New Stuff III

More new stuff from Jillian in the last week or so ...

1. "Bye" : Jillian will say good-bye to anyone who leaves her sight, or when she is leaving the room, and there's times when she likes to say it with a big "BYE!!!"

2. "Toes" : When it's time to dress Jillian, she'll see her feet and say "toes!" Mommy likes to play with Jillian's toes, and she thinks it's pretty funny.

3. (Who's here?) : If someone is at the door or pulling into the driveway, Mommy or Daddy will say "who's here?" to Jillian, and she'll get all tensed up and excited, and then go running for the door. She loves the excitement of someone coming to visit her.

4. "Cheese" : Now, Jillian will say "cheese!" when she sees us pulling out the string cheese or a block of cheddar.

Spring Dress

Jillian went to church on Sunday, and got to wear her new dress, and the new red shoes that Mommy bought her. It was even nice enough to go outside and walk around for a while.

Photo Session

It was time for Jillian's 1-year photos yesterday. She was actually 1-year & 1-month old, but it was difficult to find a time to do them, so this was the closest we could get.

We took her to Rhonda Renee Photography in Woodland. This was a place we found out about from Auntie Greta. The photos tend to be natural and more modern looking. Rhonda was very nice and worked very hard trying to make Jillian smile, let alone trying to keep her under control. Jillian wanted to take off and play with all of the props in the room. We got a bunch of family photos with Mommy, Daddy and Jillian, and the Sweetie-Pie did pretty good through all of those. When it was time for the solo photos, though, all the man-handling was a bit much, and Jillian melted down. Turns out, she just wanted to get out of the room and go exploring. Hopefully, we'll get to look at the photos on-line in a week or so.

Sighting No. 31

Here's Jillian at 13 months old ... she's growing up fast!

Makeover

Here's another little clip sent in by Aunt Dianne, of Cousin Rielee combing Jillian's hair. Jillian went to visit Rielee today for some play time, something she loves to do.

The Protector

Jillian loves her babies. She has many of them (like this one, for example) and she carries them with her everywhere.

Jillian also takes very good care of them, when she's not throwing them around or biting their head. Yesterday, she was carrying one of her babies down the brick walkway in the backyard. She tripped and fell forward, but she didn't drop the baby ... she held on, and ended up skinning the back of her knuckles pretty good. It was a big owie for Jillian, but her baby was OK.

My-Sized Friend

The little bird feeder statue of the girl that sits out on the back patio is one of the first things that Jillian goes for when she's outside. If there's rainwater in the plate, she likes to splash her hands in it. She also likes to break off all the butterflies that are attached to the plate. And Jillian loves to have a conversation with the girl statue ... she just plays and jabbers at her the whole time.

Taking Sides

It was a just matter of time before Jillian started looking for sympathy from one of us (Mommy or Daddy), after the other one was a "bad guy". Today, Mommy took something away from Jillian that was too small for her to play with ... that's when Jillian threw a mini-fit, and promptly ran over to Daddy, crying and wanting up.

Sighting No. 30

A quick little photo of the Sweetie-Pie, in good humor. It was an up and down day, as Jillian started out crabby, but after a nice long nap, she turned into a happy girl for this picture.

Into Everything

Climbing and crawling into everything ... that's Jillian these days.

Vic Leno from Grace Lutheran Church recently hand-crafted a doll bed from cedar and gave it to Jillian. She thought it was the coolest thing when we put all of her babies in it for night-night time. That's when Jillian thought it would be pretty cool if she got into it, as well.

In the living room, we keep her wood building blocks in a small basket on the floor. Jillian's not much into building with the blocks just yet (mostly just into knocking them down), but she thought it would be neat trick to get into the basket.

New Stuff II

A few new things for Jillian ...

1. "Doh" : Which is how Jillian says "Dog" right now. She's actually been saying it for a while, but now she says it if we say "Mocha" (Papa Woodruff's doggie).

2. "Eh?" : This is what Jillian says when she sees her milk bottle. We're not sure how this came about, but it beats the whining.

3. "Ho" : When we arrive home, this is what Jillian says several times over.

Falling Down

It's something that Jillian does regularly now, wherever she happens to be. She'll sit down, and then slowly lean back until she's lying on the ground. This video is one of her less-graceful atttempts at falling down.

Extra Video

Jillian is heading up to Seattle with Mommy this weekend, so here's a little video to watch while she's away ...

Another Bump

Jillian's life is full of bumps and bruises, because she's a rough and tumble kind of girl. Her latest bump (which might turn into another goose-egg) came when she was sitting at her little picnic table, and she dismounted not so gracefully, heading face first onto the concrete patio. She now has a big, purple bump on her forehead, in about the same place as her last big bump. Just in time for next week's 1-year photo session.

Sighting No. 29

When we ask Jillian to smile or say "cheese", we just never know what we're going to get. Here's one of Jillian's many different smiles.

Tough Transition

The transition from breastmilk to formula went very smoothly. The transition from formula to whole milk was also very easy. Unfortunately, it looks like the transition from a bottle to a sippy cup is going to be very difficult. In just the few times that we have tried to give Jillian a sippy cup of milk, instead of her usual bottle, we have experienced meltdowns of epic proportions. It was not a pretty sight. So, we've got some work ahead of us.

Monkey in Action

Here's a little clip of Jillian climbing onto the little rocking chair at Grannie's house. She even did it while holding onto her baby. It's not too bad when she gets up on the seat and then turns around to sit down ... but it's a little unnerving when she decides to stand up on the seat, likes she's tried to do a couple times.

Destructo-Girl

There are a few things that tip us off as to whether Jillian is tired. She might rub her eyes, yawn or get crabby. But one of the more interesting (and entertaining) clues is that she turns into "Destructo-Girl" ... a one-girl wrecking machine. When she starts getting really tired, all of the sudden, she'll take off and start grabbing and throwing things randomly ... she moves pretty quickly (for fear of falling asleep) and goes from one thing to the next, hardly taking a moment to stop. And she'll end up tossing everything in sight, before the meltdown begins.

New Stuff I

With Jillian learning so many new things so fast, it's hard to keep up ... and it's hard to make a blog post for every single new thing, so we'll just combine a bunch every now and then. Here's a couple of the most recent:

1) "Hi" : Jillian has begun greeting people with a little "hi". She'll say it to just about anyone.

2) "Eye" : Not only can she point it out, but now she says "eye" when she points to a person's eye.

3) "Ahhhh" : After taking a drink from her sippy cup, she'll open her mouth and give a big "ahhhh".

Outdoor Girl III

Here's another guest photo, this one taken by Grannie Woodruff. Jillian was relaxing up in Castle Rock, enjoying the sunny weather.

1-year Checkup

Today was time for the 1-year checkup, to see how Jillian was coming along. We took off for Southwest Family Center after work, and after getting weighed at 21.9 lbs by the nurse (50th percentile), we got put into our room, where Jillian promptly starting exploring. She got into everything, and after Mommy and Daddy pulled her away from too many things, she started getting mad and crabby. We got a little break when the nurse came back in and took some more measurements. Jillian's height was 30-1/4" (75th percentile) and her head size was 18-1/2" (90th percentile). She was growing on track, though her height took quite a jump from before. After the nurse left, Jillian got back to being crabby ... and then Dr. LaGrand came in (someday we'll have the same doctor everytime), and Jillian went back to being a little angel ... the doctor never knew any different. The doctor asked some questions first, then started the exam. First, she checked Jillian's heart rate with the stethoscope, and Sweetie-Pie sat quietly and smiled at the doctor. Then the doctor checked her tummy and Jillian thought that was pretty cool. She even did alright sitting for the ear exam, but she wanted nothing to do with the dipstick in the mouth ... she just shook her head "no" at the doctor. So, the doctor laid her on the table and checked her further, then stood her up on the table and said she looked good. That's when Jillian leaned over and gave the doctor a big hug!

Then it was time for the shots. Mommy held Jillian, and the nurse gave Jillian three (3) more shots in the leg. She got a little mad at the first couple shots, then she cried on the final one. It didn't last long, then Jillian was ready to go-go again.

Cheese II

Jillian's big, cheesy grin is back! If we say "cheese" to her, she'll make that big smile of hers and show off all her teeth. Maybe it has something to do with her happy memories of cheese, which she loves to eat, either cheddar or string mozarella.

Early Typing

Jillian loves to try and bang on the computer keyboard, if she gets anywhere close to it. Just for fun, here's some of her typing skills ...

v..... ,g ,.///v/.kjzIK3Qaaaaaaaaaaaaaa/;lk kll..,,,, kmmmmmm, mnjh ghhyhtgfgrfy5u4u45444r5ggggggggggggggggggjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjj

Very Rashy

Owwww! That's been the most frequently heard thing coming from Jillian the last few days. She has a bright, red rash that covers most of her little bottom, and it really, really hurts. She starts crying as soon as we put her on the changing table. Even putting the Desitin on the rash hurts. We figure the rash came about because of the recent change in foods that she eats, because of a possible reaction to whole milk and other grown-up foods, and also due to having a dirty diaper more often. So, Jillian has been a very crabby little girl, which means she has been very clingy and she doesn't sleep very well at nights.

Escape

As this photo shows, Jillian can get up on her tiptoes and touch the doorknob. She's seen enough of the door opening and closing to understand that the doorknob means freedom to get to the outdoors that she loves so much. And she knows that keys help make that happen, because she'll grab our keys and put them up by the knob.

Hulkamania

Jillian still gets into all of our DVD movies, probably just because she can, or maybe because she likes to hear Mommy and Daddy say "no". Whatever the case, the one DVD that she picks out the most often is "The Incredible Hulk". It has a picture of the big, green monster on the front, and you'd think it's kind of scary looking. But Jillian seems to like it.

Sighting No. 28

And just for good measure, another photo of Jillian enjoying the outdoors.

Toddler Talk

Some of it's verbal, and some of it's hand signs, but in any case, Jillian is working on letting us know what she wants and what she thinks. Here's some of her communication (that probably hasn't been mentioned in the blog, yet) ...

1. "More": Jillian doesn't use this hand sign much, though occasionally she'll bust it out by surprise. If she wants more of something, usually of the entertainment-variety, she'll put her fingers together ... though it looks more like she's pointing at her fist.

2. "Tickle Me": When we tickle Jillian, and then stop, she'll give us the tickle sign ... it's an opening and closing of her hands. That means that she wants more tickling.

3. "Up": This is typically a loud one, because Jillian is trying to get our attention. She'll walk up to us, look up and yell "up" a bunch of times ... not sure if the "p" is all the way there, but it's hard to miss what she's trying to tell us!

On a related note, Jillian is working on her "t" sounds, specifically when she sees, or hears the name, Ty or Tierney (her cousins). That's when she'll repeat "t ... t ... t" over and over.

Sighting No. 27

Wild girl! Jillian was laying on Mocha's dog bed, rolling around, while Daddy was tickling her. If she's in the right mood, she loves the tickles.

The other neat thing about this photo is that you can see her upper teeth really well.

Sighting No. 26

Just a little photo of Jillian and her blue eyes. She took a moment from tearing apart Grannie and Papa's house to look at Daddy for this picture.

Monkey Girl

Well, it looks like we've got some more child-proofing to do in the house, like removing items that Jillian can climb onto. Lately, if she can get a hand-hold on something, she'll try getting her feet up so that she can climb. Tonight, she decided to climb on a file box that is next to the computer desk (which, incidentally, we had been using to prevent her from opening the drawers) ... and she got up on top of it and stood up about 1 foot off the floor; a very tall height for someone that's only 2 feet tall. We guess it was coming, since she's been so curious about what was on top of the desk (like the mouse and keyboard, as this photo shows), and the countertops in the kitchen, and the end tables, etcetera, etcetera ...

Another Celebration

Not only did Jillian have a big party on Saturday afternoon, but she turned around and celebrated another big event that evening. It was Grannie and Papa's 50th Anniversary on Saturday, and all the kids and grandkids got together at Red Lobster to thank them for being such great parents and grandparents. Jillian missed about half of the dinner, as she was sound asleep in her car seat (all the partying wore her out). But then, she woke up and had some fun with Grannie and Papa.

Whole Milk

Now that Jillian is one-year-old, Mommy decided it was time to stop the formula, and start the whole milk. We weren't sure how that was going to go, since it's been mostly formula the past year, with a little bit of juice and water thrown in. So, Mommy gave Auntie Greta a 6-ounce bottle of organic whole milk on Saturday while she was watching Jillian ... and she drank all of it. Yippee!!! Everytime after that, she has chugged her 8-ounce bottle of milk as if it was formula. We're very thankful that it was a smooth transition.