The Big Escape

We knew it was close, just not this close. Whenever Jillian has been in her crib, either sleeping or playing, and she tells us that she wants out, she has started putting her foot up on the top of the crib railing. It makes it look like she is trying to get out. But, she's never gone any farther than that ... until today. While Daddy was trying to take some photos of Sweetie-Pie, she put her foot up on the railing, than hoisted herself up until she straddled the side of the crib (like this photo shows). Don't worry ... she didn't go any farther than that, and Daddy was right there to catch her. Now, we just have to figure out what to do next with our little monkey.

Three Wheeling

Mommy got Jillian a very cool little tricycle for Christmas. It has a grown-up handle on it that we can use to push and steer her around. Jillian likes to have us buzz her around the house a couple times, since she's not quite big enough to totally reach the pedals. She also makes sure to always put on her helmet before she gets on the trike. It must be because she wants to be like her Papa Woodruff, who wears his helmet when riding his "bike".

Rielee Playdate

It was nice enough when Rielee came to play with Jillian that they could go outside. Rielee saw the jeep and got excited so she gave Jillian the ride of her life as Rielee wasn't the best driver. Thankfully I did put it on slow, 2 1/2 mph. They were whooping and hollering the whole time. When Jillian had had enough she went to her little car and Rielee then wanted fast speed but she kept getting stuck against things until I showed her reverse. Then she decided to ram Jillian in her little car which Jillian didn't like so then I decided to make the rules of the road. They certainly had a fun time!

Fearless climber

Today Papa was putting a new overhead light in the closet so he had two ladders set up, one extra for me to help. Jillian liked the new little ladder and spent a lot of time on it, with Grannie standing right behind her, as she pounded on the ladder with a hammer.

Next she decided the little ladder was too tame so she wanted to climb the tall ladder so she went up and down that one many times as Grannie stood nervously behind her. Rick and Heather will need to keep an eye on her when they start remodeling. At least now I know she won't panic if she finds a ladder to climb and gets stuck at the top. When Jillian took her nap I was afraid she would wake up and go into the closet and climb when I wasn't watching so I had to tie the folding doors to the closet shut.

Sighting No. 47

Another photo of Jillian flashing her blue eyes. Just before this, Jillian was all happy because she could hear the neighborhood dogs barking in the alley.

Where the Wild Things Are

The little cousins (Jillian, Adam and Andy) spent this past weekend together, hanging out at the Verd house. They ran, chased, played keep-away, ate, danced, jumped, climbed, made lots of noise, and then eventually took a break, like this photo shows.

The Step Stool

Here's a photo of Jillian using her step stool at her favorite spot ... the kitchen sink. She loves to pretend that she's washing dishes. Sometimes, if Mommy doesn't mind if Jillian gets wet, we'll put a little bit of water into the sink and let her splash around in it. That usually involves filling up bottles or cups with water, and pouring them back out again, though sometimes she misses and it ends up spilling all over herself.

The stool makes the rounds to the different countertops. Sometimes Jillian will take it into the bathroom, and pretend to wash her hands in the sink there. But, her favorite place is still the kitchen. The problem we've faced lately is that she reach about half-way onto the countertops, so that means she can reach quite a few things.

One other note: Mommy found Jillian tonight with her head all the way in the sink. Apparently, our little monkey had used the stool as a starting point, and had managed to pull herself up and over the countertop.