up against something. Our little rugrat continues to become more mobile every day!

Liftoff!

Jillian is taking a new route to learning to crawl. Today, she started trying to get her knees under her while she's laying on her tummy. With her arms holding her chest up, she has been pulling her knees in and lifting her tummy off the floor. It looks like a really low crawling position. Combined with the fact that, while sitting, she is now rocking all the way forward and putting her full weight on her arms, the whole crawling thing looks to be just days away.

Ottoman-Sized

For the last couple weeks, been helping Jillian stand up on our lap, or on the floor by holding her hands. And she loves it, so much so that she would rather stand up than sit or lay on the floor. She likes to tense up her whole body so that her legs will stay straight, though with the occasional bend that makes her bounce around. But she's gotten much better about being stable, so now she can hold onto something and keep herself up. The ottoman in our house is just the right size, plus it's kind of soft for when she bumps or crashes into it. Here's a photo of Jillian enjoying her standing-time with the ottoman.

Familiar Sounds

There are certain sounds that when Jillian hears them, she understands that someone is coming or something is going to happen. One of the more common ones is the door opening ... she knows that someone is about to appear, so she starts looking in that direction. Another one is the shower ... when it turns off (it makes a squeaking sound), she starts looking to see Mommy or Daddy come out of the bathroom. And of course, there's the sound of the bottle being shaken up, meaning feeding time; that usually gets Jillian excited, or mad that she hasn't gotten to eat yet.

Climbing the Walls

Here's a video of Jillian, doing her best spider-monkey imitation. When she's sitting up inside her crib, she immediately goes for the slats, grabbing onto them and pulling herself up to a kind-of kneeling position. It's hard to tell if she's trying to get a better view, or just wants to gum the top railing (she usually puts her mouth on it as soon as she gets up). Looks like we need to lower the crib bed down a notch.

Ouch!

The closer those bottom 2 teeth get to popping out, the crankier Jillian is getting. The last few days have been some very cranky days, with lots of fussing, crying and not much sleep. And as she has gotten older, Jillian has gotten much louder ... those are powerful lungs! And everything goes into her mouth, including whatever clothes we are wearing, or even our arms, hands and face. The icy teething rings are seeing good use.

Forward Motion

Sitting up just wasn't enough. Jillian wants to expand her range a whole lot more, and it looks like this is the start of things to come (see the video below). Every day, she gets a little bit stronger and tries to rock forward just a little farther. She's also gotten pretty good at leaning to the sides, holding herself up with one arm while grabbing a toy with the other.

Bumpy Gums

If you run your finger along Jillian's lower gums, you'll feel a couple little bumps that have shown up in the last couple days. It's not always easy to do that, since she doesn't care to have fingers put into her mouth ... she usually pulls or turns away. But it looks like those bottom teeth are getting ready to pop out! Jillian has really handled the teething pretty well to this point.

Shrimp

Jillian started her swim lessons on Monday at the YMCA ... she is starting out as a "shrimp". This photo with Mommy is during her second day of class.

It was no surprise to see Jillian absolutely thrilled to be in the water for swim lessons. She is going 2 days-a-week for about a 1/2-hour, and there were a few other kids and their moms in the class, too ... but Jillian was definitely the littlest one there. And she has a great time! The instructor has the kids play lots of games like "motor boat", "wheels on the bus", "humpty-dumpty" and on and on. Mommy helps with all the movements like kicking, jumping and blowing bubbles (though Jillian tried to drink the water the first time). Jillian smiles and talks the entire time, and splashes with her hands every now and then. This pool time with Mommy is turning out to be one of her favorites.

Noisemaker

Jillian loves to make noise! She has really gotten into hitting things, either her hand against something, or banging two things together, like this video shows.

It has also meant that being next to Jillian is kind of dangerous. When she is being held, she'll start swinging her arms around trying to hit something, and often hit us in the face. Daddy has started flinching when that happens, due to being hit in the eye a couple times with a wild fist. There's also been the threat of flying objects, because she sometimes loses her grip on toys when she's hitting them together.

Night Cries

Lately, Jillian has been crying in her sleep. She'll wake us up in the middle of the night with some loud crying, but when we check on her, her eyes are still closed. Usually, she'll cry for a bit longer, and then go right back to sleeping soundly like nothing had happened. We've seen the same thing when she's sleeping in her car seat.

We're not sure what's causing it. Maybe it's a bad dream, or maybe it's teething pain. Whatever it is, it's causing some fitful nights of sleep for all of us.

SPU bound?

It looks like Jillian will have a tough decision to make in few years ... UW or SPU? Here's a photo of Jillian with her new SPU sweatshirt that Heather's college volleyball coach JoAnn Atwell-Scrivner gave her.

Ready, Set ...

... and soooo ready to go! Now that Jillian can sit up on her own, she is starting to reach out to grab things that are out of her reach. Which means that she is starting to rock forward a little bit. She hasn't tried to go all the way forward, probably because she knows she'd go face first into the floor ... her arms aren't quite strong enough for it yet. But, she's getting the idea. When she can get a hold of the shag carpet, she'll latch onto that and pull herself up a bit. Those grabby hands of hers are really coming in handy now!

Jillian also likes to stand up with help. When we hold her up, she straightens herself up stiff as a board ... but then once she's up she also likes to bounce with her knees, so she ends up moving all over the place. The cousins like to say that she's "dancing".

Beach Trip

School starts at Castle Rock this week, which means it was time for Kids' Day at the Beach! This was the grandkids version of the annual trip to the Ocean Park beach house, so it included Ainsley, Tierney, Cale, Ty, Brock, William and Jillian. The adults included Grannie, Papa, Mommy and Daddy to keep them out of trouble ... while Mocha caused her own problems.

We went to the beach right away on Saturday, and since Jillian is sitting up, we let her play in the sand. She liked grabbing at the sand, looking at it and then spreading it all over herself (like the photo shows). Luckily, she didn't care for the taste of sand (she only tried it once). Uncle Rick built the usual "moat" for the older kids, then built a little "moat" for Jillian to sit on. Neither of them lasted long before the waves wiped them out. When we went back to the cabin, it was time for Jillian to take a bath in the sink to wash all the sand off; she managed to get the sand in every possible place on her little body.

All weekend, the older kids did all of the traditional stuff at the beach, and Jillian enjoyed watching the action. She loved getting all the attention from everyone, as there was always a cousin to play with her on the floor. And, as usual, she was fascinated watching the dog run around and occasionally licking her face.

More Shots

Since Jillian just turned 6-months old this week, it was time for yet another appointment with those dreaded needles. Daddy drove Jillian down to Vancouver to meet Mommy, who was coming off work ... and we all sat in the waiting room for a looooong time before we were called in. Once we were in the examination room, the practitioner went right to work, measuring Jillian's length at 26-1/2 inches (75th percentile), her weight at 16 lbs 7 ounces (50th percentile), and her head size at 17-1/4 inches (90th percentile). According to the charts, she is staying right on a typical course for her growth.

Dr. O'Neal (the new doctor, since Dr. Zawacki moved on) then came in and gave Jillian a little check-up, measuring her heartbeat, breathing, hearing, strength and alertness. She was very pleased with her progress. Mommy and the doctor then went through some question and answer times to end the check-up.

Finally, it was time for the shots. The practitioner got 3 needles ready, and Daddy held Jillian's arm out of the way. Then, the first shot went into her left leg ... and she hardly even flinched. The second shot went into her right leg ... and again, she just looked around. The practitioner warned us that the third shot was the big one, and when it went into her right leg ... ouch! Jillian let out a loud cry, but it didn't last long, and eventually turned into a little whimper. After about a minute, she was smiling again! This is one tough little munchkin!

6-month Photo

Jillian turned 6-months old today! To celebrate, we took her to Sears for her second-ever photo shoot (the first being at the hospital when she was 2-days old). Here's a few of the best photos.

Mommy got Jillian dressed up in a jeans skirt and blouse, with some white tights and new shoes. She was a very happy baby to start the session. Every picture was a smile, and the photographer loved that. Jillian has always been really good at sitting for photos.

As the session went on, Jillian got distracted with other things, and fell over from her sitting position more than a couple times. The photographer tried to get her to stand on her own (leaning against an ottoman), but she wasn't quite up to it yet, toppling over (and Mommy catching her). She was still smiles throughout, even when they put her into a metal wash basin for the bathing shot. Eventually, she sucked her lower lip into her mouth and kept it there ... but still gave a grin the whole time.

By the end, Jillian was ready for something to eat. Mommy picked out some super photos, and the order is expected in a couple weeks. All in all, a successful trip to the studio.

First Haircut

During Jillian's first campout, there was talk about her long hair in back ... Mommy always called it her "mullet". So Dany suggested giving her a trim. No sooner did she say it than a pair of scissors appeared, and the haircut was underway. Mommy held Jillian while Dany wielded the scissors and McKenna collected the trimmings, with Lindsey watching (see photo). Jillian did very well sitting for the cut, and now she has less wild hair to contend with.

Campout

Jillian had her first campout this past weekend with Scott & Cindy Stephenson, Helen Harding, and Jason & Dany & McKenna & Lindsey Paul at the Thousand Trails just east of Chehalis for the family church camp. We showed up on Saturday afternoon and set up our little 7x7 tent with our queen-sized inflatable mattress.

Then, we ran up to Stanwood for cousin Raye's wedding. Jillian enjoyed seeing Aunt Pam, Uncle Jim and cousins Rachel & Raye for the first time, as well as spending time with a lot of the Piercy family. Jillian partied hard, then slept on the car ride back.

We got into the tent in the dark, and Jillian slept in between Mommy and Daddy on the mattress which was partially deflated, but she would end up sleeping all through the night. She woke up a happy baby (as the photo shows)! After breakfast, church service, a Family Feud game and swimming, we headed home with a wiped-out little munchkin.

Puppy Love

Jillian loves dogs, and apparently they love her back. We found that out yesterday, while she was being babysat at Grannie's house. Jillian was practicing her sitting-up on the floor, and fell over forwards, bonking her head. She wasn't happy, and started crying, so Aunt Robin picked her up. Right away, Mocha (Papa's dog) went over to Jillian and started licking her, and wouldn't stop even when we tried pulling her away. Mocha kept hanging around Jillian for as long as she kept crying, trying to make her feel better with lots of licks.

Water Baby

Jillian sure does love the water!

She has gotten long enough that she can't lay down in her little plastic bathtub. Since she can sit up pretty good now, Mommy decided that tonight Jillian would take her bath in the kitchen sink. When we put her in, she got so excited that it was all Daddy could do to hold her up. She kicked, she splashed, she tried to put her face in the water. We were very happy to see how much she liked it, and she never complained, even when Mommy shampoo'd her hair. Jillian is a good little water baby!