Crazy for Starfall

Everytime Jillian comes she must play Starfall, a computer game that Aunt Dianne used with Rielee. She can't work the mouse yet so usually Papa sits with her and does it once a day, which isn't enough, she thinks. Poor girl was down with a head cold and a little crabby until she took her nap and then was ready to play. Of course, she had already done Starfall and wanted to do it again and neither Papa and I would give in, so when we were out of the computer room for a minute she jumped up there and decided to do it herself. She put on my glasses (don't know how she could see the screen then) and worked hard on getting the mouse to work. I relented and brought up Starfall but said she would have to do it herself and she managed to bring up a book with lots of concentration on moving the mouse and lots of clicking. All in all, it kept her busy for awhile.

One-Eyed Smile

Here's the usual photo of Jillian ... with one eye shut (and sometimes both eyes shut). To get a photo of her with her eyes open, we have to be a little sneaky.

New Stuff XIX

A little post-Christmas fun, courtesy of our little Sweetie-Pie:

1. ABC Song : We've sang the ABC song to Jillian enough times that she tries to sing it herself. It goes something like this: "A, B, C ... X, Y, Z ... Now A, B, C ... Next time X, Y, Z". It's kind of the quick, abbreviated version of the song.

2. "No" : Jillian has been able to say this for some time, and we've heard it a lot. But now it seems like we hear it all the time. That makes sense, since she's almost 2.

3. Drawing Faces : Jillian has a couple of drawing tablets (the magnetic kind), and she loves to draw on them and then erase. She's watched Grannie draw countless people faces, including Dora, and now she does her best to draw faces, too. She draws a circle, then does a bunch of dots (for the eyes), then a scribble inside the circle (for the mouth), and a scribble on top of the circle (for the hair). She'll even throw in a scribble on both sides of the circle (for the ears).

4. Super-Fast : It's always been hard for us to keep Jillian's socks or shoes on; she can easily take them off by herself. And with all the times that we've tried to stop her, she's learned how to take them off super-fast! It happens in the blink of an eye, now, so it's not even worth trying to stop her. One nice thing, though, has been that she likes to try and put them back on herself, and she's usually pretty successful.

5. "Feety-Fie" : Jillian can't quite say her "sw" sound, so when she says her knickname (Sweetie-Pie), it comes out with an "f" sound.

Sighting No. 46

A recent Jillian sighting! This one is compliments of Grannie Woodruff a short time ago, when Jillian had some braids ("pretties") put into her hair.

New Jeep

For a little Christmas fun, here's a video of Jillian in her new Jeep that she got for Christmas. Cousin Brock is giving her a ride. Jillian says that he goes "fast".

Christmas No. 2

Jillian's second Christmas was quite a day. She made trips to 4 different locations throughout the day, and held up really well. For sure, she has a better handle on opening presents, but her favorite part of the whole day was seeing all the family and friends again.

The day started off at 7:30 am, when Mommy and Daddy woke her up. She was still pretty tired after an exciting Christmas Eve, but she got right up when we said that she could open presents. The first thing she saw was the Strider balance bike (from Santa Daddy). Then, she opened up a big present to find a Radio Flyer tricycle (from Santa Mommy). Mommy and Daddy had wanted to buy separate Santa gifts for Jillian as a surprise, but we might have to change how we do that. After a few more presents and stockings, we got dressed and ready to go.

Our next stop was at Scott & Cindy's, where we also saw Dany & Jason, Mckenna & Lindsey, Helen and Brandon. There were lots of gifts going around, and Jillian was getting warmed up on the opening side of things. One of the gifts she received was a stepping stool from Scott & Cindy. Now she'll be able to see what's happening on top of the counters. Through the flurry, Jillian did slow down for about 30 seconds to read a page or two from "Twas the Night Before Christmas" with Scott.

We then took off for Castle Rock to see Grannie & Papa and all of the aunts, uncles and cousins in the Woodruff family. The present opening started right off with some Dora stuff, so that got Jillian all worked up. Then, she opened the big present from Grannie & Papa ... an electric Jeep. The fact that it had a carrying capacity of up to 130 lbs meant that Ty and Brock were also very excited. They both took Jillian outside to play in the Jeep, and Jillian was perfectly content to go along for a "fast" ride.

We went back to Longview in the afternoon, going to Uncle Clark & Auntie Greta's house, where we saw all of the aunts, uncles and cousins in the Peterson family. It was a whirlwind of present opening, and we worked hard to keep the room clear of all the wrapping paper so we wouldn't get swamped. Jillian got tons of new clothes, and was very excited about it all. She also liked to check out all the toys that Adam and Andy got. By the end of this round, both Jillian and Adam were very tired, and they laid down on the floor together to catch their breath.

The final stop was Uncle Dave & Auntie Charolette's house for a Christmas dinner, where we also saw Jim & Michelle. There was lots of good food, and we enjoyed a relaxing end to the evening. The kids kept on going, though, right to the very end. Believe it or not, we had a hard time getting Jillian down to sleep that night, maybe because she was still on an adrenaline rush. But, she ended up sleeping in the next day until 10:00 am!

Night Before Christmas

We spent this year's Christmas Eve at the Piercy family party in Castle Rock. It was hosted by Aunt Julie and Uncle Kevin this time around. Lots and lots of Jillian's relatives showed up. And Santa made an appearance, too!

Jillian wore her pretty Christmas dress to the party, though it wasn't long before the sweater came off. She was working up a sweat running around with Rielee and others. While playing downstairs, we heard a knock at the door and all of the kids screaming. We ran upstairs to find that Santa had arrived. Just like the first two encounters, Jillian didn't want to get anywhere close to Santa. She preferred to watch him from a distance. But, she did get a present from Santa ... in fact, she got a candy cane from him, so maybe she thought that he wasn't all that bad?

Then it came time to open presents from under the Christmas tree. One of the things that got Jillian really excited was a big box of princess stuff from Cousin Rielee, which included several pretty princess dresses. Jillian immediately stripped her clothes off, and started yelling for us to put her into one of the dresses. Even later after we put jam-jams on her, she still wanted to wear one of the dress-bottoms over the top of her pants.

Jillian received many cool presents, and she really got into tearing the wrapping paper off each one. She's old enough now that she gets pretty excited when opening presents, knowing that there's something new inside. All that excitement wore her out, because she was deliriously tired at the end of the evening.

Santa-phobia (again)

We were visiting at Uncle Clark and Auntie Greta's house, and Jillian was running around with Cousins Adam and Andy. Later in the evening, the three of them went to the front window and stared outside, looking and listening for Santa. All of the sudden, Santa went running by! Adam was jumping for joy, while Jillian and Andy ran for cover. Then, Santa knocked at the door and came in, and that's when Jillian freaked out. She was shaking and crying in Mommy's arms, and saying "I want back!" (meaning, she wanted to go to the back room away from Santa). She calmed down a little bit when she saw Adam sitting on Santa's lap, but she still wanted nothing to do with him.

After Santa left and we went home, Jillian ended up saying "I want to see Santa", which we figure means that she only wanted to see pictures of Santa, and not the real thing.

Sighting No. 45

Here's a photo of Jillian, relaxing in her crib. It's almost Christmas time, and she's ready to start opening some presents!

Elf Movie Night

It was time for the annual Elf Movie Night with the kids. Cousins Ainsley, Tierney, Meagan, Cale, Ty and Brock (and suprise guest Will) came to our house on Monday night. Jillian was so excited to see everyone come visit at her place! We had pizza for dinner, then watched the Elf movie, and Jillian even watched a little bit, particularly the parts with Santa in them. Then, we played Uno Attack on the floor, and Jillian thought it was great fun to be right in the middle. She had her own 2 cards to play with, but she had more fun rolling around and trying grab everyone else's cards. Eventually, it got to be a little chaotic, so we had to end the game early. The night kept on going, and so did Jillian right up to about 11:00 pm. Eventually, Daddy got her down nigh-nigh. The rest of the kids stayed up and played some more games and hung out until Mommy showed up at midnight from work.

Scaling Kitchen Heights

The handles on the drawers in the kitchen make for good holds for Jillian's climbing expeditions. She can now use them to get up high where she can see what's on top of the counters, and even reach the stuff that used to be too far away.

New Stuff XVIII

Just in time for Christmas, here's the lastest on Jillian stuff:

1. Caution to All Shoppers : If you happen to take Jillian to a department store (especially one that has clothes on racks), watch out! Jillian will take off running and disappear from sight pretty quickly ... and then she'll climb into the middle of a clothing rack (the circular kind). If you didn't happen to see her do it, she's next to impossible to find. When you call out to her, she'll stay quiet because it's just like a hiding-game.

2. "Ummmmm" : When Jillian ask us to "come" and we respond with "where?", she'll give us this little thinking-sound while she tries to think of something.

3. Polite Girl : Jillian has gotten good at saying "thank you", and now she says it on her own (without prompting) whenever someone gives her something or does something for her.

4. Stepping on Toes : Standing on people's feet is how Jillian gets a few inches higher. If Mommy or Daddy are standing at a countertop in the kitchen, Jillian squeezes in between and steps on our toes to get a better look at what's on the counter (or to grab things there).

5. Confusing Demands : Jillian likes to play in her crib, but then she says "I want out". As soon as she's taken out, she starts crying and says "I want in". Then, when she's in, she starts crying and says "I want out".

Change in Routine

Grannie: I decided to move all Jillian's toys from the living room to the computer room that has shelves for the toys. Of course, she has her routines and the first is to run to the fireplace hearth and color so now she is confused. I told her to go to the computer room, which I had to rearrange and toys and stuff were piled everywhere, and her first comment was, "What happened?". The she looks around and says, "This is messy." She talks too well now and then she proceeded to make it messier.

Christmas Dress

Jillian really liked her pretty Christmas dress. She wore it to church on Sunday morning, and then to the mall when she went to see Santa. As always, it's not easy taking a photo of Jillian, since she's always on the run ... but here's a pic in front of the lighted tree in the front yard.

Santa-phobia

We've been reading lots of books about Santa Claus, and how he's nice and brings presents. Jillian likes to read about him. We were hoping that it would help make Jillian a little more comfortable about seeing Santa in person.

On Saturday night, Jillian stayed with the night with Uncle Clark and Auntie Greta, since Mommy and Daddy went to see the Nutcracker in Portland. They went to the Catt Family Christmas party at Art's house that night. Santa made an appearance, and from the stories we've been told, Jillian was terrified. She was shaking from fear, and saying "no" the whole time. So, her first meeting with Santa wasn't so hot.

On Sunday, we went to the mall with Cousins Andy, Adam and Meagan to have a big family group photo with Santa. When Jillian first saw Santa, she stopped and pointed at him. Then, she ran to Daddy and said "hold me". She wanted nothing to do with Santa, and refused to look at him. Eventually, we managed to get her close to Santa, thanks to Meagan holding her, and got a quick photo.

Even now, if we mention "Santa", Jillian says "no".

Getting Creative

Today I decided that Jillian needed more cover-up as she is getting to be bolder in her finger painting, so I dug up an old shirt to use as a paint shirt. But today what she really got into was the modeling clay. She got a napkin and put all her creations-some I made like a banana-on it. I wasn't sure what all her creations were but she would pretend to taste it so it was obviously food. It amazed me how long she did this activity with total concentration.

Every time Jillian is here we work on learning to pedal her trike. But what this photo shows is how she's excited about her braids. Her hair is getting long enough now to pull up or braid.

Busy Girl

This happens almost every time Jillian comes for the day to Grannie's home. She must do everything right away. First: She grabs the crayons and we color for perhaps 5 minutes. Then she's on to the Magnadoodle for another 5 minutes (She'll do this later for quite awhile.) Then on to the kitchen to play with clay for another 5 minutes. That usually consists of her getting all three colors out of their containers and tearing them into pieces. Then she wants to fingerpaint and that takes awhile to set up-longer than the actual fingerpaint time-10 minutes total. Then she grabs a shopping bag, plus she needs her baby, keys, and backpack so she can go shop downstairs. But once there she is distracted and needs to write on the chalkboard. Then after playing with everything there and leaving her backpack, keys, and baby there she is off back upstairs to get the doll house out and we play babies. This gets boring in about 5 minutes and then she bugs Papa into playing Starfall on the computer. So far this is how the first hour goes!!! Thank goodness that by now she has calmed down and will then sit and play with her toys for much longer-usually repeating what we have already done in more depth or wanting to read.

Sighting No. 44

Here's a new photo of Jillian, standing by the Christmas tree. She was a good little helper.

Decorating the Tree

We had a free evening (one of the few anymore), so we decorated the Christmas tree with ornaments. Mommy set some ornaments aside for Jillian to put on the tree, and Jillian really got into it. She operated very quickly, grabbing an ornament and throwing it onto a branch. When she was all done, it wasn't hard to see where she put the decorations ... most were all on a single branch. She continued to help Mommy, breaking a few ornaments here and there, knocking off the lights and falling into the tree a couple times. The decorating was capped off when Jillian helped Daddy put the star on top of the tree.

Little Advent Books

Jillian received a little Christmas gift from the Paul family last year ... "The Story of Christmas" advent books. It sits on our mantle at home, and contains tiny Jillian-sized books about the Christmas story.

Jillian is always wanting to read them, but Mommy has to remind her that she can only read one-a-day. Here's a picture of Jillian holding one of the books, while Mommy reads to her.

Cold Seattle Trip

It was still cold, though not as cold as earlier in the week, when we made a Christmas-season trip to Seattle. We met up with Laura at her house, and headed right out to the park that was a few blocks away. It had lots of cool things for Jillian to play on, including slides, swings and a zip-line, which she thought was really fun. But one of her favorites was the merry-go-round; it's something she hasn't gotten to ride on much, so she spent a lot of time spinning. We stayed for quite a while at the park, until Jillian got too cold, so we headed back.

Jillian then went down for a nap, so she missed the holiday light show at Green Lake, but when she woke up, we headed to Nikki and John's new house for some dinner and visiting. Jillian loved seeing all of the dogs (there were 4 of them there), but eventually the late evening caught up to her and she went into destructo-mode ... so we headed to Laura's for nigh-nigh. After a nice night's sleep, we had a little breakfast together, then headed home.

Chillin' in the Crib

It was one of those times that Jillian wanted to get into the crib. So, Daddy put her in it, then threw all of her babies and stuffed animals in with her, along with her little pillow and blanket (from her doll crib). She made herself comfortable, putting her babies and animals next to her, pulling up the blanket and then telling Daddy "books!". She took the book (Sammy the Seal) and read it to her babies.

New Stuff XVII

It's new stuff about Jillian, the early Christmas season edition:

1. "My lights" : We put up some red, green and white lights around Jillian's bedroom window. She really likes them, and calls them "my lights". And whenever she sees Christmas lights elsewhere, she reminds us about hers, saying "my lights".

2. Mine Sign : Jillian not only says "mine", but she also wraps one arm around her tummy, holding it with the other hand while saying it.

3. The New "I Love You" : If Jillian is drawing (usually on her Etch-a-Sketch at Grannie's), she'll say "I love you". In this case, it means she wants a drawing of a heart.

4. Defiant Girl : In the past week of so, Jillian has become even more of an independent spirit. In other words, she's not doing what Mommy and Daddy tell her to do. In fact, she usually does just the opposite. It's gotten her into a bit more trouble lately, including more time-outs.

5. "Sorry" : With the increased time-outs, we've told Jillian that she has to say "sorry". So, when her time-out is over, she'll run to Mommy or Daddy and say "sorry".

6. The Voice of Mommy : In those times that Jillian is upset about being put in her crib for bedtime (which is almost always), she stands up and wails and cries out to Mama and Dada. This can go on for a while. But when Mommy finally yells "Jillian! Lay down! It's time for nigh-nigh!", Jillian immediately lays down, and we don't hear a peep from her the rest of the night.

7. Happy Girl : We've found that if we want Jillian to be happy, and somewhat under-control, then it's important that she get enough sleep during her nap(s). If she gets woken up before she's ready, watch out. She'll be very crabby when she's awake, and that crabbiness will continue on until bedtime.

8. "Open Present" : Jillian has read enough Christmas books to know what presents are. The Rec Association at Daddy's work gave Jillian a wrapped present, and we put it under the tree. When Jillian saw it, she picked it up and yelled "open present". We are always telling her that it's not Christmas yet.

Grannie's post

I was just around the corner putting on makeup and Jillian was looking in these drawers, which don't hold much except linens and scrapbooks, when I checked on her and found her and "baby" reading in the drawer. She is certainly trying to find new and novel ways to read to her dolls. The scary part will be when she tries to get to a higher drawer. No wonder I have to color that gray. Other than that she was in wonderful humor after sleeping in until 9:30 AM.

Our Christmas Tree

To make our Christmas memorable, we chose one of the coldest days of the year to get our Christmas tree. It might have been as high as 20 F. So, we bundled up in our warmest clothes and headed up to the tree farm by Silver Lake. It was cold, and Jillian told us so. She didn't want to get down and walk in the snow/ice, so we had to carry her everywhere. We walked a long ways, but Mommy found the perfect tree on the far side of the tree farm (as shown in this photo). By then, Jillian was very cold, so we got her back into Grandpa Peterson's truck and warmed her up ("nice and warm", as she likes to say). We loaded up the tree and headed home.

P.S. (12/10/09) Grannie and Papa Woodruff took Jillian to the same Christmas tree farm. When they started walking towards the trees, Jillian recognized where she was, and turned around and started yelling "car!".

Closet Play

Jillian has gotten tired of just playing in the usual places, so now she's climbing into our closets and playing inside there amongst our clothes. She must like having her own little space to play in, though it makes quite a mess out of our folded clothes.

Christmas ABC Book

Last Christmas, our neighbor Susan gave Jillian a gift ... a big Christmas ABC Book made of cloth. This Christmas season, it's one of her favorite books to read. We've been reading it to her most nights, saying "A ... angel, B ... bear, C ... candy", etcetera. The other night, Mommy decided to just say the letters, and then we found out that Jillian knew almost all the words in the book. The most surprising part was that she even knew words like "or-ment" (ornament), "ice skates", "underwear" and "violin". The only word she couldn't quite get was "nativity".

P.S. (12/09/09) Apparently, Jillian doesn't even need the book to repeat all of the ABC words. If we're in the car, or anywhere else without the book, and we say the alphabet, Jillian will follow each letter with the Christmas word from the book.

Christmas Stuff

Back in early December, Mommy started putting up the Christmas decorations in the house. A lot of those decorations were on the floor or on a table ... in places where Jillian can reach them. So, right away we had to teach her "no touch" to all of those things. For certain things, that has continued to be a challenge since she really likes to touch (or grab them), and we've had to remind her over and over. When Grannie came to pick her up one day, Jillian made sure to lead her around the house and point out the Christmas stuff and say "no touch". But, there are a few things that are OK to touch, including the snowmen that sit on the floor. Jillian likes to grab all 3 of them and throw them into her shopping cart and push them around. And, she also likes to read to them (like this photo shows).

Snow Day No. 1

We got our first snow of the season last night, when some big flakes came down at 10 pm. Unfortunately, Sweetie Pie was already snoozing in her crib, so she didn't get to see the snowfall. But, when we were leaving for church in the morning, there was still some snow on the ground. When Jillian saw it, she didn't want to touch it because it was "cold". Here's a picture of her showing her "cold"-look ... (shoulders up and hands in a fist).

Big Stacks

When Jillian wants to play blocks, she'll yell out "I play blocks", followed by "come, Dada". But once in a while, Jillian will play with the blocks on her own, and stack them up. This photo shows one of those stacks that she built all by herself. It lasted a little while, until she knocked it down.

Reading with Rielee

One of the highlights of Jillian's day at Grannie Woodruff's house is when her Cousin Rielee comes to visit. Jillian loves to run around and play with Rielee, and they even have some quieter moments together, like this photo shows. Jillian is holding her Dora book, while Rielee reads the "Brown Bear, Brown Bear" book to her. One other thing to note is that Jillian is wearing a Disney Princess dress that Rielee gave to her.

Coffee for Mama

One of Jillian's routines on the weekends is to go to Fred Meyer in the early morning to pick up some coffee for Mama from the Starbucks there. She's usually dressed in her jam-jams, though we'll throw on a coat, too, if it's cold. When we get there, she says two things: "I want coffee cake" and "I want my coffee". So, we order Mama and Dada their drinks, as well as a piece of coffee cake. We also ask the barista for Jillian's coffee ... a small sample cup filled with whipped cream and a straw. Jillian sucks down her "coffee" (like this photo shows), and has a piece of coffee cake, while we wait for the coffee. Then, we take everything home to Mama.

Big Family Hug

If Mommy and Daddy give each other a hug, Jillian immediately runs over and squeezes in between us, and says "hug". So, we pick her up and we all have a big family hug together. Jillian likes the big squeezes, but hides herself when Daddy gives the crazy kisses all around.

"Show Your Teeth"

We can no longer say "smile" or "cheese" when taking a picture of Jillian, because she'll half-close her eyes, give a little smirk and turn her head. Instead, we now say "show your teeth", and Jillian will give us a big, cheesy smile. Here's a photo of one of those times, when Daddy and Jillian were out walking the lake with their hats on.

New Stuff XVI

Continuing with the weekly updates on what's new with Sweetie-Pie:

1. "Fix it" : If we tell Jillian that something is "broke", she'll tell us to "fix it". We've usually had to say this about some of her books, that have had pages ripped out of them.

2. "I'm OK" : When we ask Jillian "Did you poop?", she'll reply "I'm OK" ... meaning either that she didn't poop, or that she doesn't want to be changed.

3. Sympathy : One way to get Jillian to give us a hug or kiss is to play the sympathy-card. If she sees someone crying or sad, she'll run over and give them hugs and kisses. So, we'll pretend cry whenever Jillian refuses to give a hug or kiss when we ask for one.

4. "I'm happy" : When we were out walking the lake, and Jillian had collected a bunch of leaves, she said "I'm happy" with a big smile.

5. "I'm big girl" : There's no particular occasion for this one. She'll say it whenever, then stand up and stretch real big with her head up high.

6. "Throw it out" : After a diaper change, Jillian immediately starts yelling "throw it out", meaning she wants it thrown into the garbage. Of course, she also yells "I do it", because she wants to throw it in the garbage herself. Sometimes we let her do it for the wet ones, but not the dirty ones.

7. Mommy's iPod : It didn't take very long for Jillian to figure out how to turn on Mommy's iPod that's docked in the Bose speaker. When she wants to listen to music and dance, she goes right up and presses the big button. Then, she keeps pressing the button and saying "new song".

Restaurant Meltdown

It's like times years ago when we went to a restaurant, and there was a family with a child that cried and screamed and made us wonder "what's the problem here?". Well, it was our turn on Wednesday, when we went to La Hacienda for dinner. Jillian was acting kind of fussy and squirmy when we got there, and by the end of dinner, she was in a full-out meltdown ... crying and yelling. She was so worked up, that there was no calming her down. So, we paid for the meal as quick as we could and got out there.

New Stuff XV

The weekly update on Jillian happenings, all new and fun:

1. Short Trips : Jillian likes to say "bye-bye" and disappear out of sight for about 1 or 2 seconds, then reappear and say "I'm back". She usually does this with her shopping cart when she goes "shop, shop".

2. Elmo Diapers : The diapers at home have Mickey Mouse on them, which apparently doesn't excite Jillian as much as Elmo diapers ... the Elmo diapers are at Grannie and Papa's house. Whenever we change her diapers at home, she starts yelling "Elmo".

3. Dishwashing 101 : Jillian likes to unload the dishwasher. She started helping Papa Woodruff at his house. She grabs the spoons and forks and throws them (literally) into the drawer. Sometimes they end up all over the place. Papa Woodruff is hoping this little-helper phase passes soon.

4. Book Throwing : It's not only silverware that gets thrown. Jillian has also started chucking the books at us when it's time to read. She gets a running start with the book behind her head, then flips it at our tummy. The paperbacks aren't too bad ... it's the huge Rhyme Bible that hurts.

5. Early Reader : If Mommy or Daddy is busy, sometimes Jillian will read a book out loud to herself. It sounds like a bunch of words we can't understand, with the occasional "Thomas" or "Elmo" thrown in.

6. Last Molars : Those final teeth way in the back must be coming in, because Jillian constantly has her fingers jammed into the back of her mouth.

7. Hide-and-Seek : Jillian does NOT like the hide-and-seek game. When we try and play it, she refuses to wait for us to hide; she runs after us. And if we do manage to hide where she can't see us right away, then she starts crying.

New Favorite Baby

The little Cabbage Patch Doll has been Jillian's favorite baby for the longest time, and it's showing some wear, but it's still holding up. A while back, Aunt Julie found a little knit doll for Jillian and gave it to her. Jillian played with it once in a while, but stuck with her Cabbage Patch Doll for nigh-nigh and snuggle time.

Recently, Jillian decided to make the new knit doll her number one baby ("Baby" is the name she gives all of her dolls). When it's bedtime, that's the doll that she always wants to sleep cuddle with and sleep with. And of course, it's the baby that plays blocks, dances and such.

Daddy's Hat

Jillian actually likes to wear hats, including Daddy's baseball cap. Here's a shot of her looking tough.

New Boots

It's a little hard to see the boots in this photo, but you can see the rest of the outfit that Mommy put on her for church this morning. Jillian definitely loves her boots (just like her shoes)!

State Volleyball

Jillian made a big trip to the other side of the mountains to watch her cousins Meagan, Tierney and Macee play in the volleyball state championships. Meagan's R A Long team was in the 2A championship at Kennewick, and Tierney and Macee's Castle Rock team was in the 1A championship at Yakima. So, Jillian got to spend some quality time in her carseat on trips back and forth.

The Castle Rock team took 4th place, and Jillian had a great time at the SunDome. She spent a lot of time playing with her cousin Rielee wherever we could find some open areas for her to run around. Aunt Dianne made a red and black skirt with rhinestones for Jillian to wear at the games, that matched the one cousin Rielee wore.

The R A Long team just missed out on the trophy round, but still had an excellent tournament. Once again, Jillian had a great time at the Toyota Center, running around with her cousin Adam the whole time. Since CR and RAL had similar team colors, Jillian was able to wear her skirt to the RAL games, as well.

By the end of the weekend, Jillian was one very tired little Sweetie-Pie.

New Stuff XIV

These summary updates are the way to go. There are so many new things, it's about impossible to list each in its own post. So, here's the latest:

1. Little Miss Social : With Jillian talking a lot these days, she has started talking to other kids. Usually, these kids just look at us and ask "what did she say?".

2. Straight Arms and Bent Legs : When Jillian doesn't want to be picked up, she holds her arms straight down at her sides, tight to her body, so that we can't get our hands under her arms. If we do happen to pick her up, she'll pull her knees up. This is all helping Mommy and Daddy with their exercise.

3. "ABC" : Jillian is learning to sing the ABC song, which she has called "A-C". If we sing it to her, she'll watch our mouth, and try to (silently) mimic the sounds herself ... we can see her lips move the right way, so she'll probably try singing it soon.

4. The Blame Game : If Daddy asks Jillian who took something, she'll say "Mama", even if she didn't take it. When she's at Grannie's house, she'll blame "Papa". When Daddy says "She / he didn't take it", Jillian will smile and say "noooo".

5. Empathy : On a couple occasions, Jillian has cried when someone else has gotten hurt. Grannie took a tumble a week or so ago, and while she was on the ground, Jillian started bawling, and wouldn't stop for quite a while. Recently, Daddy cut his finger, and when Jillian saw it, she started crying and whining; then she wanted a bandage for her own finger.

6. Snuggle Bunny : If we take Jillian outside when it's cold, she buries her head next to ours, and tucks her hands underneath herself, while saying "cold".

7. "Wa-hoo" : This is something that Jillian says when something cool happens.

New Stuff XIII

More and more, in a big bunch again (long work hours and being sick has limited the number of posts by Daddy the past couple weeks):

1. "How about ...?" : Jillian has been saying this for a little while now. It's one of the many phrases that she has picked up and repeated.

2. Early Riser : It used to be that Jillian would sleep until we woke her up in the morning. Now, she has been waking up very early, sometimes at 5:00 am or so when Daddy gets up for work. And when she wakes up, the first thing she says is "milk".

3. A Little Bit of Separation Anxiety : This wasn't much of a problem up until recently. When we take her to the church nursery, she won't stay, even with all the toys around ... unless there's another kid there. If she sees either Mommy or Daddy leaving the house, she says "I go" and then cries if she has to stay.

4. Name Dropping : Jillian has gotten good at attaching our names to the end of her demands, such as "Lay down, Da-da" or "Come, Ma-ma".

5. Blocks, Revisited : There's been a change in attitude with the blocks. It's not just about destruction anymore. Stacking has become the thing-to-do. She's doing well at stacking them up several levels high.

6. "All Done" : If we're not paying attention to her, Jillian will say "all done" and pull out of our hands whatever it is that we're holding.

7. The "Hi, Baby" Game : Jillian likes it when her dolls talk (even in Daddy's voice), so the game she like's to play these days is the "Hi, Baby" game. Two of her babies face each other and talk, and when music is playing, they dance and jump. Then, they high-five each other and Jillian, and give hugs and kisses. Finally, one of the babies helps Jillian build with the blocks, saying "heavy" when carrying the heavy blocks, and naming the colors of the colored blocks.

Colors & Numbers

These are 2 things that Jillian has been learning lately. She's learned her colors mostly by doing lots of coloring with her crayons. She can now identify brown (of course), yellow, red, green, black and blue. She can even say these colors, with a little help. Her counting range has gotten bigger, since she can now count from 1 to 7. This is all good, as she'll be prepared for "Grannie's School of Torture" in a year or so.

Jumpin' Jilly-bean

Jillian is figuring out how to jump! She can now get both feet off the ground, if only a very small bit. Her vertical is probably about 1/2". She started getting interested in jumping when she'd be standing on a small step and wanted to jump the rest of the way down. Now, she likes to do her jumping in her room when the music on her entertainment center is playing; she has a specific song that she likes to jump to (as heard on this video). In the video, after one of the jumps, she says "big jump".

Halloween Days

It was a very busy Halloween for Jillian this year.

She started it off in the afternoon by going up to the Castle Rock American Legion with Grandpa Peterson and Cousin Meagan, along with Cousins Adam and Andy. They played games and got lots of candy, and got to see Beverly in a Tigger costume. Jillian even had a little butterly painted on her face, as this picture shows.

When Jillian got home, it was time for a nap, because she was soooo tired. It would end up being a short nap, though. We woke her up early (which led to a tired and out-of-sorts little girl), as there was much trick-or-treating to be done.

Our first stop was the Street of Screams at the Three Rivers Mall, where we met up with Adam and Andy to go through the twisty maze. There was lots of candy being handed out there, so Jillian got more than enough on just this trip alone. We had taught her how to say "trick-or-treat" so that she could get candy, and when she said it, it came out at "teet-teet". That was close enough for everyone to know what she was saying. Here favorite candy that she got, by far, were the lollipops ... she held onto those tightly, and wouldn't let Mommy or Daddy carry them for her. She did get kind of spooked once, when she went up to one of the windows and someone was wearing a scary mask; she stumbled backwards with big eyes, and then started crying. She was a little more cautious in the maze after that.

Next, we went home real quick and went to our neighbors' houses. Jillian liked knocking on the doors, after which she would get all tense and start shaking with anticipation, knowing that someone was coming out. When the neighbors held out the candy, Jillian always went for the extra handfuls, grabbing candy until the bowl was pulled away.

We then took off for Castle Rock, stopping at Grannie and Papa's house first. Jillian was very excited to get a new pair of "cow" boots in her bag. But she was even more excited to do some coloring and listen to books (her usual things to do there). We made the quick rounds, going to Uncle Kevin and Aunt Julie's house (where she played with their keys), and then to Uncle Dan and Aunt Robin's house (where she played with their drawer of cups).

It was very late, so we made one last stop at Cindy and Scott's house, where it was a party with Wyatt bouncing a balloon all over the house. Jillian was a very tired and delirious Sweetie-Pie, and when we got home, she was ready for bed.

Jillian the Tiger

Courtesy of Cousin Rielee and family, Jillian got this tiger outfit to wear for this year's Halloween. Mommy got a black top, tights and shoes to go with it. When we put it on Jillian, we worked with her on what a tiger says ("Rooaarrr!"). She learned how to let out a little roar, though sometimes she just liked to say "meow" instead.

Jill-O-Lantern

It was pumpkin-carving time, and Mommy, Daddy and Jillian moved their pumpkins into the kitchen and got to work. Daddy got the tops off, and started removing the "guts". When we tried to get Jillian to reach in and pull the insides out, she wanted nothing to do with it. The most that she would do is pull out one little pumpkin seed. She didn't like it when she got pumpkin-stuff on her hands ... she wanted it wiped off right away.

Eventually, we got the faces carved on the pumpkins, and put them outside on the front steps. Here's a little picture of Jillian cozying up next to them. Jillian's pumpkin is in the middle, with Mommy's up top and Daddy's on the bottom.

Sighting No. 43

Here's a photo of a very excited Jillian, probably because Halloween is just around the corner.

New Stuff XII

The new stuff just keeps on coming, so here's what's happening within the last week or so:

1. "I want ..." : This has become a popular phrase used by Jillian. No more one-word demands like "drink" or "that"; now she makes her demands by saying "I want drink" or "I want that".

2. New Books : It didn't take long before Mommy and Daddy got tired of reading the same books, again. So, we got some more books at Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble. Right now, her favorites are "Thomas & Friends: May the Best Engine Win", "Clifford's First Autumn" (because it has pumpkins in it), and Little Critter's "All by Myself".

3. "Watch" (usually preceded by "I want") : Whenever Daddy pulls out the camera to take a photo, Jillian immediately says "I want watch", which means that she wants to look at replays of the old pictures on the camera.

4. "I do it" : Our little independent girl has started verbalizing her independence with this sentence.

5. "I love you" : Mommy worked with Jillian on this one, and she'll say it (sometimes) if we say it to her. Of course, she won't say it on-demand. But, we really like this one, so we're always trying to get her to say it.

6. "In ..." : Jillian has really gotten into using the "in" preposition instead of just the one-word. For example, she used to say "car" or "house" if she wanted to go into either of these; now, she says "in car" or "in house".

7. "Hold me" : Instead of saying "up" like before, now she holds her arms up and says "hold me" when she wants to be carried. The curious thing is that we don't know where she learned this, since we haven't said it to her.

8. Lost in Translation : Jillian used to have a certain number of words that she always said, so it was easy to know what she was saying, even if it didn't sound perfect. Now, because her vocabulary has expanded so much, and because she's learning new words every day, that we are having a difficult time understanding some of the words. A lot of times, she'll say a word over and over (looking at us like we're supposed to understand), and we'll have no clue what it is.

9. "M-i-l-k" : We don't dare mention "milk" at night before it's warmed up and ready. If we let it slip accidently, then Jillian immediately runs for the kitchen and grabs the towel, yelling "towel" ... which means that she wants us to dry off the sippy cup with milk that (should be) warming up in the sink. If it's not warming up, then she starts yelling "milk" over and over, which is usually followed by lots of crying, until we finally get it ready. When it comes to "milk", Jillian is not very patient at all.

10. Night Owl : It's becoming very obvious that Jillian is going to be a "night owl". She wants to stay up as long as possible every night, and throws a huge fit when we put her to bed, even when it's really late and she's practically falling asleep. It looks like Jillian is going to take after Mommy in this way.

11. Little Miss Helpful : Part of being able to do things herself has meant that Jillian likes to help if we ask her, or even if we don't. If she finds some trash laying around, she'll go ahead and pick it up and take it into the kitchen, so that she can throw it into the trash. If she finishes drinking from a sippy cup, she'll go into the kitchen and throw it (literally) into the sink. And, if we are putting away dishes from the dishwasher, she'll grab the silverware and throw it (literally, again) into the drawer.

12. "I'm fast" : When Jillian runs around, this is what she says now!

New Car Seat

Jillian finally outgrew her original carseat ... the one she came home in after she was born. Actually, she outgrew it a while ago, since her legs have been scrunched up in order to fit in it. It's been a good little carseat for the last 20 months, but it was time for a bigger one. Mommy bought another Eddie Bauer version today.

When Daddy took it out of the box, Jillian was delirious with joy. A new car seat to play in!!! She said "new seat" over and over. She would end up spending the next hour or so playing in the car seat, trying to "click" the buckles.

Pumpkin Patch

It's only a week until Halloween, which means it was time for Jillian to pick her pumpkin. Jillian had been seeing pumpkins at Fred Meyer whenever we went shopping there, and she saw pumpkins in several of the books that she has at home ... so she knew what they were, and she always yelled out "Puh-kin" when she saw them. So, we headed out to Willow Grove and went to the Youngquist Pumpkin Patch. There was a big field filled with hundreds of pumpkins, and Jillian was very excited to see it. She wandered around the field and touched every pumpkin she walked by. Eventually, she found the pumpkin she wanted. Here it is in this photo. Jillian says that it's "heavy".

Black Eye for Mama

We knew that Jillian had a big head. Mommy found out, in a very painful way, that Jillian also has a hard head.

Last night, Mommy was relaxing on the sofa, and Jillian was laying on top of her. Jillian is very restless when it's bedtime, so she tosses and turns a lot. This time, she sat up and turned over, and then dove back down head first, hitting Mommy right in the cheek. It hurt a lot, and a bump immediately popped up. It turned into a black eye by morning.

Pig Tails

Here's a little photo of Jillian with her pig tails. Grannie likes to put them into her hair. And Jillian likes it when Grannie puts them in ... she sits patiently while they're tied up, and then she'll leave them in for the rest of the day.

The New "Baby"

When Jillian says "baby", it sometimes means something different than before. The name "baby" has always been for any of her little dolls that are hers. But recently, she started getting into the "Rhyme Bible" that the Paul family gave to her. It contains a couple stories of Baby Moses and Baby Jesus. She'll say "Baby!", then grab the book and carry it over to us (while saying "heavy"). Then she'll keep saying "baby", so that we'll read the stories that have babies in them.

Dancing Girl

The dancing has definitely picked up with Jillian. Anytime some music comes on, Jillian starts showing her fancy footwork. She has a lot of moves, including "The Twist", "The Spin", "The High Kick", and "The Tippy-Toes". This first video shows her getting down to some music from (appropriately) Dancing With The Stars.



This second video is in her room, be-bopping to her little entertainment center.

Peeking In

Jillian doesn't like it when she gets locked out of the bathroom while someone is in there. So, she'll lie down on her tummy and try to look under the door. Then she'll call out to us, saying "Mama" or "Dada". And sometimes, she'll stick her fingers under the door. When we come out of the bathroom, she's still laying there, waiting for us.

Climbing Higher

It's not surprising anymore to find Jillian halfway up the furniture, or on top of something up high. If she can climb it, she'll do it. Here's a photo of Jillian climbing up her crib, just because she can (not because she wanted to go in it).

First Fender Bender

Don't worry, Jillian is perfectly OK. We just had a little bump out in traffic.

While we were in Portland on the highway heading towards Beaverton, Jillian was asleep in her carseat. It was very rainy and the road was very busy. We ran into some traffic and had to come to a stop. Unfortunately, the person behind us didn't stop. We heard the squealing of tires, and then felt the impact that gave us a jolt. When we looked back at Jillian, she kind of woke up a little bit, but then drifted back off to sleep. She would keep on sleeping through all of the information exchange with the other drivers. We are very thankful that she came through it OK, with nothing more than a little lost sleep.

(By the way, the car damage wasn't too much. Just a little bit of cracking in the rear bumper.)

New Stuff XI

It's the latest round of new stuff, courtesy of Jillian:

1. Word Strings : The vocabulary keeps on growing, and the fun part has been to hear Jillian string the words together. Some examples include "all done", "last one", "thank you", "good night", "sit up" and "bite nana" (bite banana).

2. "Me, Mine, My, I" : Most of the word strings that Jillian uses involves starting with "me", "mine", "my" and "I"; there's no particular reason for which one she chooses to use. Some examples include "my baby", "my water", etc.

3. Nose Blowing : Jillian has seen us blow our noses enough times, that now when she has an itchy nose, she'll grab a tissue and rub her nose with it.

4. "Wash" : She yells this at us when we're washing our hands, because she wants to wash her hands too. So, we get her hands wet, add a little soap, rinse her hands off, then dry them with a towel. Afterwards, she'll yell "soap".

5. "Brush" (or "brush teeth") : Jillian yells this when we brush our teeth, because she wants her own toothbrush. So, we give her a little toothbrush and some toothpaste, and she works at putting the paste on the brush; then she chews on the brush.

6. Pull your pants up! : We have to say this often to Jillian, because lately she has been pulling her pants down a lot. She pulls them down and says "potty"; the problem then is that she can't quite pull them back up over her diaper, so she walks around with her pants halfway down.

7. "No" (?) : Jillian is very quick to answer "no!" these days ... she says it pretty much to everything we ask, even if she really means "yes". So, we ask her a couple times to give her a chance to answer differently.

8. Bare Foot : It's all we can do anymore to keep Jillian's socks and shoes on. She looks to take them off at every opportunity. We can usually count on the socks and shoes coming off whenever she's in her carseat.

9. "Sit Down Da-Da" : This is Jillian's latest sentence. She yelled this at Daddy while she was sitting down, and wanted him to sit with her.

Saying Grace

When we sit down at the kitchen table, and we are just about ready to eat dinner, Jillian immediately folds her hands together and looks at us, waiting for us to say grace. She calls it "pray", and she knows that we always do it before eating. And when we're done, she starts clapping.

Dora Fan

Grannie just bought Jillian some new Dora the Explorer boots, and she was so excited to show them to everyone. She'd try lifting her boots up in the air to let us see, and nearly fall over doing it. She has been getting more and more into Dora, possibly because she's been sneaking a peek at the cartoon every now and then. Here's a photo of Jillian modeling the boots.