Big Stand

If you put Jillian on her feet where she can't reach anything, she'll go ahead and stand there ... at least for 10 seconds or so before she gets bored with it and sits down. A lot of times, she'll clap her hands and yell while standing up. Occasionally, she'll also bend her legs and bounce a little bit. And, when it's picture time, she likes to give a big smile (like this photo shows).

One of Two

Just tonight, Meagan noticed that one of Jillian's top 2 teeth had poked through the gums. When we laid her back and opened her mouth, sure enough, a little bit of white on the top left tooth was peeking through. The one on the right was just about to come through, as well. This would explain why Jillian has been drooling a river the last couple days ... and also why she hasn't been sleeping well at all. So, that big cheesy smile of hers is about to get even bigger!

Stranger Danger

Jillian has been having more frequent bouts of "stranger danger" lately. There are a lot of people that she sees pretty regularly, and she's perfectly fine being around them or being held by them. But, if there is someone that she sees only occasionally (say, once every couple weeks), then she gets anxious and starts crying if she gets near them.

9-month Check-up

Jillian made another visit to the doctor today, this time for her 9-month check-up. The nurse started out right away by measuring her length at 28 inches (75th percentile), her weight at 19 lbs 3 ounces (100th+ percentile ... basically off the charts), and her head size at 18 inches (the same 90th percentile). So, Jillian continues to grow at a good clip.

Her resident doctor this time was Dr. LaGrande, with Dr. Liu also attending. Both doctors remarked at how happy Jillian was, probably because of all the smiles she was giving them. Dr. LaGrande checked her over and asked the usual questions, and said that everything looks good. They also both enjoyed watching Jillian perform all of her tricks for them (clapping, standing, talking, etc).

Then the nurse returned to apply a flouride varnish to Jillian's 2 bottom teeth. It must have been tasty, because she hardly flinched when the nurse stuck the flu shot needle in her leg.

Cheese!

Here's a great big cheesy smile from Jillian, after Daddy said "smile" before taking the photo. She likes to show off her 2 bottom teeth with the biggest smile she can muster.

By the way, if you're wondering why there have been no photos for the past 2-1/2 weeks, it's because Daddy had a little mess up. During a visit to Yakima, he left his camera bag (with both digital and video cameras) in a movie theatre. Fortunately, someone turned it in to management, and after many phone calls, he found the company that was keeping it for him. They wouldn't mail the bag, but agreed to hold onto it until someone picked it up. Dany made an attempt to stop by, but the business was closed that day (sorry, Dany ... thanks for trying!). Then, Grandpa Ken paid them a visit and came away with the bag (thank you, Grandpa!). So now, we're back in business, and hopefully lots of photos will be posted again.

Vocabulary

There are a number of words that Jillian seems to understand pretty well ... at least we think she does. We get a fairly consistent response from her when we say them. Here's the current list:

Mama
Dada
Jillian
Sweetie Pie
No! (or maybe not, based on how well she behaves)
Bye-bye
Open (mouth, when eating)
Up
Legs down (when on the changing table)
Doggie
Smile (when Daddy is taking photos)

She also seems to recognize the words from her favorite books (or at least the way we say them when we read them). If we say the words from her Zoo Friends book, "Hello Panda, in the zoo", she'll get a big smile on her face.

Shopper in Training

Jillian joined Mommy, Dany, Cindy and McKenna & Lindsey for some post-Thanksgiving day shopping on Saturday. It was an all-day affair, and Jillian showed that she will be ready to join the ladies soon ... she was a good girl, and kept on-the-go the entire day. Here's a photo (thanks to Dany) of Jillian next to the loot.