New House

Monica and Dave (Auntie Sheryl's good friends) gave Jillian a very big gift this past weekend. Their daughters Allison and Selena had outgrown their Barbie Doll playhouse. So, they passed it on to Jillian. Daddy set it up in the backyard, and when Jillian first saw it, she went right in and closed the door. Then, she picked up the little play phone (by far, her favorite feature of the house) and started talking into it. Here's a photo of Jillian and her new house.

Tongue Gash

This latest boo-boo of Jillian's ranks right up there with her split lip that needed stitches. She was at Grannie's house, and went into the computer room while Daddy and Grannie were talking. Just a couple moments later, Jillian was crying. Daddy went to get her, and found that her mouth was bleeding. After cleaning her up, the bleeding stopped shortly afterwards, and we were able to see that she had cut her tongue. We didn't know exactly how it happened, but we think she might have fallen and bitten her tongue. A day later, the gash is still pretty obvious. Daddy is having flashbacks, remembering when he gashed his own tongue when he was little, and having to get stitches when it didn't heal by itself. We're watching Jillian's cut closely, and hoping that the cut will heal up soon.

Combining

During Jillian's visit to North Dakota, she got to ride a combine with Grandpa Peterson. She rode on Grandpa's lap as he made a pass through the Cousin Steve's wheat field. She wasn't afraid at all, and she watched closely what was going on. She even grabbed the wheel and jerked it around. Here's a little photo of them sitting in the combine together, and as a bonus, here's the video of them combining the field.

Surfing the Web

Daddy had been working on the computer at the dining room table, but then left to take care of something else. When he got back, he found Jillian sitting on the chair, with her hand on the mouse, staring at the computer screen. It was another case of Jillian copy-catting us. Nowadays, she is always trying to get up on the chair to play with the "tv" (her name for the computer).

Tinkle Time

It was a big moment at Grannie's house today. Jillian has her own little potty seat in the bathroom, and she likes to sit on it and pretend. Today, she wanted to not only pull down her pants, but also pull off her diaper and sit on the little potty. The first time around, she sat for a little bit, then decided she was done and cleaned things up. A little bit later, she wanted to sit on the potty seat again, so she pulled down her pants and Grannie take off her diaper. She sat on the potty ... and went "wee-wee"!! We don't know if she totally understands what happened, but at least she's willing.

North Dakota Trip

Jillian went on a big trip to North Dakota this past weekend with Mommy, Daddy, Grandpa Peterson and Beverly. Mommy's Cousin Steven had gotten married to Lizzy in England a short while ago, and they had a big reception for the newlyweds in their hometown of Cavalier. As Jillian now says, "party, party".

Everyone took off from the Portland Airport on Thursday afternoon. Jillian liked being on the plane, mostly because it was something new, and because there were lots of people. She made sure to say "hi" to everyone. There was so much going on, that she didn't take a nap during the entire 4+ hours we were in the air. That's a long time for Jillian to not be able to run around, so she did get a little crabby at times, but most people on the plane thought she behaved very well. We landed in Fargo late that night, and were picked up by Aunt Doreen. We stayed at her and Uncle Doug's house for the night. Also staying the night was Cousin Andy with Auntie Sheryl, who had flown in just after us.

We woke up the next morning to see Jillian's new Cousin Mariah (9 month's old at the time), who is Cousin Lexi's daughter. They both played with the toys at the house, especially the hopping Tigger, but Jillian's favorite toy was Mariah's car-seat, of course. In the afternoon, we all took off for Grand Forks to visit Mommy's Aunt Elvina at her apartment. All the kids (Jillian, Andy and Mariah) played and played some more. Then we packed back up and took off for Cavalier.

Aunt Karen and Uncle Alan's house was our destination, and where we would stay for the rest of the trip. When we arrived, Jillian ran around all over the house; it had lots of room to explore, and there were lots of new toys to play with. Her most favorite thing to play with was the little drawer box that held some spools of thread. She was always pulling this out, and emptying the spools everywhere. Jillian also adopted a couple new "babies" that she found, so they had to go to bed with her at night. For dinner, we headed out to Cousin Steve and Lizzy's farm house, where a lot of the Peterson family had gathered. Plus, there were a lot more kids there to play with. After getting a ride around the farm on a golf cart with Uncle Alan and Cousins Jenna, Justine and Kara, it was time for Jillian to go to bed.

Saturday was the day of the party. We paid a visit to Cousin Jay and Julie's house down the road, and Jillian got to play with her kid cousins some more, bouncing on the trampoline, rocking in the hammock, and playing with stroller buckles. Then we headed out to Cousin Steve's wheat field that was being harvested by Grandpa Peterson and Uncle Alan. Jillian got to ride on the big combine with Grandpa, and she even grabbed the wheel and jerked it around. All of the excitement during the day must have been too much for Jillian, because she refused to take a nap all day long. By the time of the party at 7:00 pm, she was delirious, running and crashing. We went to the Cavalier American Legion Hall for the reception, and all Jillian wanted to do was run to the coat room and play with Mariah's car-seat. So, Daddy loaded her up in her stroller and took her for a walk; it was just a short time later and she was sleeping. We let her sleep for a while during the party, and the loud music from the band didn't disturb her. Eventually, Jillian woke up, but she was still so tired that she just wanted to be carried. So, Mommy, Daddy and Grandpa Peterson took her out on the dance floor and carried her around while they danced.

Sunday was a sleep-in day after the fun party, and Jillian slept in 'til 9:00 am. Then, it was a very crowded house, as dozens of Peterson family came over for breakfast and lunch, and a Vikings football game. This ended up being another play day for Jillian with all of the kids who came to visit. Here's a photo of Jillian with (l to r) Great-Aunt Karen, Mommy and Great-Aunt Elvina.

We finished up our trip on Monday, hanging out at Aunt Karen and Uncle Alan's house. We had a very nice brunch with Cousin Steve and Lizzy, and then packed up and went back to the Fargo Airport. The flight home was a little easier, because we had an empty seat next to us that Jillian got to sit in all by herself ... so she occupied herself for a long time with the seat belt. She would eventually fall asleep on the flight.

It was a very fun trip for Jillian, and we look forward to going back next summer, when Jillian will be 2-1/2 years old.

Bike (i.e., Motorcycle)

Cars and trucks aren't all that interesting to Jillian. She'll see them and say "car" or "truck", but that's about it. Motorcycles are a whole different matter.

Jillian loves to look at motorcycles, either when they're parked, or moving down the street. When she sees one, she'll yell out "Bike!". She also likes to ride on them, if she can get up onto the seat; she does this often with Papa Woodruff's scooter. And somehow, she can hear the difference between motorcycles and any other vehicle. If she just hears a motorcycle passing by (not even seeing it), she'll yell out "Bike!". It must be those loud pipes that tip her off.

Uncle Richard is sure to be very proud of his little niece.