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.