Excuse my Absence

I haven't had much to post lately. I'm not quite sure why exactly. I haven't been absent for any particular reason. It seems like there has been plenty to write about and yet nothing to write about. It has been busy and yet not nearly as busy as usual. Not a very comprehensible excuse I guess, but the truth.

Although she is still over a week away from her birthday, Jillian has turned into a full fledged toddler both physically and emotionally. She walks everywhere these days and is quick too. She has learned to move things too. We used to fence off the dining room because of the dog food and dog door, but unfortunately she is now strong enough to move the fence even when blocked off with the garbage can. Now we have to put the dog food outside (leading to rodent concerns) and block off the dog door (got to watch for when Cujo needs in and out). She climbs on and off of everything, usually remembering to go down feet first but occasionally forgetting and landing on her head before we can stop her. Bruises abound, which bodes well for her 1 year photo session next week.

She becomes easily frustrated these days, which inevitably leads to tantrums. We also seem to have a pincher and biter on our hands as the marks on my face and Jeramy's toes prove. The past couple of weeks she has slept well at night 80% of the time, but getting her to go to sleep is always accompanied by tears. Not even the usual rocking and singing seems to work these days. We've ended up just putting her in the crib to cry for 10 or 15 minutes until she falls asleep. It works, althought it is a bit wearing on all of our nerves. I am flying across the country alone with her in a few weeks, and this is admittedly quite intimidating. I've been trying to think of ways to keep her entertained, prevent her from grabbing inappropriate items like our seat mates drinks and food, stop her from pinching my face and neck and convine her to sleep without too many tears. I am very much hoping the plane won't be full so that we can get an extra seat, but given the airline industry these days I'm fully expecting to be crammed in.

I'm spending the rest of this week trying to clean up and get ready for Jillian's birthday party this weekend. Originally I had grand plans of baking and entertaining. After counting the numbers of attendees that vision quickly changed to survival. It will be fun, but a bit of a crazy crowd. Stay tuned for pictures.