Windy, Rainy Beach Trip

Not only was it windy and rainy at the beach, but it was also kind of cold, too. So, Jillian didn't get much beach time. We made one attempt at it on Sunday, and as soon as Jillian saw the ocean, she took off running and didn't stop until she got to the water. Once we were there, it was so windy, that her hair kept blowing into her face. It bothered her enough that she didn't want to stay, so we headed back to the beach house.

The highlight of Jillian's trip to the beach was definitely the Astoria pool. She finally got to wear her new Dora the Explorer swimsuit. We had been talking about it in the week previous, so that's all she talked about. When we first got into the kid's wading pool, she walked around and said "I'm in the pool" over and over. She slowly took it all in, playing a little bit and watching other kids. Eventually, she really got into the whole swimming thing, and ran back and forth between the wading pool and activity pool, splashing and yelling. After more than an hour of playing, we said it was time to go, and Jillian started crying. She continued wailing in the locker room while getting changed. She felt better after sharing a milkshake with Daddy.

It had been a while since Jillian had been to the beach house, so she spent a lot of time exploring, playing with the wooden puzzle and poker chips, and reading all the books. The weather was not very nice, so she spent a lot of time doing these things in the beach house. It was still a nice, relaxing time, and it's a good warm-up for the upcoming Kid's Day at the Beach.

When will the nice weather come?

The only way to get a good photo of Jillian is when she doesn't know you're taking one, so I've been using the telephoto so she doesn't realize what I'm doing or I tell her that I'm taking a picture of Mocha. Today I got this pensive shot of her looking outside longingly, wondering when it will be nice again. Sometimes she will spot a squirrel and watch outside for awhile or see a pretty bird.

Another thing she does almost every day is to call Rielee on the frog phone downstairs and talk for a long time, with phrases like, "When are you coming Rielee?" or "That's fun!" and it goes on and on.

Yesterday when Rielee came Jillian had to show her right away how she could go on the potty, wipe, flush, and get 2 M&Ms. They both laughed excitedly and then Rielee said she would like to go potty too, and of course get 2 M&Ms. Later when Rielee went again she asked for her M&Ms.

Advance Notice

Jillian is starting to figure out this whole potty thing. This past evening at Grannie's house, she was telling Grannie all on her own that it was time to go ... so they'd go into the bathroom and she'd immediately go wee-wee in the big potty seat. A little bit later, Jillian's big-girl panties got just a little damp, so she told Grannie right away, and she went potty on the seat again.

When Daddy took Jillian home for the night, she had a little accident. It was time for diapers and pajamas by then, but not much later after, she was telling Daddy that she had to go potty again. So, they went to the bathroom and Jillian sat on her little seat, and she went potty there, too. She was very excited! The little potty seat doesn't flush, so she goes ahead and flushes the big toilet. Finally, after drinking her milk and laying down for nigh-nigh, she got up and announced that she had to go potty again. Back to the bathroom we went, and she took care of business again.

Water Fascination

Jillian loves to play with water-in the bath, throwing rocks in the water, or playing with the hose and her watering can. I turn the hose to low with a mist spray and she will play for the longest time filling and refilling her watering can and watering anything and everything. She even sprays the patio doors and scrubs them with a leaf. Then she calls Mocha and tries to cool her off with the sprinkling can, so Mocha keeps her distance. It's great because it keeps her occupied for a long time. Surprisingly, she hardly gets any water on herself now, but I stay out of range. (I only give her about 5 feet of hose.)

Happy Potty Girl

Surprise! Jillian decided she would sit on the potty and smile for the camera since she was such a "big girl" now. I was putting her down for a nap and she said she had to go potty which I thought was an excuse, but as soon as I sat her on the potty she went. So much for that nap after getting excited. So she played and then went on the potty again but obviously not enough since she was playing with Brock and wet her panties immediately after. Maybe she got too excited but she did very well after that. I put her on the potty before her next nap attempt and then she went right to sleep.

Potty time

We continued the potty training today and Jillian did great. As soon as we took off her night diaper she put on her "big girl panties". After breakfast, she was playing and had her only accident on the counter stool where she soaked it pretty good. (Since it was a nice day I took it outside and washed it down.) After that she would sit on the potty and I would read her two books for one M&M, but no successes. Shortly after one of these sessions she came running into the bathroom saying "potty" and she had success! She and I celebrated and she got to flush and get 4 M&Ms. The rest of the day I would time it so she had two more successes and no more accidents. It was a good day!

Bathtime fun

It's great that now bath time is easy as long as I promise to wash Jillian's hair later in the sink. She had fun with Tierney today (Tierney had an appointment so could watch her in the tub) and Jillian never wants to get out. They were crashing boats and then Jillian got into splashing all over, even though that gets in her eyes. When bath and hair time is over, she gets thrown on the daveno to continue a cousin tradition.

After her bath, she was sitting on her new potty and went, so I asked her if she wanted to wear "big girl undies" and of course she did. And it was nice outside. She was pretty proud, so I took the little potty outside but no more successes and a couple of panty changes. But she isn't fighting it so that's progress.

2-year Check-up

Jillian made a trip to the doctor's office today, for her 2-year check-up. Mommy drove her down, and Grannie came along, since Mommy had to go to the doctor herself to check on the new baby.

As soon as they were called back, Jillian started whimpering. Apparently, she was beginning to remember her past visits. Then, when the nurse measured her length, she began crying. And when it came time for the weighing, she was full-out wailing. Mommy and Grannie worked on trying to get Jillian to calm down. When Dr. Carrasco came, he tried hard to make Jillian relax. He checked both Mommy and Grannie before doing the same with Jillian. He did all the usual checks, and everyhing was normal. Jillian now weighs 27 lbs 6 oz, and her height is 35 inches.

The nurse came back in, and Jillian started crying again. Some fluoride was applied to her teeth, then came the bad part of the visit ... the shot. Mommy held Jillian in her lap, and the nurse gave her a quick shot (Hep A) in the leg. Jillian cried again. The nurse put a band-aid on her leg, but Jillian quickly tore it off in anger. Mommy and Grannie got Sweetie-Pie dressed and went home to end the doctor visit.

At home, when Jillian is asked where she went, she quietly says "doctor". When she's asked why she went, she talks about the owie on her leg (even though she points to the wrong leg).

No Pictures!

This video is what usually ends up happening when Daddy tries to capture Jillian on film. It starts out with Jillian singing the ABC song, and after about half-way, she starts saying "no, no, no, Daddy ... I don't want take picture!" while waving her finger.

New Stuff XXIII

Whole bunches of new things to talk about. Mostly because Jillian has lots to say these days:

1. "Talk to Me" : When Mommy and Daddy are talking to each other, Jillian starts yelling this at us.

2. "Look at Me" : See the one above ...

3. Wonder Pets : This is a weird little kids show on television, that Jillian has watched a couple times. She loves it, because we find her singing the theme song a lot: "Wonder Pets, Wonder Pets, On the Waaaaayyyyy!"

4. Pats on the Back : If Jillian is coughing (usually after drinking too much water), she'll walk over to one of us and put her back to us, meaning she wants us to pat her on the back.

5. Pants on the Ground : Jillian has become more interested in the potty again. Now, when she wants to go potty, she takes her pants and diaper completely off, all by herself, and sits on the potty.

6. "What's Wrong, Mommy?" : She has asked this many times, sometimes when Mommy had the back pains, and sometimes just because.

7. "I'm So ... " : We hear this a lot. Jillian uses it for emphasis, and the ones we typically hear are "I'm so thirsty", "I'm so hungry", and at night-time, it's always "I'm so ready [for milk]".

8. "That's kinda silly" : She says this whenever she sees something funny.

9. Time-Out? : Jillian was being crabby and yelling, so Mommy said "Do you want a time-out?". Jillian said "yes", so Mommy replied "Then go to time-out". Jillian started crying and then ran down the hall to stand in her time-out spot (on the rug at the back-door). She continued crying for awhile, standing the whole time on the rug. Eventually, she decided to come back when she was ready.

10. "Cute" : We hear Jillian saying this a lot whenever she sees something cute. This mostly happens with her clothes, or with babies. She even said this about Cousin Adam when she saw him sleeping.

11. "Yahoooo!" : When it's time to be happy and celebrate, Jillian yells this out.

12. "Where Are You (Mommy/Daddy)?" : This is asked whenever she can't see us, and sometimes even when we're right in front of her.

13. Lotsa Talk : More and more often these days, Jillian likes to talk and talk ... to herself, to us, or to anyone.

Twinkle, Twinkle Song

Just yesterday, Jillian busted out in song, singing all of "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star". We were surprised, because we hadn't really been singing it to her. So, she must have picked it up along the way. Here's a little video of one of her renditions:

Play-doh Player

Jillian loves to play with her play-doh set where she can make animals by putting the play-doh inside and pushing to make shapes comes out. There is a snake and turtle (her favorites) and an elephant and a lion (which she calls a kitty because it looks like one). Before I had to do the pushing because it was hard to line it up right and push hard enough. Now she is determined, as you can see in this picture, to make them herself. She will do all of them and then she tells me "Again", so I dig out the play-doh and she starts over, filling each one and pushing again. This goes on for quite awhile. Today she added a new twist by using the snake head to cut the play-doh into tiny pieces which I see was ground into the knees on her pants and on her shirt sleeves. I'm glad she has an understanding Mom when it comes to laundry.

Rielee came today and they played hard and then we went up to see the babies, Ava and Harper, which Jillian ignored completely. Instead, her and Rielee climbed in the baby stroller and walker and pretended to be babies. All this wore her out and she took the longest nap!

The New Sibling

Mommy is now about 3 months along in the pregnancy, so she had an ultrasound, and here are the pictures of Jillian's new sibling! In the first picture, you can see the frontal view of the head, torso and left arm. In the second picture, you can see the profile of the head and body, including the feet. Mommy said the baby was very active, kicking and squirming all over the place ... just like Jillian. Like before, we don't plan on finding out the sex of the baby until the birth-day.

In case anyone is wondering, Jillian's blog will continue as it is(but with updates on the new baby) until the baby is born, then a new blog will be started that will be for both kids together.

Sighting No. 50

A little more Photoshop editing of this picture of Jillian, as well. Mommy and Daddy have been saying to each other that our Sweetie-Pie is growing up and not a baby any longer. She's turning into a big girl.

New Stuff XXII

Just a quick little update on what's new with the Sweetie-Pie:

1. "No Way" : It's not enough anymore for Jillian to just say "No!". These days, she'll say "No way" over and over, and she means it.

2. Habla Espanol : Jillian must have seen enough Dora videos that she picked up a little Spanish. We found her saying "cuatro, cinco, seis".

3. "Daddy AAAAALLLL Done!" : If Daddy is working, or has just got done with work, Jillian likes to say this.

4. Dora All Day Long : As soon as Jillian gets home, the first thing she does is turn on the CD player and start playing her Dora CD. We get to listen to it all the way through at least once, and then a second and third time if Jillian remembers to repeat it. Mommy and Daddy have found themselves singing Dora songs while at work.

5. "Not Too Bad" & "Just a Little Bit" : These are a couple phrases that Jillian likes to say often.

6. "Sit My Knees" : When we were at Coldstone for some ice cream, Jillian tried to stand in the chair. Daddy said "sit down", but Jillian went to her knees and said "sit my knees".

7. "I Lost Mommy" : Mommy went to Denver this past weekend to coach her team in a volleyball tournament. This was the longest that Mommy and Jillian have been apart. Jillian has been saying "I lost Mommy" all day.

My New House

In the past month, Jillian's home has undergone a big change. With a new baby on the way, it was time to either move to a bigger house, or increase the size of the current house. Since we liked our location, we decided on a big remodel that would double the size of our house.

Uncle Davey and Grandpa Ken began just a few weeks ago, starting with removing the old attached garage. After that was out of the way, in came the excavator to dig out the dirt for the new foundation. It only took a couple days before footings and a stemwall were in place. Shortly after that, the floor joists went in. Now, we're waiting for an inspection before the floor goes down and the walls go up. In the meantime, parts of the roof have been removed (since the entire roof needs to be removed soon). Uncle Clark has been over helping, too. Mostly, he and Daddy just try to not slow down Uncle Davey and Grandpa Ken too much.

Whenever Jillian sees the new parts of the house, she stops and looks around, kind of wondering what's happening. Then, she calls it "my new house".

Sighting No. 49

Daddy wanted to do something a little different, so he took a little photo of Sweetie-Pie and did some editing in Photoshop.

I Do It (Buckle Up)

Jillian has always liked playing with buckles, but nowadays, she wants to buckle herself into her carseat, all by herself. And she can do it! So, if we're not pressed for time, we'll let her take care of it.

Birthday Number Two

Jillian celebrated her birthday again Sunday at Grannie and Papa's house with many of her Aunts, Uncles, and 10 cousins. The cousins all put on their Dora hats too (with just a little prodding). Jillian grinned from ear to ear when everyone sang "Happy Birthday". There was a Jillian quiz that everyone played, marking their answers that they thought Jillian would say, which was so unpredictable. Like, "What color crayon do you want?" She has always picked brown for everything but of course this time she said "Blue". Who do you want to play with, Mocha or Rielee?", was another question. A hundred times she would have said Rielee but this time she said Mocha. That's what I mean by unpredictable. Rielee was a good sport about it. Then the volleyball players there were surprised when she said she wanted to play soccer instead of volleyball. She was very entertained by their groans and cheers whenever she said an answer. She received so many nice clothes and toys and a promised trip to the zoo with the Johnsons.