The Angry Yell

Jillian has a new way of expressing her displeasure, by yelling very loud and with a lot of anger. It's hard to describe, but when Daddy heard it, it was kind of chilling!! And for whatever reason, Jillian has only directed it at Daddy (either because she knows Daddy is a softy, or because she knows better than to direct it at Mommy). She has done it a few times now, mainly when Daddy doesn't let her do something that she wants, like playing with seat buckles. Hopefully, this is something that will move on soon.

Sweetie-Pie ... or Scary-Pie?

Jillian has raised her tantrum intensity to a whole new level. Grannie remarked that maybe she is starting her "terrible twos" early, after seeing her throw a couple of fits firsthand. Whatever the case, Jillian now cries louder and longer, collapses onto the ground faster and harder, and has developed a new expression for her unhappiness ... throwing stuff!! Oh, joy. Daddy also got to experience the new "Scary-Pie" when he took Jillian home after work. She wanted to play with her carseat buckles, but Daddy said "no", at which point she threw a little fit. Then, she wanted her bubbles, so Daddy got the bubble jug down for her. Apparently, she was still unhappy about not getting to play with the buckles, because she took a swing at the bubble jug, trying to knock it down. Daddy said "all done" and put the jug away, and then the (long, long) tantrum began. It took a while, but Jillian eventually regained her composure and became "Sweetie-Pie" again ... until Mommy got home from work, and then she came unglued again.

Here's a quick photo of our little "Sweetie-Pie".

Phone Conversations

Something changed recently, and now Jillian will actually listen and talk on the phone. This is a lot different from before, when she pushed the receiver away as soon as she heard something. Recently, we began using the speakerphone option, and at that point she would at least acknowledge us, or even wave or say something. Now, Jillian is much more comfortable with the phone, because she'll let us put the receiver next to her ear. She'll listen closely to what we say, and respond to it (usually by repeating one of the words). It's kind of like the beginnings of real conversation on the phone with Jillian, because it always starts with a "hi", a few words in-between, and then a "bye" at the end. And when she's done with the phone, she'll yell out a big "WO!" (meaning "work"), because she knows that Mommy or Daddy is calling from our work place.

Mommy's Little Helper II

This is one of Jillian's favorite things to do -- help Mommy water the plants. That's because it involves 3 of the things that she loves: water, outside and Mommy.

By the way, she doesn't usually carry "Baby" around while watering, but she had been away for the weekend without her baby, so they were inseperable for a short time when she got back.

Weekend at Andy's

It was a wild and crazy weekend up in Seattle this past weekend. Jillian went to visit her cousin Andy up at his place, and cousin Adam was there, too (along with Aunties Sheryl, Denise and Greta and cousin Meagan). The Peterson girls went shopping Saturday, and Daddy and Auntie Dee got to babysit the munchkins.

The first thing was for Andy to take his nap. In the meantime, Jillian and Adam got to play in the family room for an hour or two. There were lots of new toys to play with, but it seemed there weren't quite enough, as both of them wanted what the other had. So, Daddy had to play "referee" for a while.

When Andy woke up, we got ready for the water park. We didn't pack a swimsuit for Jillian, so she borrowed some swimwear from Andy, including the Elmo swim-trunks. We went to a cool little water park in Bellevue, that had lots of sprays and fountains. The kids loved to run around and get wet! Jillian got a little worried about some of the sprays, since they turned on and off, and she didn't want to get surprised with a face full of water. So, she waited until they were going, then jumped in and got soaked. Jillian's favorite feature was the frog that squirted water out its mouth ... she liked to stick her hand in the stream, just like she does when Mommy is watering her plants.

After that, we went back to Andy's house to have dinner. Jillian was worn out, so she took a little nap. While Auntie Dee cooked the spaghettie dinner, Daddy managed the mayhem of Andy and Adam in the downstairs kid's party palace. Jillian woke up an hour later, and it was time to eat. Auntie Dee put all the kids out on the deck on the kid's picnic table, and let them go after their spaghetti. The noodles were flying everywhere!

We all wound down in the evening, kind of. The kids kept playing until, one by one, they started wearing down. Daddy tried to get Jillian to sleep, but after an hour of tossing and turning, and a dozen readings of "Thomas the Tank Engine and the School Trip", we came back to the family room. Andy was in his crib sleeping, and Adam was sacked out on the couch. Jillian wouldn't go to sleep, and the Peterson girls came home at 11:00 pm to find her still awake. It would be a long and restless night for Mommy and Daddy.

We finished our trip with some breakfast in the morning, prepared by Auntie Sheryl. Then we packed up and headed home. Jillian had a great time mixing it up with cousins Andy and Adam!

Run Away

Jillian really likes this whole running thing. She uses it a lot. For instance, when she gets ahold of something that she's not supposed to have, and Mommy or Daddy sees her with it and tells her to put it back ... she takes off running. Fast! She's getting so fast that the only reason we catch up to her is because she runs out of room to get away.

Sighting No. 40

Another picture of our mischievous little Sweetie-Pie. She had asked Daddy to "come" over to the rock path by the garage, so she could see his reaction when she grabbed some rocks and quickly threw them into neighbor Jack's yard.