Saturday, February 27, 2010

2 Years Old!

Today was Jillian's 2nd birthday! It was a big, exciting day for her and all of us. Mommy got Jillian all dressed up in a pretty dress just for this occasion. Here's a little photo of Jillian showing how happy she was.

We had the party at Auntie Greta and Uncle Clark's house. It was packed full of family, and cousins Adam and Andy provided a lot of the entertainment. After snacking on chips and stuff, we got down to business. Jillian got a cake with Dora the Explorer on it, while Uncle Clark (whose birthday is also on the same day) got two cakes. Everyone sang the happy birthday song, and Jillian looked around and smiled big. Then, when it was time for the candles, Jillian gave a quick couple puffs and blew them out.

There were lots and lots of cool presents. And there was lots of princess and Dora stuff, too! Jillian opened up the cards on her own, and anytime she opened up clothes or shoes or that kind of thing, she wanted to get undressed and put them on. Eventually, when the party was mostly over, we let Jillian take her clothes off and put on her Dora swimsuit.

One last thing to show: the Paul family gave Jillian a CD player, with a Dora song CD. They played it for her, and Jillian danced and danced. Actually, she grabbed Adam by the hands and swung around and around with him.


Friday, February 26, 2010

Almost Two

The anticipation has been building the last week or so. We've been talking to Jillian about her birthday that's coming up. She's been to enough birthday parties lately that she understands what happens at them. So, when she's asked, here's how she responds:

Us : How old will you be?
Jill : Two!
Us : What will we sing?
Jill : Happy to you! ... Sing happy to you [Dada/Mama].
Us : What will you eat?
Jill : Ice cream!
Us : What will you blow out?
Jill : Candles. Hot!

Jillian gets the biggest smile on her face when we sing "Happy birthday to you" to her. She can't wait for her big day!

Bouncy, bouncy

It's become one of Jillian's favorite things to do, especially when she gets deliriously tired. In this case, she gave her little baby a bouncing, too.

Tick(ed)

Jillian was relaxing on Daddy's lap while we read a story. When Jillian sat up, Daddy noticed something on her back. When he looked really close, he saw that it was a bug. He tried to brush the bug off, but it wasn't budging. That's when Daddy figured out that it must be a tick!

So, Daddy tried calling Mommy, but there was no answer. Figuring that someone from North Dakota should know how to deal with ticks, Daddy tried calling Grandpa Peterson, but still came up empty. Fortunately, Auntie Charolette and Uncle Davey were home, and said they would come over. In the meantime, Daddy called Mommy again and she answered. Mommy gave all sorts of ways to handle the tick, including rubbing alcohol, tweezers and something hot. None of them worked, and Jillian wasn't real fond of having to sit still that whole time.

Auntie Charolette and Uncle Davey showed up. Jillian was put over Uncle Davey's lap, and he grabbed onto the tick with his fingers, gave a quick tug, and out came the whole thing. Jillian didn't even know what happened, and got right back to playing. We went ahead and bagged up the tick so that Mommy could see it, too.

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Playtime

Since there wasn't any preschool Rielee got to come earlier and stay longer, to Jillian's delight. This picture shows Jillian laughing as Rielee does some funny falls on the bed. Most of the time they play so well, then they'll fight over something and play alone for awhile, then they're back to being best buddies. After this they decided they needed all the pillows around (ended up with 8) so
they could make a bed, on the bed, and read. It was peaceful for awhile....

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Favorite "Baby"

When we were back in North Dakota last year for Cousin Steve & Lizzy's wedding, Auntie Karen had a little baby at her house that Jillian liked to play with. When it was time to go back home, Jillian wanted to take it with her, so Auntie Karen let her keep it. This baby has since become one of Jillian's favorites.

Friday, February 19, 2010

A Trip to the Dentist

Not for Jillian, as she getting new teeth but for Grannie, as she is losing hers. I had to make a quick trip to the dentist to have impressions made Thursday morning so I took Jillian in her pajamas. She sat on my lap in the chair while I saw the dentist. She didn't know what to think and was a little clingy until they brought her a toy and stickers and fussed over her. Then when they took the tray out of my mouth and there was white plaster all over my face and mouth, she thought that was quite funny and laughed. She enjoyed it again when they did the top of my mouth. At least on this visit to the dentist she had fun, not me.

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Valentine's Day

We spent the Valentine's Day weekend up in Seattle for a volleyball tournament there. "Mama coach", as Jillian likes to say. It was a very nice stay, thanks to Uncle Richard and his condominium in Bellevue. Jillian enjoyed running around, going in and out of rooms and sitting on the sofas. She also liked looking at all of the cool things on the coffee table and end tables ... and she had to be constantly reminded "that's for Uncle Richard".

Princess Slippers

Jillian loves her princess clothes, including her Cinderella slippers. Here's a short video of her walking around the house with them on ... and then saying "I want watch" as she always does when she's being videotaped.

New Stuff XXII

There's a whole lot going on with Jillian these days, as this long list shows:

1. A Private Place : Lately, we've found that whenever Jillian has to poop, she'll get herself out of view and then do her duty. The most recent example of this was when she was in the kitchen; she ducked behind the dining room table, peeking above it but hiding until she was done.

2. Future Setter : Mommy and Daddy were having a conversation about volleyball, and when we asked Jillian, "do you want to be a setter or hitter", she replied "setter!".

3. Where's the Baby? : Now that Mommy's pregnant, we are pointing out to Jillian that the new baby is in Mommy's tummy. So, when we ask her "where's the baby?", Jillian will reply "in Mama's tummy" along with pointing in that direction.

4. "Baby in my tummy" : One morning, while Daddy was reading the Little Critter book "The New Baby", Jillian pulled up her shirt and said "baby in my tummy". That's something Daddy doesn't want to hear for at least another 20 years.

5. Princess Dress : It happens almost daily; the first thing that Jillian does when she gets home is put on her princess clothing that she received from Cousin Rielee for Christmas. Sometimes, she just puts the dress over the top of her clothes, and sometimes she strips down and gets naked before putting the dress on.

6. Counting to 13 : We don't know where she learned it, but now Jillian will count to 13. It actually goes like this ... "eleven, twelve, thirteen, thirteen".

7. No to Bathtime : Something happened recently that changed Jillian's attitude about bathtime. Now, when we tell her that it's bathtime, she starts crying and saying "no!". She cries the entire time that we're getting her ready, and when she's put into the bath. And she'll keep crying until her hair is washed ... but after that, she's fine and she'll play in the water and want to stay there. So, Mommy has made a point of getting the hairwashing over with early, so that bathtime isn't so difficult.

8. "I sit on Mama's lap" : This is something that Jillian says whenever she sees a picture of Santa Claus. We figure that she is referring to the traumatic episode at the Verd house when she saw Santa running around outside and then coming in to visit; she was sitting on Mommy's lap the whole time, but she was visibly scared and shaking, wanting nothing to do with Santa.

9. New Teeth in Back : Jillian has been putting her fingers as far back into her mouth as possible these days. It appears that she's getting those final molars way in the back.

10. "Oh, good job Dada" : Jillian will say this to Daddy for just about anything that Daddy is doing, like washing the dishes or something like that.

11. Playing with Cars : There are a couple cars in Jillian's room, and she has become fond of pushing them around on the floor, pretending to drive them all over.

12. "I just throw it!" : If you ever ask Jillian where something went (that she's supposed to have), she'll say this emphatically.

13. "I take it off!" : And if you ever ask Jillian where her socks / shoes are (after she's taken them off), she'll say this as well.

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

New Playmate Coming Soon!

Just in case you haven't heard ...

Heather is pregnant!!!

So, Jillian will soon have someone to play with, or take care of, like she does with all of her little "babies". The new baby is due September 17, 2010, which just happens to fall on her Grandpa Peterson's birthday. We haven't talked much to Jillian about the new addition, yet, but as Mommy's tummy grows, we'll start mentioning it to her.

Sighting No. 48

As Mommy says, Jillian is turning into a little girl. Her personality is starting to really come through these days, and we kind of know that she'll have a lot of spirit, and that she won't be all that shy.

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Outdoor Girl

It was so nice yesterday that Jillian spent most of the day outside with her car. The first thing she does is to go in the garage to get gas (really windshield cleaner) and fills up her car. Then she gets in ready to roll.

Thursday, February 4, 2010

Happy To You!

That's Jillian's way of saying happy birthday. We had a co-birthday party for Mommy and Aunt Julie (who was celebrating her 40th) up in Castle Rock. Jillian had a little cold, but she was still go-go-go the whole time since there was lots of company.

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

New Stuff XXI

It's a bunch of new things from Jillian. Well, they're new since the last New Stuff entry, so some might be just a bit old, but they're still fun:

1. "I love you, too" : If we say "I love you" to Jillian, she'll say "I love you, too" back to us. And sometimes she'll just say it when we give her a kiss.

2. "Sleeping booty" : Yes, this is actually Sleeping Beauty, one of the Disney princesses that she likes so much. It's just funny when she says it.

3. Patty Cake Song : Jillian can actually sing most of this song. It kind of goes like this: "Patty cake, patty cake, baker man ... paaaaaaat it, rooooooll it, maaaaark it, throoooow it ... for Sweetie-Pie, and baby!!!".

4. "Holey Moley" : Yet another case of Jillian parroting her Daddy's expressions.

5. Performing in the Mirror : The kitchen oven has enough of a reflection that Jillian can see herself pretty well. So, she likes to perform in front of the oven, to watch herself. She talks, sings, dances and spins around right there, and sometimes laughs at herself.

6. "Mommy, Daddy" : The "mama" and "dada" that Jillian has called us for a long time is starting to give way to the "Mommy" and "Daddy" that she has been calling us at times.

7. Mad at Inanimate Objects : This has been an interesting development just recently. If something is not going quite right for Jillian, she'll get physical with, and maybe even yell at, whatever object she's handling. For instance, she was trying to put her babies to sleep on her bed, but she couldn't put the blanket on them the way she wanted (we guess). So, she started throwing the blanket around ... and yelling loudly at the blanket. We've seen it in other instances, as well, and it's become a little more frequent.

8. Taking Swings : Another display of anger (or "independence") has been that Jillian has swung her arms at us a few times when we have tried to pick her up when she didn't want to be picked up. This has brought some quick "NO!" responses from us.

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Imagination

Jillian took another step into her pretending yesterday. We were buying groceries for Dora with her cash register and I said to Jillian that Dora needed a bottle for the milk we just bought. I sent her to the store to get one so she ran into the kitchen saying she needed a bottle and came back with a pretend one she would put into my hand and I would give it to Dora. This occurred several time and Rick (who was working on his computer in the kitchen) wondered what was going on since she didn't get anything. She going to have a good imagination!

Pretending

It was another long weekend in gyms for volleyball. Saturday, Jillian was in the gym from 8 AM until 7 PM. I usually find a corner to put the blanket and bring the tote with a multitude of toys. Then it's always fun when Adam, Andy, and this time Parker, were there to play. Jillian is now into setting up her dolls and playhouse. Also I found a wooden dump truck that she could load with the things she bought with her cash register. She sat with Parker for a long time arranging and rearranging and I got to watch a lot of the volleyball games with Jillian's cousins Meagan,
Tierney, and Macee winning 8 of their 9 matches.
Jillian wanted me to take a picture of big Dora, little Dora and Boots when she had them laying in a row. She is a very caring Mommy to her "babies".