New Stuff XXVI

It's here! The latest and most interesting new stuff about Sweetie Pie:

1. "What you say to me?" : Either Jillian just likes to hear us repeat what we've told her, or she really didn't hear it the first time. Whatever the case, we get this response from her occasionally, whenever we've asked her to do something.

2. "Thank you so much!" : She can be a very polite little girl. Daddy has gotten to hear this whenever Jillian walks into a newly painted room in the house.

3. "Mine!" : Jillian has gotten a little more possessive about the things that she is holding onto. It's not so much that the thing is hers (it's usually not), but that she just doesn't want to give it up.

4. "I'm very sad." : Actually, Jillian isn't sad when she says this, but she likes to play it up by saying it with a sad voice and hanging her head.

5. "Hey, hey" : It's something she starts a sentence with nowadays, and she says it loudly and with emphasis.

6. The Park : Mommy is taking Jillian to the park a lot these days, now that the weather has turned for the better. It's one of Sweetie Pie's favorite places, since she's a "great climber", as she likes to say. Plus, it's got the "twisty slide".

7. Hide-and-Seek : Jillian is getting better about playing the hide-and-seek game. She'll ask us, "can you hide, Mommy / Daddy?", and then she'll tell us to count "1-2-3". If it's her hiding, she still can't wait, and usually jumps out when we get close, saying "you found me."

8. Scary Fast : Just when we thought she was already fast, Jillian has found another gear and can zoom out of reach, and out of sight, in just a blink. It's actually difficult to catch up to her. She has this high step when she runs, so her straight-away is impressive.

9. "Can you turn up the window?" : Jillian doesn't much care for the wind blowing her hair into her face, so when she's riding in the car and the window is down, she'll ask this.

10. Red Light, Green Light : If Jillian is riding in the backseat of our car, she will remind us about the color of the traffic lights. She'll say "the light is red" or "the light is green", and she knows that red means stop and green means go.

11. Mommy & Daddy Names : At random times when Jillian is talking to someone, she'll say "Mommy's name is Heather" or "Daddy's name is Rick". Mommy taught her that one.

12. "My name is ..." : So, if you ask Jillian her name, she'll say "Feetie-Fie" as usual. Then, if you ask her what her real name is, she'll start off by saying "Jillian", and if you ask for her whole name, she might say "Jillian Catherine Woodruff". What we haven't quite figured out is that sometimes she'll say her name is "Feetie-Fie Richard".

Rielee's Birthday Party

Rielee turned 5 years old and Jillian was so excited to go to her party. She enthusiastically watched Rielee open her presents and Jillian was thrilled to see what was in each package. But the rest of the time she spent in Rielee's room since Rielee has a lot of baby dolls to play with.

Jillian and twins

Jillian had a fun day up at Aunt's(Dianne) place. It was a nice day so Jillian and Rielee went outside to the sandbox and were having a great time. Then Aunt brought out the twins who were soon crawling all over the grass. When it was bottle time Jillian wanted to feed Ava, or maybe it was Harper, which lasted less than a minute as there were so many other things to play on. She had a fun time and didn't want to leave.

Nesting Dolls

A couple of things: Today was question day. Everything was a question? Can I go outside? Will you read me a book? Can I watch a video-please? Can you sit with me? On and on.

The other thing lately is her fascination with the nesting doll. There are 6 dolls before you get to the kitty and she can now put it together, which was hard at first as she had to judge the relative sizes which is a harder skill. She worked hard to get it each time and then would say, like Dora, "I did it."

Fingerpainting Fun

A lot of work for about 5 minutes of
play but they did have a great time. I haven't been brave enough for two at a time before. They were pretty serious artists for awhile before they turned to their wild sides. My orders were to not touch anything until I carried them to the sink, but that was after Jillian decided to climb down from the stool by herself so the stool was green. Maybe someday they can play outside...

Mommy's Clone, Part II

If there was any doubt about who Jillian looks like, these photos of Heather when she was about 2 years old should put that to rest. The resemblance between Mommy and Jillian at the same age is uncanny. When Daddy first saw these photos, he couldn't believe his eyes. Everyone else that sees them says the same thing.

As a test, we showed the photos to Jillian and asked her who it was in the photo. She replied "Sweetie-Pie!". So, even Jillian agrees that she looks just like Mommy.

Not only that, but some of the mannerisms are the same, too. Notice that Mommy often holds her hands in the photos, in the same way that Jillian does. There's another photo where Mommy is doing the "intense" smile, with her eyes squinting ... just like Jillian tends to do. And then there's the fact that both have a similar physical build.

In case it's difficult to tell who the other people in the photos are, here's a guide (top down):

1. Heather sitting on Sheryl's lap.

2. Michelle blowing out candles with Heather watching (apparently Heather & Jillian share the same fascination for birthdays).

3. Heather sitting on Uncle Davey's lap (and it looks like she's twirling her hair, just like Jillian does these days).

4. Grandma Myrtle, Sheryl and Greta, with Heather in the middle.

5. Aunt Charolette, Uncle Davey and Michelle, with Heather on Dave's lap.

New Stuff XXV

Been awhile since the last update, so here's a few new things:

1. "Now you'll never find it!" : This is something that Jillian has been saying lately when she throws something. We're not sure where this came from.

2. Wrapped Up : One of Jillian's favorite games is to get up on the bed and wrap herself up in the covers. She usually invites us to join her, saying "come sleep with me".

3. "No thanks" : If we ask Jillian if she has to go potty, she typically replies with a quick "no thanks". At least she's polite about it. Unfortunately, that's often followed by a little accident.

4. Ah-boo-hen : That's the phonetic spelling of something that Jillian has been saying over and over, but that we have no idea what it is.

5. Light Reading : Jillian loves carseats so much, that when she got a hold of the little manual that came with her carseat, it became one of her favorite books. Now, she reads it whenever she's in Daddy's car.

6. "I don't like that" : When Jillian tastes something and doesn't care for it, she'll usually respond by saying this, while narrowing her eyes and puckering up her mouth. This is a lot better than before when she'd just spit it out.

7. "Just one more book" : When we're done reading stories on the couch at night before bedtime, Jillian will jump down, turn around while holding up one finger, and say "just one more book". So, we always read one more book in bed.

Sighting No. 52

It's a little tweak of the photo of Jillian, just for a little something different.

Treehouse Fun

Rick built this treehouse when Tierney and the boys were little. Behind it is a tree swing. From this main part there are two zip lines that go across to the second part that has a climbing wall and big net.

There is a huge truck tire and another swing between two trees. Jillian has been playing in the treehouse now and today when Rielee was here they were in it a lot. In one picture Jillian is looking out one of the eyes (called the spy holes). In another she is standing in the second part where the zip lines end. Another picture shows her in the inside of the treehouse that the kids painted a few years back. The other picture shows Rielee trying the climbing wall.

Right now Jillian likes the tree swing and going down the ramp. I really tried to get a picture of the two of them together but it was a wrestling match because Jillian wouldn't go for it.