2nd Christmas

This will be Tori's second Christmas. Last year she only knew how to chew on the paper. This year she'll run around with it in her hands while we open her gifts for her. For her Christmas we got her:

Tiara (every girl needs a Christmas Tiara)
Rocking chair (so she quits stealing her brothers)
plates
play stove
water toys
Little People airplane

And once again, my memory fails me. Tori has only messed with the presents once, but is more interested in eating the candy canes (with the wrapper on). She also likes the ornaments and lights, but has left the presents alone. She'll still be in the dark this year about Christmas, but she will enjoy it more next year.

Quick Pics

Haircuts

We are all in desperate need of haircuts and are going to get them tonight. Tori's hair is out of control, and I hope she will behave tonight. She needs a cut all over. If only she could get a cut like her hero Dora the Explorer. She loves that character and insists on watching her in the morning and at night. She does a little jig every time we turn on the DVD. I only wish I had noticed this before I went Christmas shopping!

Terrible Toothing Tori

Another tooth is on its way in, we aren't sure which one. She has 3 molars, but it might be a eye tooth. One looks like it is coming through, but its hard to tell with her. They get right to the surface and then a different one pops through. You can definitely tell that she is teething. The past couple of days she's been crabby and had lots of diahrrea. That only happens for her when she is teething. She's also been waking at night after her first set of medicine wears off around 1 am. If she goes back to sleep, it'll only be for 30 minutes before she fusses again, so its best to medicate and give her part of a bottle when she first wakes. Best for our sleep and hers.


Splashing at the Children's Discovery Center

Other than that, she's turned into a Dora the Explorer FREAK! As soon as we get home, its "Doa, Doa, Doa" until we put it on for her. Then when the Nick Jr. frogs come on screen, she gets excited and lets out a yell. After that she is captivated by "Doa" and her adventures, only stopping for bath's. She insists on carrying the DVD case around with her and gets upset if you take it from her. Even when she woke at 4 am this morning and we brought her to our bed to sleep, she sat straight up pointed to the TV and said "Doa". She went back to her own bed because 4 am is too early for her, Dora and our sanity. However, it looks like "Doa" with be with us for awhile. I'm glad Ollie likes the show too.

Miss Fall-A-Lot

Tori busted her head open on the fireplace weeks ago and now she has a black eye from falling into Grandma's coffee table. Last night, she fell off the pool table and had a red cheek for a while. She is such a daredevil and climbs and falls repeatedly.

Like Ollie, Tori has started getting angry about being strapped in her car seat. She fights when put in it and fight to get out of it. She can be a real pill sometimes. Ollie doesn't know what to think of his sister's moans and groans. He often wants to know why she is fussing. If only he could remember what he was like at that age.

Shopping carts are another sore issue for Tori. She hates being penned in them and would rather run through the aisles touching everything. She loves to be free!

Chitchatty Fish

Tori is quite the mimic. She repeats much of what she hears, so watch out if you are a potty mouth. She likes to go swimming in the tub and will turn on her stomach and arch like a fish. She will do that on the ground, too. She knows the word "bath" and will climb up the stairs and hurry to the bathroom. We have a fish in our midst.

Sick Tori

Well, Tori has finally caught our cough/cold. She woke up this morning coughing, so we gave her some cold medicine. I am almost over my cold, so that means Ollie should be, too. Poor Tori. She almost made it past this thing. If only Ollie hadn't spit water at her in the tub. Yes, they like to suck down bath water and spit it at each other in spite of getting yelled at. They also like to dump water on each other and themselves and cackle about it. Tori thinks it is extremely funny to pour water on her head.

Speaking of heads, ask Tori where her head or hair is and she will point to her head and thump you on the head, too. The same goes for the nose. She won't say "nose" or "head," but she will point to them. Maybe we'll teach her where her mouth is this weekend as well as her eyes.

Picky Eater

Tori used to eat almost anything. Now she is more particular about what she eats. Last night, she was a very fussy eater who threw a fit until she finally decided to eat spaghetti-os and ravioli at the island. She refused to sit in her high chair. I spent nearly an hour coaxing her to eat and sliding food onto her nasty fork. She has to eat with a fork or spoon, unlike Ollie who would scoop up his food with his hands. It was quite the ordeal that I am hoping I do not have to repeat tonight.

Troublesome Tori

Huts and I are always joking about child #3 being our troublemaker, but lately, Tori has been fulfilling that role. She refuses to ride in a shopping cart and climbs on everything. She gets into everything possible from the refrigerator to draws to cabinets. She knows where the water is on the refrigerator and where her cups are, and brings the two together quite often, no matter how many other cups she has out. She also pushes buttons and is notorious for changing the TV channels. The other day, she reset the dishwasher and turned off the TV five times before she got into major trouble. She has also taken to climbing on the buckets barricading the stairs. Now we are going to have to stack the buckets two high. She is a live wire who keeps her and her aunt and her brother very busy!

Chatterbox

Tori is picking up new words all of the time. Show her a book on kitties and she says, “kitty.” Put her anywhere near the kitchen and she says, “nack”. Give her an empty bowl and she says, “more.” Before long, she is going to be talking and driving us insane like her brother.

She also likes to go to the toy store and touch all of the toys. She doesn’t like dolls, though, so we struggling to find her presents for Christmas. She does like shiny books, though, and phones. She also likes Dora movies. They make her squeal in delight!

Whatever we end up buying Ollie and Tori, they will be happy. They are happy kids in general who will play with just about anything.

Halloween

Tori's second Halloween was a little more eventful than last year. She was left behind at the sitter's while Ollie went to the dentist. She cried when we left. She was picked up by her Aunt Annie and brought to her Mama's for work Trick or Treating. She had her picture taken and walked most of the way. She even took some of the candy from the buckets.

After getting her chicken and dumplings on her costume (not the ladybug costume because it was too cold), she got cleaned up and was ready to go trick or treating. She went with Annie and her friends around our neighborhood. Around 7 she got headed home because she was cold, but she had a good haul in her bucket. She wasn't too interested in eating the candy, but she like playing with all of it in the bowls.

Once Ollie came home, they went to Arby's for more candy. Once home Tori was sent to bed straight away since it was past her bed time. She slept through the majority of the night, only fussing once. She was too tired from all the fun.

We don't have a picture of her in her costume yet, but we do have a scary one of her scar on her head.

Annie Time

Tonight Huts and I have a meeting to attend, so Annie will be watching the kids. I am going to leave her some money to take them to their favorite place, McDonalds. Annie always takes them to the one with the indoor play area. The last time Annie took them there, Tori got stuck on top of the slide and Annie had to go get her. She is a real climber now, so watch out Annie!

The glue on Tori’s head came off during the night. She has a very small slit that looks like it has healed well.

"Nack"

That’s Tori’s favorite new word. She likes to stand behind the barrier at the top of the stairs and yell, “Nack,” which means you must carry her downstairs to the kitchen and find her a snack of some sort. If you open the refrigerator, you can prepare for her to step up on it and grab some pudding or yogurt. She also likes to stand up on the countertop and pull out food from the cabinets. Tori likes variety, so the snacks you find for her one day may not work the next. She refused the pudding last night, for example, and went for the Hershey’s instead.

Tori got to wear her 75 cent Dalmatian coat this morning (a yard sale steal), so she is warm and fuzzy. She didn’t seem to mind the change in coats, unlike Ollie which you can read about on his blog, and seemed intrigued with the fabric. She likes hats, so the hood was a plus. I’m just glad she has seemed to sprout in the past few months and can wear her 18-month-old clothes now.

The glue on Tori’s head is peeling and the doctor pronounced her fine yesterday. Yep, an hour of waiting and a wad of money to reassure us what we already knew. Oh well. Better safe than sorry. Keep your fingers crossed that she gets through the next few months without incident.

Fun, Fun and More Fun!

Tori is more adventurous than her brother. She’ll try almost anything, including yogurt bites and big slides. She tends to be easier to please as a result.

This weekend, Tori showed what a big girl she has become by climbing up the stairs to the slide at the museum all by herself and sliding down the slide with a bit of help. (She doesn’t understand that you have to sit down.) She checked out everything at the museum, including the water! There was a large trough filled with water, pumps and more that Tori played in as often as possible, even if it got her wet. She also liked to climb into the truck and push the buttons. (She likes buttons, especially on remotes and TVs.)

Tori behaved well at the restaurant we went to afterwards, eating French fries and watching everyone. She kept thinking that all of the food served around her should be hers and pointed to other people’s food a lot before she got hers. Thankfully, no one noticed.

On Sunday, Tori went with her dad to get pumpkins. No staying home for her like her brother. She likes to go bye-bye. That night, she showed her adventurous side again by sitting on the hearth in front of the fire. Ollie was scared of the fire; Tori didn’t seem to notice it. Tonight we are making smores. We’ll see if she likes that.

One scared child; one, not so scared. Still waiting for that wild and crazy child.

Round and Round She Goes

Have you ever tried to spin around and eat at the same time? Tori can do it! She can spin, and spin, and spin all the while eating a hot dog, peaches and more. She can spin around on her feet, in the desk chair, on the merry-go-round and more. She loves to spin, especially with a treat in her hand!

On the communications front, we are hearing more and more from Tori. She loves to scream “Yeah!” and point at whatever has caught her fancy. She is very good about taking your hand and pulling you wherever she wants to go and pointing at what she wants, like the TV being turned on. Yes, she is a TV watcher who loves Little People videos.

Tori is quick like her brother. In fact, she has even done some things before him, like drinking from a cup, eating with a fork and pointing to the things she wants. She definitely keeps us on our toes!

Wounded Head Comparison

Tori's Boo-boo head.



Ollie's Boo-boo head




I think Tori wins. Her cut is longer and she didn't have her father freaking out causing her more pain while trying to stop the bleeding. She also behaved for the physicians because she stares at strangers. Ollie's seemed to be a wider cut, but shorter. His also had more blood, guess blunt objects like entertainment centers will do that to you.

Same Accident, Different Victim

Two years ago, Ollie crashed head first into the entertainment center and gashed his forehead. We took him to the ER, where they bonded the slit in his head with glue. Today, the scar has nearly faded.

Last night at age 1, Tori decided to follow in her brother’s footsteps and crashed head first into the fireplace hearth. She gashed her head and cried until it stopped bleeding. Ollie cried, too, for her. After I calmed them down, which took about 20 minutes, Tori played in the laundry basket, while I got Ollie’s shoes on. We went to the prompt care facility down the road and got there right before it closed. The last patients, we were seen quickly.

Ollie watched the examination process intently, asking numerous questions, while Tori sat very still for the nurses (she did not sit still for me, of course). The doctor got worried because she was so relaxed, but I managed to convince him that the only reason Tori was behaving was because she was surrounded by strangers. As soon as they left the room she got up and started running around. The doctor bonded her head, handed her to us and home we went.

Tori didn’t seem to notice her wound much, and if you didn’t know what happened, you probably wouldn’t notice it either. Her bangs cover most of it. She is fine, Ollie is fine, and within seven to 10 days, the glue will come off and Tori will have a bit of a scar.

Boy, am I glad they now have skin glue. It sure beats stitches. Just ask my brothers, many of whom have had stitches.

Sleep and Stuff

Tori has been sleeping a little a better recently. On occasion, she'll sleep through the night. Most of the time, she still gets up once a night and has a bottle. The good thing is that she able to hold her own bottle, so she's been changed, given a bottle and left alone in her bed to put herself back to sleep. It's worked 2 nights in a row. We'll see if we can ween her off the bottle soon. Maybe we'll have to replace the middle of the night bottle with water to discourage her from getting up.






As you can see, her hair has grown out enough to put it in dog ears. We haven't tried a full day yet, but we are positive she'll pull them out, though as her mom says, she likes things on her head. Especially when it leads to fun, like walking into things.

And The Winner Is…

Tori! She beat her brother eating dinner hands down last night. Ollie ate a bowl of pineapple chunks and green beans. Tori ate some green beans, all of her lasagne, two helpings of mashed potatoes and some raisins, which may explain why she mashed the Reese's peanut butter cup in her fist while Ollie gobbled down his later in the evening.

Lately, all Tori seems to do is eat, and it shows. She is finally wearing 18-month-old clothes rather than 12-month-old clothes. She even got to wear her new size 4 tennis shoes this morning, which she proudly showed off. She loves shoes and tried on her crocks this morning, but they were still too big.

So, does this mean Tori will be into clothes and makeup, unlike her mother? Maybe. Then again, she does like to play with cars and tear through the living room after Ollie rather than take her baby doll for a walk in the stroller. She also likes to wear large hats that cover her face and walk around rooms with her hands stretched out. So far, she has run into the sliding glass door and the hallway wall. She bounces back, falls down and tries again. Ok, so maybe she will be a tomboy after all.

Happy Girl

Teething again, but this time, Tori is happy. She spent much of yesterday at the park and managed to walk half a mile. Then she went to a pizza place and ate, and ate, and ate. She is a much better eater than her brother. She goes, and goes, and goes until she has nothing but a smile left.

Tongue Kisses

Tori recently learned how to kiss, When she feels like it and you ask for a kiss, she wil come over to your smiling and stick out her face waiting for you to kiss her. Now that she has that down, she has decided to come to you with her tongue sticking out and wait for you to kiss her. You have two choices: You can kiss her wet tongue or give her a kiss on the cheek. Bet you know which one we choose.

Tori the Lady Bug

Tori is going to be a lady bug for Halloween and has tried on her costume, although somewhat unwillingly. She pulls at the straps. Huts will be posting the pictures we managed to get of her in it soon.

Tori is teething again and snatching food left and right, but like her brother, she seems fine. She made it to the train mailbox and back with her dad this weekend and ran away down the sidewalk with me several times. Ollie always tells me that Tori is runing away from home and to catch her, Mom. She is pretty quick and feisty and detests being caught. I still haven't tried to see how far she can get around the block.

Today it is beautiful outside, so maybe we will go eat at the new mall and let the kids play on the tractors. They love the Caterpillar playground, especially the slide. Tori seems to think she can climb up it and slide down it all on her own. She is our little daredevil, if you didn't know. Like mother, lilke daughter, they say. Poor Tori. She is destined to be a tomboy and suffer scrapes and bruises (but hopefully no broken bones or stitches).

Annie My Pal

Tori spent much of this past weekend with her aunt Annie while her parents and big brother Ollie attended a funeral. She went to McDonald's to eat with Annie as well as shopping at Target where she walked around. She was a busy girl and slept through Monday and Tuesday night. Let's hope she is going to continue this sleeping trend.

The Words

The house has become more noisy lately. Tori has begun speaking and mimicking words. She has 4 regular ones. Hi (while waving), Yeah, No (the most popular) and Here. These are repeated over and over until she gets tired or distracted. She even seems to be getting Mama down as she demonstrated tonight while getting out of the bath. Mama mama mama over and over to let her mama know she was done. In no time we'll have to ignore 2 chatter boxes.

Quick Pics from our Last Trip

Finally, the scary dude.

Not Feeling So Well

Due to the change in weather, Tori has a cold. She is also teething again, gritting her teeth whenever possible. Last night was rocky at best. She woke up at 12 and I gave her a bottle. She slept on my shoulder but cried when I put her down. I brought her to bed with us because she was cold and she slept there until 4. Then she woke up again and her dad tried sleeping with her in the recliner but that didn't work so well. She was up by 5:30, raring to go but sneezing a lot. I dressed her in a hot pink outfit with black fringe. She spent the rest of the morning playing with her fringe.

On another note, Tori loves Aunt Annie. She spent most of last night banging her head on Annie's door to be let in and let out. She also likes to sit with Aunt Annie and watch her play games and talk to Uncle Dale and Darin and Grandma Vickie.

Looks like Tori will have a new playmate in March when the babysitter gets a new grandchild. Tori won't be the baby anymore. I hope she takes it better than Ollie did, who did not like sharing Sharon with two babies. Ollie told me all about it, of course, and when I asked him if he would like a new brother or sister some day, he said he would rather us take Tyler his cousin!

Mom onboard

If you have read the post for Ollie's blog today, then you already know that Tori's mom has jumped onto the bandwagon and will now be contributing to the blogs from time to time.

Tori is Ollie's opposite, more outgoing and daring than he. The folks who came to our yard sale this weekend did not bother her. In fact, she followed a lot of them around. She enjoys walking up to people and watching them. She also likes to walk around and say, "Hi." Yep, when she is in the mood, she will now say hi to you. She might even say no if compelled. The jury is still out on that one.

Tori's other passion is walking. That child will walk everywhere, in the store (unlike her brother whose legs always seem to be broken), in front of the house and maybe even around the block. Tori loves to take off walking down the sidewalk in front of our house. When it gets warm again, I am going to see how far she can get around the block. I know she can walk to the corner of our street with no problem and down to the house with the train mailbox. I bet she can get farther. The only problem will be her attempts to turn around and walk the other way. She likes to go in both directions and gets distracted easily by stuff on the ground and people's driveways. Wish me luck when I take her on this venture!

2 Nights

Tori made it 2 nights in a row. We don't know why, but we aren't rocking the boat. Last night was definitely due to being tired. We had a garage sale yesterday and Tori spent most of the day playing outside with the merchandise. She was a great merchandise model and displayed all the toys for the potential buyers. She was particularly adept at displaying the kids chairs. She spent most of the day sitting in them. Discouraging potential buyers. Despite this, we still sold one of the two kids chairs we had for sale.

During the day, she took a 3 hour nap. She went to bed early, but still almost slept 12 hours. I'm sure her other routine will return tonight since we are going back to work tomorrow.



Tori also has 1 full molar in. The rest are suspiciously missing. Maybe we'll see them soon.

Special Powers Returned

After Tori sent Tyler her special message, he sent the same message right back to her for this past weekend. She is getting teeth and was up moaning or crying about every 20 minutes the last 2 nights. Nothing soothed her and we slept together in the recliner for a little sleep. Sunday night was better, but she's still crabby, but not as bad.



Her worst night seemed to be Friday night and it seems to have been a little better last night. She actually was quiet from 2 to 5. Hopefully that streak continues. These teeth should make 10 total, but we really can't tell for sure, because every time we try to count them, we get a digit bitten off. I'm sure the rest of her teeth will be just as bad of an experience for her and worse for us. The eye teeth are supposed to be the worst, unfortunately, they are also the last. The momentum seems to be building towards that crescendo.

Trip

Tori went a travelling this past long weekend. She was fairly well behaved for someone who doesn't like being couped up in her car seat for long. The first day of our trip we went to the St. Louis Zoo to tire the kids out before the rest of our trip began. Tori LOVED the fish and all things under water.


She didn't like the bird that stole her french fry from her hand while she was eating. We also went to a farm park and saw many animals, but Tori was mostly tired and didn't enjoy this much, but she stayed awake for the entire trip to the park.




She fell asleep on the way home and had a good nap. In the afternoon, played and played and played more. We even took her to my former elementary school so she could get rid of her cabin fever. She played more there too. After that we went back to Grandma and Grandpa's for dinner and more playing.



Sunday we got up had breakfast and headed back to St. Louis in the afternoon. Just in time for her nap. After getting to the hotel, she was tired and crabby from skipping a second nap, so she went to bed early with the rest of us.

Monday wasn't too bad as it was a short trip home. Luckily, she took the day to return to her former glory and be a happy girl. It took a toll on her and she needed some time to recoup. Hopefully her next trip will go a little smoother for her.

I Was Wrong

Apparently, I slept through her second night of sleeping through the night. Her Aunt Annie went in around 12:30 and put her back to sleep. Since then, it has all been down hill. She's been waking at least once, if not 2 times a night. She doesn't seem to be cold, and she's always at the top of the bed. She may be banging her head against the rails, which wakes her up. I hope she figures out how to turn around soon. She's more active in her sleep than her brother ever was.



Her Mama and I will be battered and bruised from sleeping with her on our trip this weekend. She packs a good wallop in her sleep. We are hoping to tire her out so we all can get some rest. Its a good plan, but she usually destroys them, just like the bumper on her crib.

The Key or Molar?

Tori has been sleeping better the last 2 nights. I had turned the fan down the night before, hoping that she was waking because she was cold. Yesterday she awoke at 4:45 am, so with a little warmth and bottle, she went back to sleep. Last night, her Mama turned off the fan and Tori made it until 5:30 am without waking up. The evidence indicates that she was cold, but there could be another cause.

She is getting another tooth. We can feel a molar pushing through her bottom gum on the left side of her mouth. If her pattern of getting teeth holds, she'll have another one on the right side shortly. This could be waking her up, but she hasn't had a real bad night of sleep in awhile. We'll have a better idea if she sleeps through the night tonight. Then again we may never know. As long as she's sleeping through the night (or getting close to it like the last 2), we won't care if we ever find out. If she isn't getting enough sleep, she can take a nap on the way to the sitter's like she did this morning. In the meantime, Tori will just have to claim her teeth hurt to get more ice cream.

Rocker

Tori loves to bounce on things (See here). She loves riding Ollie's horse on the porch. She'll sit on it forever if our arms didn't give out from all the bouncing. She'll bounce in your arms when you hold her. She'll bounce while sitting in a chair. Any motion and she'll be content.

When we went to the Farm Park last weekend, they had a saddle in one of the displays for kids to sit on. Ollie didn't want anything to do with it. Tori didn't complain at all. She even tried to make it bounce like the horse ride at home.


Hay doesn't bounce, so her ride was over quickly. All the bouncing makes me wonder if we'll be purchasing a trampoline in our future. It also makes me wonder if she'll ever sit still.

Little Kisser

Tori has turned into a little kisser. She doesn't have the technique or the aim right or consistent. The technique starts when she opens her mouth wide and comes at you at full speed. This results in her missing her mark most of the time. You'll end up kissing her nose, 1 lip, the inside of her mouth and sometimes for fun the flat underside of her tongue because she is sticking it out at you!

She gave her Mama and Dada plenty of kisses last night, alternating between us. She thought it was a fun game and we only had to towel off a little. It is just another progression in her becoming a big kid like her brother. Its hard to remember sometimes that they were both so small and then they come at you at full speed.


Tori with her cleaning brush and apron on.

Out Like A Light and Sleeping Through the Night

For one night, Tori slept through the night. She complained vocally when she had to go to bed for only 5 minutes. That beats the 45 minutes from the previous night. We must've tired her out with all the activity last night. She walked, played, bathed, swam in the pool and had all kinds of fun.



She finished her bottle, was changed and sent to bed a bit after 9. I was surprised she was out that quickly since the previous night lasted so long. I was even more surprised that she made it all night. I doubt it'll repeat tonight, because she's not good at maintaining habits.

Walking and Sleeping

Tori spent Saturday walking around the Farm park. She walked every where she could. To the animals, down the pathways, in the school, around the porch swings and around the playground. She didn't want to be picked up, she just wanted to walk on her own, picking up things along the way. She fed several goats and came back with all her fingers intact. Apparently toddler fingers aren't on the goats menu.

She was worn out after almost 3 hours of fun, so she fell asleep on the way home and sacked out for several hours.

Sunday night was a test for sleeping. Tori got a late nap on Sunday and wasn't falling asleep to her usual routine. So, we dumped her in bed to let her cry it out. 45 minutes later, she had worn herself out and fell asleep. As good as this was, she still didn't sleep through the night. She woke up at 2 and was soaking wet. After being changed and drinking an ounce of bottle, she fell back asleep because she was too exhausted to eat. She was groggy this morning, but eventually woke up. We are going to try to let her cry it out again tonight and change her diaper before bed. Maybe then her parents can get out of the habit of waking at 2 am.

Boxed In

Ice Cream Bandit

After running errands last night, we went and got ice cream. The waffle cones we got were bigger than Tori's head, so we shared ours with her. All was well while we were at the top of our cone. She's have a bite of my oreo ice cream and waddle over to her mama for a bite of her butter pecan, then make the return trip to my ice cream.

Tori has a habit of taking your ice cream when you near the bottom of your cone. This habit continued last night as she swiped the remainder of my ice cream cone. She walked around the tables while occasionally taking a bite of her dripping ice cream loot. One wasn't enough for this little bandit. She next swiped her mama's butter pecan. This one was a bigger and better heist as there was more ice cream left in the cone. The thief made her way around the patio tables dripping an ice cream trail where ever she went. She'd occasionally stop to take a bite of one cone then the other and continue on her get away trip.

Eventually the caper came to an end. She was caught cold handed and relieved of her loot. It was too late for the prior owners to reclaim their ice cream. It was all over the bandits face and hands. The rest of it was discarded into the trash as it was time to leave. The bandit was not happy about having her loot taking and wailed for her looted ice cream back. After a few seconds of cleaning, she had forgotten all about her lost ice cream and began planning her next caper.


If you see this ice cream bandit, report her immediately. She is dangerous around ice cream and will use all tactics, such as smiling, crying, wailing and outright theft to get her ice cream.

In other non-ice cream bandit related news, she and the pavement at petsmart had a face-to-face meeting. The sidewalk tripped her and she got a little road rash on her face. Apparently, the sidewalk didn't trust her either.

I'm just glad we got her pictures taken BEFORE her latest fall.

The Pictures and The Orchard - Tori's Side

Tori is a much more agreeable picture taker than her brother is. She sat for all the poses, rarely moved and smiled for almost all the pictures. She even had a few taken by herself. It being her nap time, we were happy she smiled for most of the pictures. Last time she had her picture taken when she was tired, we got a blank stare. These are much better as we'll see in 2-3 weeks.

The orchard was just as much fun for Tori as it was for Ollie. As you can see by her photos starting here. She was able to pretty much go where her brother did and even did a slide or two her brother wouldn't. She even got to play with the goat that they let out for awhile.



She was a little tentative (and tired since she missed her nap), but once she got going, there seemed to be no stopping her. She zonked out on the way home and had a nap once we got there. She then slept almost all night and got up at 5:30, only to take her first nap at 8:30. She was worn out, but it was back to the routine last night.

Sprawl

Tori was tuckered out yesterday. She missed her morning nap, so about 11, she laid down in front of the TV with her arms and legs extended and fell asleep. Apparently it was nap time.


Tori checking her feet out.

Cut and Panic

A couple of days ago, Tori was playing with an old soap dispenser that had been stored in the closet. It was shiny metal and pretty, so she was naturally attracted to it. The lid was off and she put her fingers inside the hole.

She started crying while standing by the stairs. Nothing seemed wrong, nothing in her hands, no mean brother around, she must've been scared by something. She came over and sat in my lap. Everything seemed fine. Then I noticed the blood on my shirt. Then I saw it on my shoulder where she had laid her head. I admit I panicked! I tried to stop the bleeding with a towel. I pressed too hard and it made Tori cry. I tried washing it off, more crying. Drying, more crying. Band-aid attempts were met with resistance, blood and more crying.

After I caused a fight with my panic, she settled down with a bottle and her hand stopped bleeding on its own. Her two fingers were dried together and she had other spots of blood on her where she had wiped her hand.

In the morning she was all cleaned up. It ended up being a small cut that bled profusely. She never took notice of it again.



Her father, however, needs to learn to not panic and make the situation worse by going overboard. If not, they are going to be running to their Mama with every boo-boo.

Chair Envy

Tori has a slight case of chair envy. Since she's learned to climb, one of the few things she can climb on is her brother's chair. As soon as he's out, she's in. Envy and jealousy works both ways with these two.

Rejected

On Wednesday night Tori had her haircut along with the rest of us. She had her ends trimmed as her hair growth is still a bit wonky. We are waiting for the day we can put her hair up in dog ears. She has to let us put things in her hair and she has to leave them there. In time I guess.

Before we left the hair dressers, Tori let Holly our hairdresser hold her. She has seen her enough that Tori is comfortable with her. We paid and made our next hair appointment and went to take Tori from Holly. Tresa tried first and Tori buried her head in Holly's shoulder. She tried again, same result. Since I'm the favorite parent, I tried. Rejected as well. Eventually, we pried Tori away from Holly, but not before 1 more hug.



Yesterday, Tori went for 2 more vaccinations. I tried to take her from the sitter so we could go and Tori buried her face in Sharon's shoulder. I took her anyway and she started to cry as we left. I don't know if it was because we left her brother or because she left the sitter's. She was happy as a clam when we got back. I guess Tori is telling us that she'd rather be with other people. Apparently, we aren't the favorites anymore.

2 Nights in a Row

She's slept all the way through with very little moaning. Maybe she's turning the corner, but I doubt it'll last much longer. If nothing else, teething will ruin it.

Tonight we all get haircuts. Tori's hair is still fine, but she has more of it than her brother did at 1. We can't put her hair up because there isn't enough of it and she pulls the clips out and chews on them. It might be long enough by Thanksgiving to keep it up without much interference.



Here's to chopping some off!

Hand in Mouth

It seems Tori spent most of yesterday at the sitter's with her hand in her mouth. She's getting more teeth (probably molars), but she won't let us peek in her mouth to verify. She chewed on anything she could get her hands on last night. I tried to poke my finger in to check, but couldn't feel anything on the left bottom side. She tried to bite my finger off, so I didn't try again.


Last night was an odd sleeping schedule for Tori, She feel asleep around 6:30 got up groggily around 7 and rolled around the floor for a little while. She wasn't quite awake. Eventually she got herself together and played until 10. Then she slept all night without much fussing. I'm sure she'll be back to her normal waking schedule tonight. It doesn't last long with her.

Here's Tori

Just a quick video of Tori busting through. Must have QuickTime to view. Click the picture to view!