Watch Out!

This is a warning to everyone who has long hair ... Jillian will grab it and pull on it if she can get her hands on it. Yesterday, while Meagan was holding Jillian, her hair got yanked painfully hard. And then Mommy got her hair pulled this morning. So, be careful if your hair is long, or it might end up in Jillian's iron grip.

TV Already

Jillian knows what the TV is ... when the TV is on, she is always looking for it when she is in the living room. It's either the glowing light from the tube, or the sounds, that attracts her attention. When she's laying on the floor, she'll strain her head around to see the TV, or when she's sitting with Mommy or Daddy on the sofa, she'll completely ignore us and try to watch whatever's on. So, we've had to use the bouncer seat as a shield (when it's floor time) or turn her back to the TV when we're holding her, in order to get her to look at us so we can have some quality time with her.

New Sounds

We don't know why, but the changing table seems to be the place where Jillian is inspired to try new things. Like this afternoon, after having her diaper changed, she experimented with all kinds of new sounds. And once she gets going with a cool sound, she'll try to do it over and over. This latest episode of talking time lasted all through the afternoon and into the evening during most of her floor time. Here's a short video clip of some of it :

3-month Photo

Jillian is now 3 months old today!

Here's a quick little photo to remember this day by, and to see how much she's changed since she was born.

Side View

When she's laying on the floor or the changing table, it's been common to have Jillian arch her back, push with her right leg and turn a little bit to the side; but she never pulled her leg up to keep her there. Well, that's all changed, because tonight she just made the big leap ... to turning completely onto her side! We laid her on the changing table, and she pushed herself right over and brought her legs up, so that she was laying on her side ... all the while keeping busy with sucking on her hand. So, it looks like we can't take our eyes off of her when she's on the changing table.

Still Talking

Jillian's vocabulary lately is mostly of the owl variety ... lots of "hooo, hooo", with something else once in a while. But now she's even learning to use her talking to get our attention. She'll yell out the "hooo, hooo" really loud to get us to look at her, or to tell us it's time for food. Here's a short little video clip of a typical talking session.

Powder Redux

It's baaaack ... the powder formula has made a return, and here's Mommy to talk about it:

When Jillian was born we had to supplement her with formula. At that time we dicovered that she disliked the Similac powder formula, but loved the liquid form. So I was on a quest this past week to find a powder formula that Jillian would like before I return to work. The powder formula is going to be used to supplement on the days that I work only.

With Cindy's (Stephenson) help we tested Jillian on every variety of formula at Walmart on Wednesday. Nestle's Good Start was the winner. I started her out with two ounces a day to see if she would take it, keep it down, and not have any adverse effects on her digestive system. She refused to take the formula from me on Wednesday so Rick tried that afternoon. She fought with him for about 10 minutes then final calmed down enough to drink it. Thursday went a little smoother and Jillian drank two ounces from Grannie on Friday afternoon. So it sounds like this formula is going to work out. I have also noticed that Jillian is a little less cranky when feeding time comes around.

Sighting No. 9

Here's another picture of Jillian, relaxing on her little pink blanket. I guess you could call this her 12-week (+1 day) photo... close enough!

Clothes Free

Jillian has gotten to liking being nakey so much during diaper changes that she gets mad now whenever we put clothes back on her, especially the kind that goes over her head. She used to handle it really well before, never making much of a fuss. But now, she turns red and cries, and then arches her back ... making it even harder to get the clothes on. She's made it clear that she wants to go "clothes free" for as long as she can ... but unfortunately, Mommy and Daddy can't risk it too long before she might have a little wetting accident on the changing table.

Day or Night?

Maybe Jillian is just a little confused about the time of day. She woke up at 3:30 am this morning, so Heather went ahead and fed her. But she didn't go back to sleep ... she started fussing and crying. This went on for awhile, and then at 5:30 am, when Heather put her on the changing table to check her diaper, she was as happy as a lark ... the light was on and she could look around. Apparently, Jillian just wanted to play, because she had a big smile on her face. So, Heather put her into her bouncer seat where she played for a while ... and Heather stayed up with her. I'm not certain how the rest of the morning went, but I'm sure Mommy was very tired, because both she and Jillian were taking a long nap together when Daddy came home from work.

Almost Summer

It's almost like summer, with temperatures reaching the 90's this weekend. So, Jillian got to wear some of her summer outfits, like the little dress in this photo.

We've been taking Jillian outdoors as much as we can, since she seems to like it a lot. We usually put her in her bouncy seat and let her look around while Mommy and Daddy work on the yard. Plus, she probably likes the warm weather because it helps keep her hands and feet warm ... she seems to have inherited Daddy's circulation, which means cold hands and feet during cooler weather.

Sighting No. 8

Here's a quick little photo of Jillian, just before she got into the bathtub. We were surprised when we got her in the water, because she gave us a kind of panicked look for a few moments, like she was afraid or didn't know what was going on. But, she figured it out and enjoyed the bath time.

Screamin' Mimi

That's the name that we've been calling Jillian when she gets into one of her moods. Like before, we're not entirely sure what's causing it, but she has come un-glued many times over the past week. It's non-stop screaming of the mad-type. And once it gets going, it's not likely to stop for at least an hour or so, because she gets so worked up.

Of course, for anyone who hasn't seen it, she's quite the little angel! :)

Got Feet?

Those little feet have been moving around down there for some time, but it was just this past week that Jillian realized that they were hers. When she is sitting up in her bouncer seat or car seat, she likes to carefully watch her feet, and has been moving them around with more purpose. And when she is laying down, she has been getting a little more control and raising them up in the air, almost to where she can reach.

Mommy's Day

Today was the day for Jillian to celebrate her Mommy! Here's a photo of them together.

Jillian started the day off by giving Mommy breakfast (Starbucks) in bed, along with a card and some flowers. Then, Jillian took a long nap on top of Daddy out on the living room sofa, giving Mommy some much-needed sleep (which was probably the best present we could give her). After spending the rest of the day visiting with relatives, Jillian ended the day falling asleep in Mommy's arms. Mommy loves her little sweetie!

First Cold

Jillian came down with her first cold sometime this past week. We noticed that she had been getting a little congested, with her nose being stuffed up (which meant some little baby snoring during nap time) and a gurgling sound when she breathed heavy. It all added up to her being kind of crabby, since she had a tough time getting a good sleep. She's dealt with it really well, though, and seems to be coming out of it.

New Favorite

It wasn't long ago that Jillian loved talking. Well, that's history, because now she has a new favorite thing to do ... sucking on her hand! And she can't do much talking with a hand in her mouth all the time. Here's a short video clip (and that's the TV you hear in the background):

More Tricks

Now that Jillian is really gripping things, and is jamming everything possible into her mouth, we let her practice both with a toy ... and here's the photo. It's been a great toy for that, since she likes to use both hands, and it's pretty easy for her to gum it. She's still working on her control, though, because she's bonked her head a couple times with it.

Swinger

There was cause for much celebration in our household earlier this week ... we found out that Jillian likes her swing!!!

Jillian had been very crabby, and Mommy had tried every trick in the book to calm her down. Then, she finally asked Daddy to go get the swing, just to see if Jillian would sit in it. (Previous attempts at this only led to lots more crying.) Sure enough, Mommy put her in the seat and got the thing swinging, and she quieted right down ... and pretty soon after that, Jillian fell asleep. Mommy was sooooooo happy!!!

Big Squeeze

And another of Jillian's new things is her putting a big squeeze on anything she gets her hands on, including Daddy's fingers as shown in this photo.

It was just a couple days ago that Jillian really didn't want to grab onto anything for any amount of time ... she just waved her arms around. Now, if something ends up in her hands, she puts the mega-vise grip on it, and doesn't let go. In this case, Daddy had to pry her hands away to get circulation back in his fingers.

Two-handed

The latest trick that Jillian just learned is to grab one hand with the other hand, and then pull them both into her mouth, like this photo shows.

Before, it was hit (to the head) and (mostly) miss when she tried to get 1 hand in her mouth ... but now she's figured out that she has a lot more control using 2 hands. Sometimes she likes to just grab her own fingers and play with them that way, but other times she likes to have the fist in the mouth.

More Talk

Here's another short video clip of Jillian talking while laying on her changing table, her favorite place for being a happy and talkative baby.