Cavalia Show

For Christmas, Mommy and Jillian received tickets to the Cavalia show from Cindy Stephenson. They went to the show tonight with Cindy, Dany, McKenna, Lindsey and Noelle. Jillian got all dressed up in a very purply outfit, and was excited to see the "horse ballet". Here's a photo that Mommy texted from the show. Hopefully Mommy will also write a little blurb on how things went ...

The New Bike

Jillian has gotten lots of practice riding a bike, at least one without pedals. Her little Strider bike has seen lots of action, and Jillian is pretty good at steering and balancing, lifting her feet up for a long time. We thought she might have enough confidence now to try a big bike with pedals (and training wheels).

Tonight, she wanted to try her new Christmas bike out, so Daddy gave her pushes up and down the hall while showing her how to move the pedals. After doing that for a while, Daddy got tired and had to take a break. In the meantime, Jillian kept working on it, and eventually figured out how to get it started and keep it going with the pedals. She kept going and going, and only stopped when we told her it was time to be quiet since Bridget was trying to sleep. Here's a video of some of her practicing. Note that she still hasn't figured out how to use the brakes ... she just crashes into the walls at the ends of the hallway.

Christmas Day

It was 7:00 am, and Jillian was half-asleep when Daddy asked her "Who do you think came to visit us last night?" ... that's when Jillian's eyes popped open as she yelled "Santa!" And she was off and running towards the Christmas tree. Bridget was still sleeping, so we had to carry her there.

The first thing Jillian saw was her new bike! Then, she saw the stockings stuffed with new things and the presents under the tree. She was all over it, pulling everything out of the stocking, then helping everyone else with theirs. She moved quickly to the presents, as well. Bridget got into it, too, helping to open up presents. They were very excited about the whole affair.

Afterwards, we went to Scott and Cindy Stephenson's to celebrate with Helen and the Paul family. Jillian continued her torrid pace, wanting to help handout Christmas presents to everyone, even as we tried our best to slow her down. Bridget had a good time playing with the dogs in their kennels, and she was always looking for something to eat.

Next, we went to the Christmas Day service at Grace Lutheran. The girls were getting a little restless after so much excitement, so Jillian headed right off to the nursery to play, while Bridget spent much of her time in the foyer. We headed home right after the service and got the girls down for a nap as fast as possible.

At 3:00 pm, the Peterson family showed up for dinner that Mommy had been working on. After a great meal, Jillian and Adam ran themselves ragged the rest of the evening, while Bridget did her best to tag along. We had some very tired girls by the evening.

Christmas Eve

It was Bridget's first Christmas Eve at the Piercy gathering in Castle Rock, and something like Jillian's third time. They both got dressed up in their new Christmas dresses, and also in their matching coats. They had good naps, so they were both raring to go with all the cousins.

When they showed up at the Uhlenkott house, Jillian immediately hooked up with Rielee and they took off for the downstairs playroom. Bridget stayed upstairs and hung close to Mommy and Daddy, not having seen a lot of relatives for a while. She eventually warmed up and started wandering around freely.

Santa showed up about 7:30 pm, and we weren't entirely sure how Jillian would react, since she hadn't seen him since last year, and she wasn't so hot on him back then. But, she was excited to see him this time, and when asked to sit on his lap, she jumped at the chance ... she was all smiles and waved excitedly to everyone. When Santa asked what she wanted for Christmas, she responded "a dolphin Pillow Pet". Then, when she opened up her present from Santa, she was jumping up and down when she saw it was a dolphin Pillow Pet. Wow!

Bridget wasn't as keen with Santa, giving him an uncertain stare. When Santa reached out to hold her, she turned away. Oh well. At least she didn't cry.

The girls then opened presents with all of the cousins. Bridget was so happy to get a new baby from Lexi, and she took care of it the rest of the night, carrying it around or putting it to sleep. Jillian got some very cool presents as well, but never put down her dolphin Pillow Pet.

Jillian headed back downstairs to play with all the kids, saying later that the room was a "disaster" and complaining that the boys were throwing balls at her. Bridget stayed upstairs and stayed active, trying to climb everything and yelling loudly for all to hear.

Nutcracker Ballet

We figured Jillian was now old enough to go to the Nutcracker Ballet in Portland. Mommy and Daddy had been going every year, as part of our Christmas tradition, and we had always seen lots of little girls there, all dressed up in their Christmas dresses. So, we were ready to take Jillian along last Wednesday. She was excited to go in her new Christmas dress.

We had decent seats, way up front about 5 rows from the stage (this photo shows her up there). She held on to the program the entire time, because it had a picture of a ballerina on the front. For quite awhile, she kept asking us when she'd see that ballerina. She also asked us at what time she'd get to go on stage. Jillian kept her attention pretty well at the start of the show, and was a little afraid of the mouse battle.

After the intermission, Jillian was fading, and laid down on her seat for short little "rests". She was ready to be done, and kept asking when we'd go home ... so she didn't see much of the second half. It didn't take long for her to fall asleep on the way home.

New Stuff

A little Christmas treat ... new stuff from the girls:

1. Salty vs. Sweet : We've known that Jillian has a taste for salty foods, and on the flip side, only eats a little bit of sweet foods. Bridget, on the other hand, has a sweet tooth. She wants sweet stuff all the time, and eats as much as she can get.

2. Preferred Puppy : For the last several weeks, Jillian was carrying around a particular stuffed puppy everywhere she went, and sleeping with it at bed time. If it was out of her sight for even a moment, she immediately started crying "Puppy!!?".

3. Book Bearer : Bridget has figured out that if she brings us a book, we'll stop what we're doing and sit and read with her. The books are starting to arrive fast and frequent.

4. Dramatic Tantrums : Maybe she saw some other kid doing it (like her big sister), but Bridget has occasionally resorted to the overly dramatic tantrum when something is taken away, or when she's scolded. She'll either a) throw her head back with her eyes shut and cry, or b) fall down face first on the floor and cry.

5. Panting : If Bridget wants to get into her crib to play, she'll pant like a dog.

6. Nose Blower : For as young as she is, Bridget has already figured out how to blow her nose. If we put a tissue up to her nose, she'll give a big blow into it. We've had lots of practice lately, since she's had a cold.

7. Computer Geek : Just like her big sister, Bridget is constantly trying to get up to the computer (especially the mouse) and pretend to play on it. Her favorite things about this are the grabbing the mouse, and the thrill of getting caught.

8. "Where's Bridget?" : Ask this, and Bridget will play her peek-a-boo game. She'll hold her hands over her eyes and wait for you to say this, then she'll pull her hands away and laugh ... and do it again and again.

Sighting No. 61

We made our way to Seattle this past weekend, to visit friends at the Swanson Nursery. They had a live camel, donkey and reindeer there, and Jillian and Bridget loved to watch them. When they weren't doing that, they were running wild. This is a photo of Bridget all bundled up in her winter coat, playing in the kid-sized sleigh they had there.

Bridget and Tree

A cute picture of Bridget one time when she wasn't trying to pull off ornaments. Such an innocent look. 

The Quad

Jillian does things at her own pace and when she's ready, it's full speed ahead.  She has decided to master the Quad, which she calls her tricycle.  She operates the on-off button plus the ones that are forward, neutral, and backward.  She now always wants to go out to ride her Quad and her play puppy has to ride with her.  I even eventually had to get her mittens as her hands were getting cold.  

Looking for Christmas

Here's a picture of Bridget looking out the front window, usually checking out the cars that go by. She's standing by the Christmas tree, under supervision of an adult, since she usually likes to see which ornaments she can reach and pull off.

Pre-school Christmas Program

Jillian had been preparing for her Pre-school Christmas Program for many weeks now. We got to hear her practice singing her songs over and over again, especially "Away in a Manger." So, she was ready to perform today in front of Mommy, Daddy & Bridget, Grannie & Papa Woodruff, Papa Ken & Beverly, and Cousin Meagan and Zach.

When the program started, Jillian just stood there and listened to everyone else sing, even though we were certain she knew the words. Eventually, after a couple songs went by, Jillian got into it and started singing and doing the movements. She did a very nice job of being loud and expressive, while nearly falling off the little platform she was on. This photo shows her with the other kids in her class (not the best quality shot, due to being a bit far away). After each song, everyone clapped, and so did Jillian.

After it was over, Jillian went right for the cookies ... and not long after, got totally wound-up and was running wild. When we talked to her teachers, they were so proud that Jillian had sung during the program, because apparently she had not been singing during their practice in class.

The Star

Jillian has been so excited about putting the star on the tree, she's been talking about it all week. And, she always asks Daddy if he'll help to lift her up. We finally got the tree up, and Daddy did his best to lift up a much bigger Sweetie-Pie, who nicely placed the star on top.

Tree Decorators

Jillian was a little workhorse when it came to decorating the tree. Mommy unwrapped the ornaments and handed them to Jillian, who hung them on the tree. At first, all of the ornaments were ending up in one spot on the tree, but eventually they got spread out. Meanwhile, Bridget did her best to remove all of the ornaments, at least those within reach. Towards the end, Jillian got tired and was handing the ornaments to Daddy and asking him to put them on the tree. Only one ornament (a glass ball) ended up a casualty. We ended up with a beautiful tree that Jillian is very proud of. And we are on constant alert for Bridget getting near the tree.

The Tree Farm

This was actually one of the nicer days for us to go pick out our Christmas tree this year (above freezing and not raining). We started out walking, but after a few steps, both Jillian and Bridget wanted to be carried. We walked to the far side of the tree farm, like we always do, and fortunately Mommy immediately found a nice tree (shown in the photo). Jillian helped Daddy with cutting down the tree, holding on to the saw the whole time. She had let us know that she was very concerned about when the tree falls down (that it might hit Briget), so we got out of the way when it did tumble. We loaded the tree up in Papa Ken's truck and took it home.

Funny Hat

     I have this sack of granny squares that I started to crochet years ago and almost every time Jillian was here, starting when she was about a year old, she would put the square on her head as a pretty hat.  So yesterday Bridget found the sack and did the same thing, putting the crochet on her head as a hat.  She would look at Papa or I so we could say, "What a pretty hat."

     Jillian has such a knack for using words that we find amusing.  She fell asleep on the ride up but when Papa packed her in the house she said she was just "relaxing".  Today I had to be Santa many times and pretend to bring her a present while she was sleeping.  She is definitely getting into the Christmas mode.

Bridget-Speak

We're starting to hear some words and semi-words out of Bridget:

1. "Ma-ma" and "Da-da" : We're hearing these more lately, especially when she wants someone or something. Usually, it's a wailing kind of thing.

2. "Out" : She started saying this at Grannie's house, when she wanted to go outside whenever Sophie went outside.

3. "Buh-" : This is her way of saying "Bottle". If she starts pointing and yelling at the bottles when she wants her milk, we tell her to say the words, and then she'll smile and say "buh-".

4. "Nah" : Well, it sounds like this when she wants a banana. Not sure if she's really got this one yet, but we'll give her the benefit of the doubt.

Not only these, but she's added some sounds to her repertoire, including the "k" and "hard g" sounds.

Princess Castle

This is Jillian's latest fun thing to do. She loves to build her very own princess castles out of her wood blocks, to which she adds lots of princesses and other figures. She's been very proud of her creations, and very unhappy when Bridget destroys them.

Utensil Practice

Mommy decided it was time for Bridget to work on her utensil skills a little bit, so she gave her a plastic fork to eat her dinner. Bridget did a pretty good job when she managed to get something on the fork ... it usually took about 3 or 4 tries. But, she stuck with it and got a lot eaten that way.

Christmas Crafts

Jillian is taking an Oreo break after working hard on her gingerbread house.  I helped her make the base and glued it so after her nap she could decorate her house.  She has gotten so good at decorating by looking at the picture and putting pieces where they should go or she will decide how she wants it to look.  She worked for a long time, even peeling the sticky backs off the pieces.  She realized there was a pattern on the roof and followed it but sometimes she liked green better.  She was excited to take it home to show Mommy.

Walking Sophie

While Jillian was at preschool, Bridget spotted Sophie's leash and wanted me to hook it up.  Sophie put up with a lot and I had to untangle her several times, but Bridget really enjoyed it.  When I felt Sophie needed a break and took off the leash, Bridget had one of her "throw myself on the floor and cry in anger" sessions.  Later she got to do it again and must have been tiring of leading the dog as she didn't object much when I rescued Sophie again.