Thanksgiving 2007

I think this was the best Thanksgiving I've ever had. I wussed out on running the Feaster Five with Debster (I had been SO COLD all week, I just couldn't bear the thought of being COLD!), which left my morning free to watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade with Bryan and Jill. And watching that with a toddler was a whole new experience!

Jill is a songbird. She sings versions of Frere Jacques, Barney's "I love you, you love me.." (and many more!) where she gets the whole tune and about 50% of the words right. So putting the parade on was heaven for her. She danced and cheered throughout the whole thing and even did a "High V" during a cheerleading routine. Any cheerleaders out there? You know what I mean. Jill also marched and carried a piece of tupperware in front of her during the marching band routines. Finally she pointed at every cartoon character balloon assigning them to the major animal categories she knows: puppy, huss (horse), cow, meow (cat), and duckie kack kack! It was pure entertainment. Bryan and I sat on the couch with our coffees and laughed. There was no need to chase her or discipline her, she was totally occupied. She danced herself tired and took a nap that was nearly three hours long.

We had dinner at my sister's house with Becky, Yaka, the girls, my mom, my Uncle Rick and his wife Colleen. Dinner was awesome! Beck and Yaka did the whole thing gluten free for me and it was wonderful to be able to have everything. It was all delicious!




By the end of the evening Jill was tired, punchy, and running around like a lunatic with her cousins. She kept leaning on a Pilates Ball and belly laughing as it rolled away and dumped her on the carpet. If you know Jill, you know this type of hilarity is a precursor to an epic meltdown. But the meltdown never happened. As we drove home at around 7:30PM, Jill kept making these coughing/snorting noises and laughing wildly. Then either Bryan or I would make the coughing/snorting noise and she would laugh again. After her final cough/snort, Jill laughed and announced, "Me funny!" in a tone that said, "I am killing myself here!" Jill has used these two word sentences about herself twice now, "Me funny" and "Me nice."

Some other notes about Jill as she approaches 20 months... She always wants the person she has spent the day with. On Wednesdays and Fridays when she and I are together all day, she reaches for me from her father's arms. Same deal for him if I have been away. When she wakes up in the morning she calls, "Mumma? Mum-ma?" and when I reach her in her crib her next words are, "Where's Daddy?" while pointing to our room, and "Nummies?"

Pointing is a big thing right now. When we are out shopping Jill asks, "What's that? What's that?" with her finger pointed up at a 45 degree angle. When I get home from work, I turn off my phone and set everything down in the kitchen so I am ready to greet her. She runs to the gate and points her finger right in my face saying, "It's Mumma!" like she is really surprised. It is the best part of my day. She does the same thing for her father when he gets home, too.

Yesterday, Jill put her shoes and pants on the coffee table. When Bryan picked them up and asked her if she wanted to put them back on, she wagged her finger in his face saying, "No, no, no! No touch!" She looked really stern. Jill has more opinions like this now and her tantrums are becoming more frequent. When she is really mad she shakes her head and spits. I've never actually seen someone spitting mad until now.

Other fun things that Jill says and does... She can count to 10 perfectly. If you thank her for something she says, "Me welcome," and when you sneeze she says, "Me bless you." Another favorite phrase of Jill's is "Ooooh no! Made a mess!" And if you could see our living room right now you'd think she was right!