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!

Lip Binky

When she doesn't have something to grab onto and stick into her mouth, Jillian likes to suck on her lower lip. This photo is a pretty common sight, now. Daddy has to take a lot of photos to get one that doesn't have her sucking her lip in.

Long Girl

These solid foods must be like Wheaties, because Jillian is growing at a fast clip. We can get a good idea of how long she is getting based on how fast she outgrows her clothes, especially her footsie pajamas. When Jillian was 5-months old, she outgrew her 3 - 6 month jam-jams, and now is already pretty snug in her 6 - 9 month sizes already ... there's not much length left in those pajamas. So, we figure this long little girl will be moving on to the 9 - 12 month sizes soon.

Sighting No. 16

Here's a photo of Jillian that we took using our new camera. She wore this cute little dress to church in the morning, to an anniversary party in the afternoon, and another anniversary party in the evening. She was quite the little party girl today!

Scorecard

Well, Jillian has tried a bunch of solid foods so far, and the responses have been ...

Sweet Potatoes : Still my favorite. More, more, more!
Peas : A close second ... Yummm!
Pears : Good stuff, but I'd rather eat the others.
Carrots : So-so ... I'm not exactly thrilled with it.
Rice Cereal : I'll only eat it if something good is mixed in.
Squash : What is this stuff?
Green Beans & Rice : Ugh! No thanks.

Jillian is a very good eater with those things that she likes. She opens her mouth wide, and keeps it all in when we spoon it in. For those things she doesn't like, we get the head turn and the closed mouth.

Sitting Preview

Jillian is oh-so close to sitting up on her own! She can actually do it for quite awhile, but she still sometimes loses track of what she's doing and topples over. For now, Mommy and Daddy are sitting or laying on the floor to catch her (since our wood floors are pretty hard), but we figure that in about a week or so, she'll be ready to sit up on her own.

Nice Arm

It used to be that if we gave Jillian a toy or something to play with, and she didn't want or like it, she would get frustrated and start crying. Now, if she gets handed something that she's not interested in, she'll grab it and chuck it out of her way. We've found that Jillian has a pretty strong arm and is not afraid to use it ... she just needs a little accuracy, because sometimes she'll peg Mommy or Daddy with a discarded toy.

Dinner Date

Jillian got to visit Mommy at her work for the first time today!

Mommy was working her usual Tuesday swing shift at SWMC. Daddy and Jillian stopped by Baja Fresh (one of Mommy's favorites) and Coldstone Creamery (one of Daddy's favorites) and picked up dinner ... Jillian's dinner was a bottle (one of her favorites). While in the waiting room, all the people passing through got a big smile from the little sweetie. Then Mommy showed up and got the biggest smile of all. All of us had a nice dinner together, and then Mommy showed Jillian to many of her co-workers.

Sighting No. 15

Growing up fast! Everyone says how much Jillian has changed in a short time. Here's a photo of our little munchkin.

Name Recognition

Something that we have doing for awhile with Jillian is saying the names Mommy (or Mama) and Daddy to her whenever either one of us is about to appear, and she understands pretty well what it means. If Mommy is about to come through the door, Daddy will say "Mama" over and over ... and Jillian gets all excited and wide-eyed, and then breaks into a huge smile when Mommy comes into sight. Either that, or she gets fussy because she wants to be fed.

Cowgirl

During our trip to Skamakowa to visit the Stephenson camp-out, Mommy tried putting Jillian up on her shoulders for a little ride. What she didn't anticipate was her strong little hands getting a fistful of Mommy's hair. Jillian really liked her horsey ride (as this photo shows), and thought it was lot of fun steering Mommy around the park.

More Space

Not only can Jillian roll, but she's figured out how to pivot around. Lately, when we lay her down in her crib, we'll find her a little while afterwards pointing in the opposite direction ... she manages to spin herself around, usually so she can try and grab something. Jillian has also developed a bigger range for grabbing things, reaching and stretching to get things that used to be out of her reach only a couple weeks ago. We've started using her portable playpen more often, usually outside, so she has more room to move around and practice being mobile.

Big Girl

Mommy put some sandals on Jillian, and she looked like such a big girl ... for only being 5-1/2 months old. They didn't stay on for long, though, because she likes to rub her feet together which knocked the sandals off.

This photo shows how much Jillian likes the idea of being able to get up and go, go, go!

Roll Back

Good news! Jillian rolled over from her tummy to her back a few times today. Mommy said that the first time was a little clunky as she bonked her head, but the second time was a little smoother thanks to tucking her head under a little more. It's hard to tell if she knew what was happening or not, but hopefully this is the beginning of her getting herself back over.

Bonus Video

There's always lots of video opportunities with Jillian. It seems like there's something new every day, and there's definitely always something funny every day. Here's a cool little bonus clip for today ...

No to Squash

The sweet potatoes were a hit, so we have been feeding that to Jillian the past week. With it being time to try another "orange or yellow vegetable", Heather tried the winter squash. Unfortunately, that was a miss ... Jillian even preferred the rice cereal instead, eating that right up. So, we'll reintroduce the winter squash at a later date after she tries a couple other veggies.

Tired Talk

Here's a little video clip of Jillian talking herself to sleep. She had just finished her bottle, and it was 9:00 pm, so she was a very tired little girl. She went to sleep shortly afterwards.

Phone Time

If one of us (Mommy or Daddy) is at work, we usually call home during lunch to catch up on the day's happenings. We also get a chance to talk to Jillian on the telephone. When the receiver is next to Jillian's ear, and we start talking to her, she recognizes the voice ... but she's not sure where the voice is coming from. First she'll get really quiet and still as she listens, then she'll turn her head towards the phone looking for us. Eventually, she'll just grab the phone and try to eat it.

Roller Girl

Jillian is rolling over nearly every time she is laid on the floor. The problem is still that she doesn't know how to roll back over. So we have to constantly flip her back onto her back ... so that she can roll back over again! It's a fun game for her. We just have to make sure she's not on her tummy too long, or little Ms. Krabby Patty let's us know it. Here's a video clip of Jillian showing us one of her rolls.

Big Squeeze

Every now and then, when Jillian gets picked up and held over the shoulder, she'll give that person a big hug by squeezing them around the neck. She did just that over the weekend at the Cowlitz County Fair, when Heather's best friend Dany picked her up. Jillian gave her a long and strong squeezer!

On the Side

Sleepy-time is a little different now. We used to lay Jillian on her back for bedtime or naptime, and she would stay there the whole time. Now, her preferred place to sleep is on her sides. If we lay her down, she'll tend to roll to one side or the other and go to sleep there. And during the night in her crib, she'll roll back and forth to both sides. Our little go-go girl is on the move even when she's asleep!

Squirmy

In the last month, Jillian has gotten much more squirmy. She turns to see something when she hears a noise, she can turn on her side easily, she tries to sit up whenever she can, she flails her arms and legs everywhere, and she is more grabby than ever. It's gotten even more challenging in the last week, since Jillian keeps getting so much stronger. Changing diapers is difficult now, because she keeps lifting her legs up and trying to roll to her side ... it sometimes takes two of us to hold her down to change her. Holding her on upright on our hips is a little scary, not knowing if she'll arch her back all of a sudden so she can try flying. And just relaxing on the couch happens rarely, as she would rather have the freedom to thrash around and throw things.