Happy Valentine's Day

From Our Little Valentine

Happy 1 year, Jillian!

HAPPY FIRST BIRTHDAY, JILLIAN ANNALISE!

We cannot believe that it has been one year since you came into this world!  You have changed our lives in so many ways and we could not be any happier since our little girl came into our lives.

It's tough being ONE!

So, what has Jillian been up to now that she is 12 months old?!  Well, she has already tranditioned to her new class at school and she seems to really love it.  They do a lot of fun activities in her new class, like painting, playing in the gym/on the playground, and reading.  And they only take one nap in the new class so some days, she comes home needing a nap.  But it is so fun to watch her grow and learn more about the world around her.

Her wardrobe has had to change slightly, as she now has "school clothes" and "regular clothes." Her school clothes consist of outfits that are easy to move in and ones that I don't mind her getting a little paint/food/dirt on.  Jillian is ALL girl though...her newest obsession is her shoes!  She loves when we pull them out and she sticks out her feet insisting that you put her shoes on at once.  Lord help us, she's going to have a shoe fetish!!!

Jillian has fully transitioned to table food and she loves to eat.  Her favorite food is mac n cheese, which she would eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner if we let her.  And I have finally started giving her whole milk, which she has transitioned to quite well.  I can tell that all this food is helping her pack on the pounds, because her cheeks and her belly keep getting rounder and rounder!

Jilly is also getting better about communicating, both using baby signs and words.  She now says 3 words pretty regularly, "Bye," "More" (when she wants more food or more time to play), and "Hi."  And she uses her baby signs a lot, too.  She seems to have a genuine sense of satisfaction when she is able to effectively communicate what she wants.  But boy, does she have a little bit of a tantrum when she can't quite tell you what she is feeling...I wonder where she gets that dramatic side from?! ;)

Why did you take my shoe away?!

Jillian's first tooth cut just before Christmas, and now she has her two front bottom teeth.  I finally got a decent picture of those two little teeth (see below) and she now seems to be getting her two front top teeth.  Overall, the teething process has not been too terrible, but we'll see how she does once she gets her molars!

Look at my two little teeth!

Jillian Annalise, words fail to describe the amount of love, joy, happiness, and beauty that you have brought to us since you joined our family.  You are by far the best part of our days, and mommy and daddy could not love you anymore!  I hope you know today and always how much you mean to us and how your birthday will always remind us of the best day of our lives...the day you made our lives complete!

Happy Birthday to me!!!

Happy Birthday, Jilly Bear!

Silly Jilly: Movin' On Up

Now that Jillian is about to be ONE, she needs to move up from the Bunnies Infant class at school to the Ducks 12-18 Month class.  To ease with the transition, Jillian has been gradually integrating into the Ducks classroom.  I have to admit that when I got the letter and transition schedule that said that Jillian would be moving up, I cried a little.  That means that my baby is slowly but surely going from a baby to a toddler.

There are so many new things about the new class, all little things that will take some getting used to.  Most things are little adjustments, like learning to feed themself finger foods, no pacifier during active times, or no bottles, only sippy cups.  But nothing could have prepared me for the HOT MESS that my daughter would come home looking like.

You see, Jillian now has gym play time, outside playground time, and arts and crafts time.  I am sure that she is having so much fun doing all these activities, but that also means that she comes home looking like this...

Her hair is an absolute mess (but what else is new, I mean she always has crazy hair)

She has food/gunk on her elbows...

She has dirt on her knees...

And her shoes are filthy!

Oh well, what's most important is that my now toddler girl comes home with a smile on her face! 

 And at the end of the day, she can be cleaned up, her clothes can be washed, but nothing will replace the new memories she will make in her new Ducks class.  Congrats on movin' on up, baby big girl!