a little embarrassed.

Ok, I am just a wee bit embarrassed that I haven't written a post since October. But I'm stuck here in Nairobi--Jillian is asleep and Nate and Zoe got on a plane earlier today headed back to Dar. So I have no excuse not to at least catch up on the past few monthly updates for J-pop. And by the time another week rolls around, I may be so bored that I post just about anything just to give myself something to do. But for now, let's get down to business. The last month I posted about was when she turned 7 months...and she is about to be 11 months (how can that be?) So I've got 3 months of baby girl to catch up on. I realize nobody (except maybe grandparents) care what Jillian was doing 3 months ago, but this is more for myself so I can look back at her first year...which is passing oh-so-quickly! Here we go...

8 months
-She finally got her first tooth...and then her second. Her two front bottom teeth came in one right after the other. She was a little fussy, but did pretty well.
-She now has two words...dada and MAMA! Yay yay yay!
-She is loving to play with her big sister...especially in the kiddie pool...whether it has water in it or not!
-She is still a fabulous eater...will try anything and likes almost everything! She still gets super upset when the food is gone; I'm not sure if that is gonna go away!
-She is still nursing...hates formula and bottles...not sure what happened there?
-She is sleeping through the night! We are welcoming our full nights sleep with open arms!
-She is pulling up!

9 months

-She celebrated her very first Thanksgiving and was given the honor of playing the turkey in the Thanksgiving Day Play (picture below!)

-She's picked up a third word, "hi." It's precious beyond belief when she crawls over, pulls up on one of us and says it in the sweetest little voice ever.

-She is becoming more and more fun for Zoe as she learns how to play with her and interact. I must say, she is a pretty good sport!

-She is scaling the sides of the furniture and getting more and more confident with standing and walking with some help!

-She is still eating like a champ and nursing about 4 times a day.

(this picture makes me laugh because she is only milliseconds from being hit in the head with the beach ball)

10 months

-She celebrated her first Christmas and loved our little tree, the lights, and of course, the wrapping paper! She had more Christmas presents from her grandparents than she knew what to do with!!

-She is starting to stand all by herself! She will be holding onto us or furniture and briefly let go to test her balance. Usually it's only a few seconds before she plops down on her bottom or grabs ahold of something, but she is getting closer!

-She now has 4 teeth! Bottom two and top two.

-Her newest word is "uh-oh!" and she uses it correctly. You know...when she knocks my water glass off the table, or spills her carrot mush all over the floor, or drops her puffs in the cracks of the couch.

-We have attempted to begin to ween her by using formula or pumped milk. She wants nothing to do with it! She batts the sippy cup across the room and yells at us for even trying to fool her!

suddenly 7 months!

I named this post "suddenly 7 months!" because it seems like in the past 30 days a little tiny helpless baby has become anything but helpless! When I wrote last month's post (which was even a little late) there was no news of how Jillian was sitting up, definitely not crawling! And now look at this sweet girl...

She is not only sitting up, but she is crawling! Agh! It's like all the sudden she's become a big girl! She is just the sweetest ever and her big smiles melt my heart. Other than that, here are a few things our jillibug has been up to this month:

-She said her first word...and hasn't stopped saying it because it makes her favorite person as happy as he can be...can you guess what it was? Of course it was..."dada." And she knows it's his name, she looks at him until he looks back and then stares at him and says it..."dada" and then they both just beam with pride. It's stinkin' adorable.
-She is eating lots of good stuff now...bananas, apples, broccoli, rice cereal; we tried avocados today for the first time, but she is not too keen on them yet! She looooooves to eat and cries every.single.time. the food is gone! Like a mad cry, like a starving cry.
-For over a month now, I've been expecting a tooth to pop up. She's been so slobbery and chewing on everything, but so far--no teeth in sight.
-She loves to see her grandparents on skype and they get some of the biggest smiles.
-She looooves to jump in her johnny (or should i say jenny) jump-up!
-She is still not sleeping through the night...it makes me sad that she had it down at 6 weeks, but hasn't quite gotten into her groove after the trip back to Tanzania.

Here are some of my favorite pictures from this month of our big girl!

half of an entire year!

Jillian is now 6 months old (well, I'm a little late on this post, so even more than that!) I absolutely cannot believe it. She is the sweetest little girl and I've really noticed that for whatever reason, I am making sure I take in every precious little moment with her. Maybe with Zoe, I was stressed as a new mom--not really knowing what I was doing. Well, I still don't really know what I'm doing. I just know that Zoe is on her way to being 3 years old and I need to make sure I am treasuring each and every second with my precious girls! They are such an amazing blessing to me!

What is our little j-bug up to these days?
-On the day she turned 6 months old, she had her first solid food. Poor little girl...she was more than ready. She had reached the point where she was actually crying and screaming out of jealousy every time she would see Zoe eating. She was watching every single morsel of food from the plate to Zoe's mouth and she KNEW that we were holding out on her. There was more than just milk and she wanted it! So, she has been eating rice cereal. She, of course, loves it and I'm sure she will love whatever we give her from this point on. She has never spit out, drooled, or dropped anything from the spoon...it's precious to her. Her thighs are the proof.
-She is trying hard to get moving! Much like her older sister, she is not happy to just lay or sit around. She wants to move! She is getting up on her knees and rocking a little, but hasn't put it all together yet. I'm sure it won't be long. Although, to be honest, I won't mind if it takes her a while!
-She is almost sitting up by herself. Well, she can, she just tips over eventually if left to herself. She hasn't quite gotten the idea of spreading her legs out to balance herself. Almost though.
-She is smiling and giggling at us lots. She thinks we're funny!
-She is wearing 6 month clothes and size 2 diapers.
-I'm pretty sure she is teething. I can't feel anything at the moment, but she has all the signs and is not happy unless she is chewing on something.
-She is in loooooove with her daddy still. She watches him wherever he goes (even when she's nursing). She needs to have her eyes on him and when their eyes meet, he gets the biggest smiles!
-She is also so happy watching and playing with Zoe, and Zoe could not be any sweeter with her. She comforts her if Jilli is crying, she brings her toys, talks to her, hugs and kisses on her, and encourages her in whatever she is doing. I hope she acts like that forever! It's amazingly sweet.

Here is the video of her first solid food and some of my favorites of my little 6 month-old pumpkin....

5 months old

Yes, she is! And she is just growing leaps and bounds. It's funny how much Jillian looks like Zoe when she was this age, yet Jillian has got QUITE a bit more meat on her bones than Zoe ever did. Here is a little comparison with Zoe at the same age...(Zoe is on top)

 I see so many similarities between them, but also differences (aside from the whole weight issue). They both LOVE to be on the move. No sitting still for the Platto girls. Even though Jilli is not crawling yet, she cannot be still. She is always kicking and rolling, following people with her eyes and using those sad eyes to guilt someone into picking her up so she can walk around too. Zoe was the same...my mother thought something was wrong with her because she never stopped moving (and she never has). I was secretly hoping I would have a very relaxed baby, a little more low key (a bit more like myself). Instead we have two little princesses who seem to be taking very much after their daddy. But, I wouldn't have it any other way. They are just perfect.

When Zoe was at this age, she was ALWAYS smiling. Everything made her laugh...now she just cracks up at herself (especially if she is watching a video of herself). She gets that from her Bibi. But Jillian is a little different...when you get a smile from her, it is a serious smile. Not just a little grin, but a mouth-wide-open, joy-from-the-bottom-of-her-heart type smile. I just love it.

Ok, so a little about our j-button this month:
-She weighs in at 15 lbs. (zoe was only 12 lbs. at 5 months)
-She is rolling over like crazy! Both ways, she loves to roll over!
-She used to dislike being on her tummy, but she has grown to love it. She even sleeps mostly on her tummy now. I'll put her down on her back and she immediately rolls to her tummy.
-She is still on prevacid for acid reflux.
-She LOVES to stand up. If you grab her little hands, she will pull herself from a lying down position straight to standing. And when she gets there, you are guaranteed one of those wide-mouthed ecstatic smiles! Love it!
-She has started the cutest little laughs. Right now it sounds more like a gasp, but it's precious.
-She is really wanting to get on the move. She will push off with her feet and get into a sort-of "V" position with her body. She has tried a few times to get her knees under her, but mostly, she has been unsuccessful. No hurry, sweet girl! Take your time!
-She is still very much in love with Nate (follows him with her eyes EVERYWHERE he goes). Despite her healthy appearance, if Nate walks in the room, she will gladly stop nursing to watch what he is doing. And he always gets the biggest smiles.
-Oh, and sadly for Zoe, Jillian's new favorite pastime is pulling Zoe's hair. She honestly intentionally grabs for it whenever it's in her reach (which is a lot, because Zoe loves to get up in her face and snuggle her). Zoe has been quite patient with her, but there has been several times when Jillian comes away with a fist-full of curly hair.

Which reminds me of the picture below....Ha! Taken almost 2 years apart and Nate is still eating the exact same pringle imitations. Don't worry-- although Zoe is partaking in the picture below, Jilli hasn't yet had the pleasure. She just keeps Nate company while he snacks!

j-bug hits 4 months!

She is so sweet, no?

This little girl has done some major traveling in the first few months of her life. After a super loooong trip from America to Africa, she had another loooong trip from Dar es Salaam to Nairobi, Kenya--by car--ick. The first leg, which got us over half way was 11 HOURS! The second leg was like 6 hours (much better roads, but a lot more traffic!) This little girl did so fantastic!! Much better than her big sister who got carsick about an hour into the trip. In the EXACT.SAME.SPOT. as last time we took this trip. Poor Zoe, the roads were so bumpy and apparently she has taken after me!

In an attempt to only stop a few times, I pumped in the back seat and gave Jillian bottles every 3-4 hours. She slept, she was happy, she watched Zoe, and she didn't cry once until about the last 30 minutes of the 11 hours. And by then, we all wanted to cry!! 

Our meeting was in the mountains outside of Nairobi and it was pretty cold (for Africa). Everyone makes a big deal about how cold it is...well, it's not cold. It's just been a while since some of those people have spent a winter in America. But we did get to wear some long sleeves and Nate got to wear his hat (not out of necessity, but for kicks). This is the 3rd time he has worn that stupid hat...once to climb Kilimanjaro (the reason for the purchase of the hat), once to scare the you-know-what out of Zoe (it worked!), and this time...

Back to jillibean...

-She weighs a whopping 13 lbs.

-She has graduated from her swaddle to a sleep sack. Unlike her big sister, she was ready to get out of that thing, she loooves to stretch out her arms while she sleeps (see pictures below!)

-She is still on prevacid for her acid refulx and it helps tremendously!

-She is on a 4-hour schedule. She usually wakes up and eats, plays and stays awake for about 1.5 hours, and then sleeps for another 2 hours, until its time to eat again!

-She is still loving to watch her big sister, and a lot of times Zoe is the one who can get her to calm down or stop crying...so sweet. Zoe always gets the biggest smiles from her.

-She is not a big fan of tummy time still, so she does a lot of rolling from her tummy to her back.

-She loves to be in on the action, and has to see what everyone is doing. If she is being held, she wants to be facing out so she can see.

-She is much fuller (thicker, chunkier!) than her sister was at this age. Maybe my milk is improving with age.

-She is smiling at us all the time and making the cutest little "coo"s.

-She is the sweetest little thing and we are so thankful for this precious gift!

let's just see...

This is just for fun to see how good our internet is...

Yay! It works...you have no idea the degree to which this would have been impossible with our previous internet "service." It's light-years better. Amazing.

This video was taken at our music-extravaganza. Nate also performed. If I get a little time later, I'll try to upload that video. It's pretty amazing, as well.

our big looooong trip!

So now that's it's been like a month, I've decided I better post on our trip before I forget! Although, probably nobody is interested anymore. Oh well. Our internet is still not up...(that's also over a month, but that is a sore subject). 

Packing was a nightmare...good thing we started early. We were allowed three bags per person on British Airways (thats TWELVE pieces of checked), each of the girls got to check a car seat and stroller for free, and we each took a carry on and personal item. Let's add that up...thats 24 pieces. Now that is just crazy! We kept saying, there is no way we will use our entire allowance--especially since we already packed a crate and sent it ahead! Oh dear...boy were we wrong... This picture shows only 8 of our checked pieces and a few of our carry-ons...If you look closely, you can see Nate just staring in disbelief at the amount of stuff!

All in all, I really cannot complain about our trip. Both girls did fabulous...definitely much better than expected. Zoe pretty much watched her movies the entire time. And J-bug sat on my lap the entire time. One of the best decisions I EVER made was bringing my boppy pillow on board with me. So she just chilled most of the time. She alternated eating and sleeping. She was super comfy and I was super happy. 

All three times we boarded the plane, however, she was screaming. I mean, you can only push a 2-month old so far. She was uncomfortable and hot in the carrier and (of course) it was time to eat whenever it was time to board....poor planning on my part, eh? We also made some other really poor decisions...for instance, we thought it would be a good idea to bring 3 rolling carry-on suitcases and 4 personal items along with my boppy pillow and 2 children. So we were THOSE people. The one with a screaming newborn boarding the plane, the tired 2 year-old running out of control. I was trying to balance the baby on my front with the rolling suitcase behind me  (which had a big duffel bag tied on top that continuously fell off), Nate trying to verbally guide Zoe as he toted 2 rolling suitcases, a backpack, and 2 duffel bags. We got those really mean looks as our bags bounced back and forth and hit people already seated, oh and as we rolled over their toes. You could see the stares and almost hear their thoughts "this baby better not cry the entire flight." I could pick out the sympathetic mothers who obviously had made the same poor decisions in the past. And there were, of course, the fake smiles of people thinking, "that poor girl..." Luckily, as soon as we got seated and JP got fed, she calmed down and was good for all 3 flights. 

The last leg was the worst. British Airways used to fly directly to Dar, but no longer! So we had a long layover in London and then another layover in Nairobi where we changed airlines. But oh wait! British Airways allows us 3 bags per person (including the girls) and oh, Precision Airlines only allows 2 per person (and 1 each for the girls...even though they both had seats). We weren't willing to give up SIX bags. So....instead of checking our bags all the way to Dar, we checked them only to Nairobi. When we arrived in Nairobi, Nate left me and the girls at the terminal...got ALL our bags off the luggage carousel, re-checked those we were allowed on the last flight, took the ones we weren't (6 of 'em plus 2 car seats and 2 strollers), got a visa to enter Kenya, met a taxi driver outside the airport who loaded up all our extra bags and took them to storage for us. Nate re-entered the airport, got our boarding passes for the flight to Dar, went through security and made it back with plenty of time to spare! Here is where I would like to brag on my strong, masculine, good-looking, flexible, ever-so-helpful wonderful husband! And he does it all without complaining (I guess he figures I complain enough for the both of us, bless his heart).  

Zoe had slept just a bit over the 2 day trip. On the 9 hour trip from Atlanta to London, she slept maybe an hour. We got a hotel room in Lodon (they have special day rates) so we all took like a 2-hour nap. Then on the leg from London to Nairobi, she slept on the floor of the plane for about 2 hours. When we boarded the last plane from Nairobi to Dar, she was SO DONE. She was grumpy and whiny and we just knew we were in for a loooong trip. As we were taking off, Nate looked back at me (Jillian and I were behind Nate and Zoe) and gestured for me to take a look at Zoe...

She was so out! We waited for everyone to get off the plane and it took forever to wake her up! She was a trooper and so was jilli. We were super thankful that they did so well and sooo happy to have the longest trip of our lives behind us!