Snake!

Tori went out onto the deck and a snake made its way in, or rather had already come in and slithered under the TV cabinet in the kitchen. Huts saw it when he lifted the blind and tossed the kids upstairs and me too and poked it out the door with a stick. Long black garter snake with a green stripe. Gives me the shivers and thank goodness Tori did not come across it and try to pick it up. This is the first time ever that a snake has come up on the deck that we know of, and I wonder if it didn't have help from one of our four-legged furry cats. Piper is well known for finding creatures and poking at them. Ugh! Ugh! Ugh! The screen doors will no longer remain open for the cats and Tori to come in and out.

Chatterbox

Tori is starting to talk more, repeating more words and jabbering a mile a minute. Sometimes I know what she is saying and sometimes I am at a loss. She gets a little testy when I don't understand her and pulls on my hand to show me what she wants. Most of the time, it is a trip downstairs to the refrigerator. Maybe by the end of this year, she will have more words in her vocabulary that I can understand and she won't have to pull me everywhere.

Nice

Tori is almost 2, but like her brother, the terrible twos have not set in. She throws fits with big tears and a fake cry, but not as often as her brother is doing now. She hates the word "no," and when she gets told that word, she bows down low to the ground, puts her head on the ground and sticks her rump into the air. No sounds--just quiet pouting. My brother saw it for the first time this past weekend and thought it was hilarious. Guess her tantrums will come later.


Tori and Aunt Diane

Too Busy To Eat

That describes Ollie to a T and last night Tori belonged in that category. We went out for pizza because we had haircuts at 5:30. The kids played in the game room, watched the projector screen TV and picked at their food. Tori may have eaten a piece of pizza, and Ollie, well, maybe he ate a cheesestick. They ate popsicles when they got home and played with Annie.

Tomboy

If you know Tori at all, then you know she's a tomboy. She detests barrettes and hair ribbons. She likes to play swords with her brother and rarely plays with dolls. She wears dresses very little because she is always climbing on something, and on the days she does, she looks at them strangely. She also has this habit of wanting to run around with her shirt off. Last night, Ollie's shirt came off because it was covered in hair. Tori pulled up her shirt when she saw that and wanted it off.

Bedtime Mates

Tori loves her stuffed animals, and when it's time for bed, she usually grabs a couple of them to sleep with. On some occasions, she sleeps with her cat, unicorn, pink Care Bear and her very large polar bear. It's very hard to find Tori among all of those. She also likes to drag her stuffed animals around the house. It's nothing to find them stuffed into her shopping cart or strewn across the floor in the living room. She even likes picking them up and hugging them at the store.

Tori The Charmer

No one had seen Tori in a while at Grandma's, and after getting used to everyone, she turned on the charm and giggled and grinned for everyone. She only threw a tantrum once at the park with Uncle Travis watching. He was impressed with her no cry. stick your head on the ground tantrums. Awfully quiet tantrums. Tori played at the park, pulled out toys and warmed up to Dale just before we left. She played in the car and fell asleep right before we got home. She slept for two hours and was up and ready to go. She even woke up happier than usual this morning. If Ollie had stayed at Grandma's. she might have, too. There is no way she will do so, though, without her big brother!

Ride 'Em Cowgirl

When Ollie first got the rocking horse, he was hesitant about it. He didn't want to get on it, once he did, he didn't want to bounce, once he did he didn't want to hear the noise it made. Not his daredevil sister. She hopped on it, had us bounce her and loved the noise the horse makes the faster she goes. Now she even bounces herself. The only thing we have to do is put her on it and take her off when she's done. She's not quite big enough to do it herself. Other than that she'll ride the horse until she gets tired of it. We can even go in the living room while watching her on the patio through the glass door. She's even gotten her brother to play on it, sound and all. It seems Ollie leads in what they play together and Tori leads in trying new things. Guess they each have their strengths.

Click The Picture For A Video Of A Horsie Ride

Tori Likes Diego, But Loves Dora

Tori managed to sit through the Diego show too. She seemed to have a good time but really liked it when Dora came out. Her favorite is Dora and her room is covered with Dora things. In fact, she is getting a Dora bench for her birthday that I found on sale. Ollie has a dinosaur bench, so Tori needs a bench, too, and the plain wooden bench ain't cutting it.

Off to A Crying Start

While Ollie was whimpering about getting a haircut today, Tori was crying about where everyone was this morning. Ollie woke her up, and when she didn't see us in the bathroom, she started walking downstairs with big tears rolling down her chubby cheeks. She was distraught, but I found her before she got on the second step and she sat on my lap while I dried my hair.

Haircut Day

Ollie started crying about it this morning. He says that it hurts, but we all know better. Poor Stacy. Huts will have to hogtie him while Stacy tries to cut his hair. Meanwhile, Tori will sit pretty in the seat all by herself and get her hair cut. Boy, does she need it. Her hair is a mop top mess, and she won't keep barrettes in it or pony tail holders. She yanks them out and gets fussy when you attempt to brush her hair at night. I forgot to bring new shirts for them to put on, so Ollie will complain about that and be whiny. Ugh!

Moo!

Yesterday after work, the kids kept themselves busy making animal sounds. Ollie pretended to be a snake and hissed. Tori hissed, too. Ollie pretended to be a cat and meowed. Tori meowed too. Ollie pretended to be a cow and mooed. Tori mooed too. She is picking up words rapidly just by listening to Ollie.

Happy Happy Girl

Unlike her brother, Tori was happy all weekend. She played with toys, took showers, ate a lot and took long naps. She threw very few fits, and as usual, followed Ollie happily around the house, mimicking his actions. She likes playing under the new bar-height table and even said, "I see you," one of her first full sentences.

Shower Girl

Tori loves taking showers now. She got in with her dad a couple of times and me yesterday. I left her in there for a while because she was so happy. It took some careful wrangling to get her out. She loves standing under the stream of water. OF course, running around naked afterwards and having your parents chase you is equally fun.