More Soccer

Today was Jillian's last day of soccer, and Daddy and Bridget got to watch her this time around. When we showed up, Jillian jumped right in, grabbing a soccer ball and kicking it. Then, when other kids showed up, she was busy trying to organize them into some kind of game. She also kept calling one of the girls "sister".

Once the coach got things started, Jillian did a pretty good job of listening (probably thanks to her time in pre-school). The first half-hour of simple drills went well. But, when the coach got the kids going on some more involved competition games, Sweetie-Pie tended to either check out, or play her own game. Oh well, it looked like she was still having fun. The soccer game at the end was mercifully short, since Jillian pretty much just wandered around, doing her own thing, whatever that was (see the video below). It was another instance in keeping with the long tradition of memorable soccer performances by the Woodruff kids, ranking up there with Tierney's blanket-carrying and Cale's leg-grabbing.

When it was all done, the coach gave her a certificate and a ribbon saying "Great Job", which we hung up in her room. Though she liked playing soccer, it's easy to see her heart is with ballet, since that's all she's wanted to talk about doing.

 

Busy Girls

This tea time has become a daily ritual with Bridget.  She has her tea and crackers by herself as Jillian is off doing something else and the novelty has worn off for her.  Notice the stream of water running down her front.  Sometimes after her tea we need to change clothes but today she didn't do too bad, as she is getting better each time. 
After playing outside for awhile it was time to take Jillian to soccer camp.  She did so well, dribbling the ball under control while most of the other kids just kicked the ball hard.  She was involved the whole time and followed all the directions.  I told her how proud I was of her. Then on the ride home, this is the way Jillian wants

Sophie to ride with her.  Sophie promptly falls asleep every time and Jillian sits very quietly so she won't wake her.  Then it was back to Grannie's for lunch and a nap.  Then it was time to take the girls home so Jillian could go to swim lessons.  Busy girl...













Me Too!

First thing this morning Jillian wanted to fingerpaint and Bridget was playing elsewhere.  So I got Jillian all set up and started, then Bridget came into the kitchen.  Then it was "Me too!" over and over until I got her started.  She took it very seriously.  At first Bridget put one finger in the paint but it wasn't long until she had a beautiful picture.  You can see that Jillian attacks her finger painting.

Next Jillian wanted to walk Sophie who was very patient through it
all.  I thought this picture was so cute because both Jillian and Sophie were all in pink, Jillian's favorite color.  At one point Jillian said that Sophie fell off the chair and had a little limp so Jillian immediately went into the nursing mode and made Sophie lay down for awhile while she lay next to her, all the while saying soothing things.

Rielee came down to play for awhile then I took all three of them to Aunt's to play with the twins.  They played on everything and had treats outside.  Then when I said they had 5 more minutes to play, they all went in the sandbox to make soup in the big pail.  Ava or Harper supplied the water and they all added imaginary ingredients, sugar, carrots, what ever.  They had a great time!



Swim Lessons

Jillian started this summer's swim lessons at Briarcliff Pool on Monday. She's been pretty excited about it, and she did pretty well, jumping right in and picking up where she left off. Grannie also took Bridget to the swim lessons, to see if she was ready yet. Bridget didn't really want anyone else (strangers) to hold her in the pool, even though she loves the water. The head instructor suggested that Daddy get into the pool the next day just to be near her, to see if that helps.

So, Daddy took Jillian and Bridget to the pool on Tuesday. Jillian got right in again, and wanted to show off all the things she could do. Bridget was pretty excited about getting in, too. But, she refused to go with anyone else other than Daddy, so the head instructor said that she probably wasn't ready yet. She did let Bridget and Daddy go to the other side of the pool and practice, even giving some suggestions about what to work on. We practiced kicking and blowing bubbles for a while, then got out and watched Jillian for the rest of the time. Jillian did really well at swimming on her back, holding her head back in the water all by herself. Unfortunately, she still wants nothing to do with the boy instructors in the pool, as she refused to go down the slide until a girl instructor came over to help. Oh well.

When lessons were over, Jillian went in to the locker room to shower. Apparently, she loves showering now, because she was in there soaking for a long time. After about 10 minutes, Daddy asked a lady to find her (telling her to ask for "Jillian"), but Jillian didn't respond or come out. The head instructor finally had to go in and retrieve her.

Brave Swinger

Jillian had always loved this piece of equipment in the "new park", but it didn't work quite right, so once she swung out away from the platform, she got stuck in the air and would yell for help from someone to get her down. Then once, by accident, she let go and dropped to the ground ... and was OK. After that, she couldn't get enough of this, swinging around and dropping down. She ended up playing on it for a long time with a little boy who did the same thing.

New Stuff LII

A few more new things to add, since Daddy's memory is not what it once was:

1. "Say yes" : Bridget's typical reply to everything is "no", so Jillian gets around this by saying "Bridget, say yes" when she wants a different answer ... and of course, Bridget cooperates by saying "yes".
2. Wild Girls! : This is another name for those Woodruff girls that Jillian likes use. For instance, when it's time to play with Daddy, Jillian will jump all over him and yell "the wild girls are here!", or if Daddy is just waking up in the morning, she'll yell "here comes the wild girls!" as she and Bridget jump on the bed, or she'll warn Daddy that "in the morning, the wild girls will jump on you!"
3. Little Brown Rock : First we had the Big Brown Rock, and now the smaller version has shown up on the bathroom floor. We wonder where this Little Brown Rock came from, and what to do with it ... but not to worry, because after a few seconds, it just stands up and runs off on its own.
4. Run, Run, Run : When Bridget gets tired, she starts running and yelling "run" over and over. She seems to have inherited this trait from those Johnson boys, the original runners.
5. "Bridget turn" : Being the little sister, Bridget understands how to assert her rights, saying this when it's her turn.
6. "Sleep tight" : If you say "night, night" to Bridget, she'll respond with this.
7. "Hmmmmm" : Ask Bridget a question that she's not sure about the answer, and this is what you'll hear.
8. The Train and Adam's Sleepover : Ever since we told Jillian about these upcoming events (the train ride to North Dakota and Adam's weekend sleepover), this is pretty much all we hear about. Jillian's sense of time is not quite there, because she thinks these things are supposed to happen tomorrow, for every day that goes by.
9. Hallway Volleyball : The giant pink and green ball is Jillian's choice for a volleyball, and she and Daddy often play it in the hallway. Jillian is actually pretty good about her form when passing the ball, keeping her hands together and arms straight, though control is not too important to her - she'd rather see how far she can hit it.

Fun Day!

First today the twins came to play and it was early so they played indoors.  Jillian set up the two tent houses and put blankets inside to play nap but the twins thought they had to take naps for real so they were upset, until Dianne explained it was pretend. 


Then today was Rielee's last day of school, so she came down to play later and the three of them were outside the whole time, mostly riding the jeep and bikes around.  Then they went to Aunt Robin's house to play downstairs with all the neat stuff.  Jillian was so-o-o happy that Rielee could come play!

Play-Doh Fun

Every day Bridget says Play-Doh to get someone to play with her.  So when Jillian is napping Papa will sit down with her and make things from Play-Doh for her and then she rips them apart.  They both seem to have a great time.

New Stuff LI

Just to keep things interesting, here's some new stuff from the girls:

1. Hot, Cold, Warm:  When Bridget starts eating or drinking something, she tends to say it's "hot", even if it's just right. So, we say "no, it's not hot". To this, she'll respond "cold". So, we say "no, it's not cold". Finally, she'll respond with "warm".
2. Joining Groups:  One of the social lessons that Daddy taught in student teaching was about how to join groups. Well, that's one lesson we won't have to teach Jillian. When we go to the park, Jillian immediately scopes out the situation, finding a kid or groups of kids, and then makes her move ... and before we know it, she has new best friends.
3. "J i i i i i i l l l l l l l !!!":  If we ever call out for Jillian, Bridget will help us out, yelling out Jillian's name. Sometimes Bridget does it on her own when she wants to get Jillian's attention.
4. Big Sis Clothes:  Bridget can't wait to get bigger, so she can wear Jillian's clothes; but that doesn't stop her right now, since she often tries to put them on herself. We've seen some pretty strange combinations.
5. New Hamster:  No, we don't have one, but Jillian sure would like to buy one. She always talks about buying one when we go to Petco, usually saying that Mommy will get it for her.
6. "Kissy":  This is Bridget's word for kiss, and she always wants lots of them before going to bed.
7. "Robot":  This is a word that Bridget says a lot, but we have yet to figure out why.
8. Monkey Bars:  We were told by Mrs. Elliott, Jillian's pre-school teacher, that Jillian was the first kid in her class to conquer the monkey bars at school, swinging all the way from one end to the other. Jillian was a very proud little girl!
9. "See Attle":  A couple weekends ago, we told Jillian we were going to Seattle to watch a volleyball tournament. Jillian responded with "Who's Attle?"
10. Bridget's ABC's:  Jillian has sung the ABC song enough times that Bridget has learned it. Bridget doesn't quite sing the whole thing, but so far it sounds like this: "A, B, C, D, E, F, G ... J, K ...Q, R ... T ... W, X, Y and Z, Now I see see see, Next time ..."
11. Jillian's Numbers:  Jillian got lots of practice counting at school, so her numbers sound like this: "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17, 18, 19, 100". We're not sure why she skips 16, or why there's no 20, but she loves to end with 100.
12. Bridget's Numbers:  Right now, the only numbers Bridget knows is 2 and 5. It's not that she's counting or anything, but she likes to say them.
13. Big Bad Wolf:  Jillian begs us to play this with her. The game consists of her and Bridget being the little pigs, and Mommy or Daddy playing the big bad wolf, and we go through the story. It ends with the little pigs squealing while the wolf chases them.
14. Freeze Tag:  This is another game Jillian loves to play. Mommy or Daddy are it, while Jillian runs away. If we happen to tag Jillian, she "freezes" for just a second before running to find Bridget who touches her to "unfreeze" her.

Getting Comfortable

The twins, Ava and Harper came down to play today and they were more comfortable with each other this time.  Jillian at first did some organizing of activities and then the girls discovered the kitchen and play house so they had a lot of fun with that.  I don't know why Bridget has her feet in the oven?

Jillian got to take home her first reading book today, An Apple Ran to practice with Mommy and Daddy.  The older kids always remember that one.  She has been working this week at Grannie's Summer School on the sounds for that first book.  She is so happy when she sounds out the words so maybe this time she is ready, because last time I tried she said "No".  She even took it to practice reading on the way home when Daddy picked her up. Whew!

Rainy Day Indoors

Jillian and Bridget got invited up to play with Ava and Harper this morning.  They played and shared very well with each other.  I got Ava to stand by Bridget for this picture.  Bridget kept the right names for the twins the whole time we were there.  Steve fixed the girls some cinnamon sugar toast that Bridget thought was yummy.  Now my plain toast won't do.

This was my attempt to get all four together for a picture.  You have about 20 seconds, so I didn't have the camera ready in time and everything fell to pieces quickly.  At this point it was nap time for everyone.

After naps and a short reading session the girls got to play with the giant Tinkertoys.  Together we built an airplane, a glider seat, a Ferris wheel, and this off-road cycle.  Jillian did such a good job of following directions.  Bridget played very well with the Tinkertoys, putting some together and then throwing her arms out and saying, "Ta Da".  But after she got bored she started climbing on the cupboard and throwing the Tinkertoys so I had to put the stool down.  This did not make her a happy camper, shouting "Me too!".  Luckily she can still be distracted so Papa took her outside.

Pretty Princesses at the Wedding

We went to Auntie Sheryl and Robin's wedding this past weekend up the Alderbrook Resort in Hood Canal this past weekend, and Jillian and Bridget got to be in it! That meant they both got to wear pretty pink princess dresses. They were so excited! Bridget and Cousin Karlie walked down the aisle holding hands, while Jillian and her friend Hannah were flower girls.

We did manage to take some individual pictures of both girls, shown here. Note the poses by Jillian - she's getting pretty good at it, when she wants to. It's a good thing we took these pictures when we did, because Bridget managed to get her dress pretty dirty, with all the falling down and climbing things. To see bigger-sized photos, just click on them to expand them up.

It was quite the fun weekend for all the kids at The Bend. There was a kids room and play place downstairs for the kids to go wild in, and go wild they did. There were a couple of bunk beds that we had to hide the ladders (due to Bridget and Karlie wanting to climb them), and there was a pool table that we had to hide the sticks (due to the kids using them like baseball bats). They were up at 6:00 or so in the morning, and they all played hard until nap times, and afterwards they were right back after it again. At the wedding reception, the crew danced and danced, with Andy showing us the "bug" move (lay on the floor and squirm around), while Jillian just wanted Daddy to toss her into the air over and over.

And for fun, here's the crew hanging out together and enjoying a laugh just before the wedding ...

Busy Day Outside

We started the day early with a walk way over the hill.  Bridget surprised me when she saw a tree that had fallen and said, "Tree fall down."  She is up to 3 word sentences now.  On the way up the hill Bridget kept saying tractor so I guessed she wanted a ride on the lawn tractor, which hasn't happened in a long time.  First Papa gave them a ride, which Jillian wasn't happy with because Papa didn't go the right way.  So I gave them the next ride and happily Jillian can steer much better. ( I just had my hand by the steering wheel to make quick corrections if need be.)  She did great and wanted to go really fast down the hills.   We rode the loop at least 3 times plus other side trips.  

Next Jillian had a new bug catcher so we went on a quest to find bugs.  Where are they when you want them?  We finally found a spider for her jar, then a couple of beetles, and a potato bug.  Most of the time she just scooped them into her jar.  She would gingerly try to pick them up but they were too fast.  We almost got a butterfly which she caught with her net but it got away right when she tried to put it in the jar.  After showing her bugs to Mommy and Daddy when they came, she let the bugs go back to their homes.

Since the girls hadn't been here for awhile and the day was nice, they had to do everything they usually do outside.  They rode the jeep and quad, had a tea party, played a long time in the sandbox, and pretended to sleep in the hammock while I sang "Rock a bye baby" and whenever I tried to quit Bridget would say, "Sing Rock baby."