Happy Memorial Day!

Second car show of the season today...Sam's hosted our Memorial Day car show. The weather was great, a little windy. The club did a BBQ to raise money for Seattle's Ronald McDonald House....many Alaskan children travel to Washington state for medical treatment. We ate lunch at the BBQ and it was so windy that Jillian's hot dog and plate blew away. Thankfully the cooks were kind enough to make her another one! Thanks guys! Jillian had a blast! She loved riding around in the stroller...

...and she loved running around the parking lot even more. As soon as she got a taste of freedom, nothing else would do. She did not want to be held, she was too busy exploring. Although, she cracked up when Jeremy held her over his head. I was lucky enough to get a great shot (top pic).

Driving Miss Jillian

Miss Jillian attended her first car show of the season this afternoon. Lithia in south Anchorage (Chevy dealership) hosted the annual reunion show for the Anchorage Corvette Association. At first, Jillian was very shy and not sure about all the people and cars. She warmed up quickly though and before we knew it she was running all over the place. Which meant I was one step behind saving the newly waxed cars from baby fingerprints. The only car I let her touch was ours....sorry Daddy, she was too fast - like a rocket! Jeremy walked in and immediately noticed the fingerprints....its like he has an internal radar. You should hear him when I come home from the store with a new door ding. I almost believe he thinks I should park in the back row (you know, the row that is always empty) and hike to the store with Jillian on my hip. Hmmmm, I suppose I should consider the potential exercise.

Jeremy and I had fun watching Jillian play in the car. Jeremy was a good sport to let Jillian play behind the wheel. Miss Jillian rides in the Corvette more than me! The car seats 2 and since our family numbers 3 (not counting Athena) it means that someone will always be left behind. Ahhhh, before you feel sorry for me - just think of all the things I'm able to do when Jeremy takes our girl cruising. Yep, bubble baths and naps and reading and sometimes even housework, but mostly naps.

The weather here in Anchorage is beautiful - warm (70's) and sunny! And for all you southerners - 70 is hot for us Alaskans! :) We are loving this weather!!!!!!! Jillian gets to wear cute summery clothes. Another biggie here where nice, warm days are not in abundance.

Happy Memorial Day to all of you! Hope you all have a GREAT weekend!

Summer Saturday Smiles

The sun was so warm on Saturday. While Jeremy was working on the shed, Jillian and I played in the yard and on the deck. She is so fun and cracks me up with the way she interacts with our lab Athena. Jillian giggles when Athena just looks at her.

On Sunday Jillian learned a new game. A few years ago, Jeremy built a display cabinet with a glass front to hold all of his diecast cars. On Sunday, Jillian walked over to the cabinet and hit the front with both hands really hard. It scared me to death thinking of the glass shattering all over her. I ran over, told her "No, Ma'am" and tried to distract her with a toy. It didn't work. She immediatley turned around and RAN back to do it again. Jeremy and I sat there and laughed so hard. Probably not the best response. I again tried distracting her; but, this time I couldn't stop giggling. She kept going back and hitting the glass - but, now she would hit the glass and turn around to look at us and smile. Oh No - a new game! She did this probably 4 times. Finally, Jeremy and I decided we should just ignore her. We were sitting on the couch holding the newspaper in front of our faces, trying to swallow our giggles, as our ornery daughter would run and hit the glass. After only one time of not getting the response she wanted, Jillian stopped hitting the glass. Hopefully for good.

This Girl has a Hot Rod Heart

The airport in Minneapolis has a "mall" with a fun GM store. During our layover when flying home last October, we found this super cute romper. In the picture above, I was trying to get her to crawl through the tunnel. She decided that she would rather lift it up instead.

Here she is picking up a toy. Miss Jillian just won't quit growing....this is the last day she'll be able to wear the romper because she is too long. :) I am thinking about making it into a t-shirt, but then I'd have to cut off the cute "vrrooom" on her bottom.

Yesterday, we played outside in the grass and on the deck. The afternoons are finally getting warm enough to be outside....and then only in the sun. The shade is still chilly. Both the wood deck and grass must have felt funny to walk on because she was very nervous to walk alone and didn't want me to go far.

4 times 7, take 2

On Wednesday we celebrated Jeremy's Birthday. My wild man went all out for his Birthday this year and took a few days off from work to build a shed in the backyard. He has been putting in some long days and is almost done with the project. I had him pose with the cake I baked, he looks exhausted (and dirty).

Mercy Daddy, Mercy!

Here is Jeremy holding Miss Jillian over the air purifier....blowing on high. She thinks the blast of air is funny. And whatever we can do to make her laugh..... :)

Jillian said Ma-Ma for the first time this past Saturday. I was gone all day and missed it, but thankfully Jeremy got it on video. She has said it everyday since! :) This morning she said 2 new words. Kay brought Mr. Zach over to play this morning. We were all sitting on the floor and Jillian was playing with Zach's coat. Kay asked Jillian if she could say coat and Jillian said "noooooo". (Thank goodness she said mama before no.) It was cute how she used it perfectly in the conversation. Then Zach was playing in the yellow tunnel and Jillian wanted to play too. She walked over to Zach and said what sounded like "go". This would be 4 words in Jillian's speaking vocabulary (she understands many more words than she actually says) and the 4th word being Da-da which she has been saying since about 7 months old. Most of her talk is in her own language. :)

As for signing, she still uses all done and love intermittently and very rarely on demand. Mostly she uses all done when we are doing something that she wants to stop - like washing her face. Last week she signed milk and Jeremy didn't know what she was doing, so it didn't "pay off" for her. She signed drink for me this weekend and I tried to go over the top with my reaction. She has also signed flower for me, but I haven't gotten her to repeat it lately.

Good times! :)