The Up and Down

Up and down has become Tori's newest act. She goes up the stairs fairly well, but has to sit on her butt and slide down. Its better than falling, its just slow. Her legs aren't quite big enough to traverse the stairs normally. She has to rotate her hip over to get her leg off the previous step and onto the next one. She's practicing though and will get it when she's a little taller. The only other problem with her and the stairs is that she is now strong enough to pull the container aside that is blocking the stairs and make her way down when she wants. At least she isn't trying to climb over them anymore.

We have to switch the heavy and light containers around so she doesn't get to used to them. It'll only delay it for awhile, but maybe it'll be long enough for her to become tall enough to get down the stairs without much difficulty.



The only other issue she's currently having is her sleeping. She's getting all 4 eye teeth now, but no matter if they are hurting or not, she wakes in the middle of the night out of habit. She's definitely going to be a person of habit. Hopefully they will all be good habits.

Eyes

4 of them to be exact. All 4 of Tori's eye teeth seem to be coming in at the same time. Right now the tips are just poking through her gums, but she is going to have a heck of a time if the major portion of her teeth come through at the same time. Most of the time she just has a runny nose. On occasion she gets a bit crabby, but so far, she's slept and dealt with the whole ordeal pretty well.



She seems to have slipped back into her usual routine, except for when her parents leave her. She has recently had some issues with separation anxiety. Some of that has to do with her being without her parents for a week. As her Mama said, she sat in our laps every chance she could get for the first couple of weeks. Now she doesn't have to be in our laps, she just doesn't like it when we leave.

So every morning when her Mama gets out of the car to go to work, she cries. When I drop her off at the sitter's she cries. I'm sure this will continue until she gets readjusted.

Stair Climber

Unlike Ollie, Tori learned to climb the stairs by holding onto the rails fairly quickly. The gate at the foot of the stairs, therefore, has come down. She has mastered the technique, and when she is feeling lazy, she will wait for you to take her up. As for going down the stairs, we're still working on that one. Tori seems to think that she can just step off the landing and float to the bottom. Until she figures out the down part, the buckets will remain at the top of the stairs. Fortunately, for us, she rarely tries to climb over them or move them.

The Admirer

While Tori was at Grandma's house, she had an admirer. Just a few months older than her, the little boy liked to sit next to Tori and stroke her head or cheek whenever she fussed. Tori, meanwhile, wouldn't give him the time of day and seemed uninterested. She preferred watching Dora the Explorer.

Blech, Peaches

Tori used to love peaches, but upon her return from vacation, she started spitting them out. She will get them out of the cabinet, ask for a "poon," and then promptly spit them out once the peaches have been opened and she is sitting in her high chair. The love affair with peaches is over. She still likes mandarin oranges, though, and adores applesauce.

More Teeth

Tori is getting her eye teeth, so she has a very runny nose as a result. She will wipe it though if you give her a tissue and will blow, too. She finally slept soundly last night and woke up cranky. She was nice and warm and did not want to get up, unlike her brother who popped up out of bed this morning.

Getting There

Tori slept from 9:30 to 9:30 at Grandma and Grandpa's but is not faring well at Mom and Dad's. She got up at 4:00 this morning and kept talking in our bed. We let her watch Dora for a few minutes, but she was cranky, so we put her back to bed. She didn;t have much of that either, making for a really tired Tori and a really tired set of parents.

Tori continues to talk, with "Buzz," "Backpack," and other words pouring out of her left and right. She also enjoys showing off and likes to make faces at whomever might be interested. She took two baths yesterday, all of own doing, and watched Dora again and again. Tori is very bossy now, too, demanding that Ollie stay out of her bath time and the cats stay off her chairs. She even gets bossy with me and demands that I leave her daddy alone.



Tori and Ollie were both glad to see us and haven't let go of us since. Tori likes to sit in our laps now and page through books. You must read fast to keep up with her page turning. Ollie, meanwhile, just insists that he is going to stay home forever and ever!

Vacation

Tori headed off to Grandma and Grandpa Erickson's with her big brother Ollie this past weekend. She wasn't concerned at all and waved goodbye to us before she left. She did open her presents from her grandparents and Aunt and Uncles. She loved the Dora stuff and figured it out right away.



She's become a book person lately and the Dora book will probably be the new favorite for awhile. She's also become a ham of late and loves having her picture taken. She now has to see her picture after you take it on the LCD screen of the camera. Her brother taught her well in this regard. She's also taken to making faces lately. So one night after a bath, I frizzed her hair a bit and she became the Tori Monster.

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.