More Escapades in July

On a nice weekend after the 4th, we went to the fish ladder at the Ballard Locks to see if any fish were running. Sockeye, sockeye, everywhere! Jadyn was fascinated. "Fish, fish!" sounds more like "Fissss, fissss!" but she is clear about what she is seeing....




Here she noticed a plane overhead

We also spent a few days in Las Vegas last week for Uncle Jason's wedding. While Vegas is meant as a playground for people a little older than toddlers, Jadyn did her best to live it up. She found the big fish tank in the Mandalay Bay lobby as exciting as the fish ladder back at home.



She also liked looking out the window at the Mandalay Beach pools, and all the people having fun in the water. "Wa-wa! Wa-wa!"


And of course there was a lot of hugging

And dancing


'til she dropped!

We were also lucky to spend some time in the pool area, with the benefit of a cabana to rest a bit away from the burning hot rays of the desert sun in Vegas. It was 110+ degrees that day, which was brutal, but the water made it bearable. Jadyn enjoyed floating with both Mom and Dad in the Lazy River, and she even took a nap in the cabana when she couldn't take anymore fun.



Upon returning home, she loved being back in her usual environment with all her familiar toys around her. One afternoon, Jadyn emptied a dresser drawer of blankets and burp cloths as she put several of her stuffed animals down for a nap. She has been playing like this at school, tucking blankets around baby dolls on cots, but this was the first we enjoyed this new activity with her at home. You'll see how seriously she took this endeavor by looking at the expression on her face!




New words: up, down, hat, hot, elbow, tiger, apple, eggs, berries, banana, cracker, and some of her school playmates' names and names of neighbors. Her version of her own name sounds more like "Day-dhin" but we understand it -- same thing for her versions of yogurt, carrot, and blanket. She's really good at pointing out and saying about 10-12 body parts. We are going to have to get creative and try things like wrist, armpit and thigh, because she's got most of the obvious ones down. Oh, Jadyn, how are your parents ever going to keep up with you?!?!?!

Happy 4th of July!

Jadyn's latest all-consuming obsession is shoes. She has now managed to get her own socks and shoes on occasionally, so when the fancy strikes her, she'll take off the shoes she's wearing and try one from another pair. Or she'll put on her sassy purple boots for breakfast on the porch.

Or she'll line up Mom's and Dad's shoes, in pairs, on the living room floor.

Or she'll try on Mom's running shoes!

Her knowledge of body parts is expanding.... She correctly identifies elbow now, and we're working on heel. The other day we were explaining the lower part of her leg is called her shin, and she immediately pointed to her CHIN. We didn't know she knew chin. So we decided to work on cheek, too. You can never be too knowledgeable about your own body!

While Seattle's recent winter was mild and bright, this spring has been cooler and grayer than most. We have yet to see 80 degrees this summer, though we are forecasted for a "heat wave" (upper 80's) later this week. However, we aren't there yet, and the 4th of July was around 60, gray, with occasional light rain. We hosted a BBQ for neighbors that was spent mostly inside the house. Jadyn stayed up far later than usual but did not make it to witness the fireworks. We did catch her hanging out during the party, chillin' in her bunny chair with her Seattle Sounders shirt on (a gift from our soccer team),

sippin' some milk,

chattin' it up about her latest good read.

This is in stark contrast to out mid-80'd backyard BBQ last 4th of July. We marvel at how much Jadyn has changed in a year! One year ago.... No teeth!


We hope you had a good 4th of July weekend, too. Stay tuned for more adventures!

More Adventures

Since our last post, Jadyn has enjoyed a few fun outings. We went to a birthday party at the Children's Museum, and this was Jadyn's second visit to the museum. It was a brand new experience for her compared to when she went 3.5 months prior, as she is now so mobile and completely different activities caught her attention.

Going down the 'glacier' slide

Pressing buttons, pulling levers

Feeding ping pong balls through a maze

Sitting in the front seat of a large toy car


The Children's Museum is at the Seattle Center, and it was so beautifully sunny that day. We stopped by the International Fountain after the party. Jadyn enjoyed trying to catch the sprays of water.


Completely wiped out later that day


Last weekend we took Jadyn down to the Fremont Fair for the Solstice Parade. We were curious how long the parade would hold her attention. She was fascinated and watched nearly the entire parade!




This week it FINALLY hit the mid-70's, and on 77-degree Wednesday, Jadyn went to the zoo. The first stop was at the Humboldt penguin exhibit, where Jadyn stared and stared at these creatures and then finally said "caw", just like she says to the crows. A few minutes later, we found ourselves in front of the jaguars. The big boy jaguar was grooming himself just like our cats at home, and it didn't take Jadyn long to say "meow." Here is J by the jaguar exhibit; there really is thick glass there!


We also saw gorillas, giraffes, hippos, various exotic birds, and several different species of monkeys. After a couple of hours Jadyn was overcome by a nap. We'll return to the zoo again soon!

Later that same day, Jadyn really enjoyed playing at home. The weather shield for the stroller became a boat of sorts....


Downward dog


She likes reading her Numbers book, and when asked which page has the kitties on it, she had no trouble finding the "meows."


After she tired of toddler games, she turned on the TV (!!!) on her way to climbing up on the couch, and proceeded to spend 10 minutes shredding a paper towel she nabbed from the kitchen. At least she wasn't actually watching TV!


Jadyn's saying more and more words these days. She has added knee to her anatomy vocabulary and correctly names avocado at home, in the grocery store, and at friend's houses. Her dear friend Cleo, who lives next door, is "kee-yo" with an accent on the "yo". She also says diaper and, occasionally, poo. This week she very smartly took Daddy to see exactly where some of her diaper's contents had leaked out, which we weren't thrilled to clean up, but were very excited to see the growth in her communication skills. Mom is convinced Jadyn is trying to count, because she'll point at objects and say something that sounds like "one...two..." It's a start!

Jadyn has gotten to be quite a climber. She can get herself onto the seat of one of the kitchen chairs without any adult help (we still need to photo document this), and we have had to collapse the stroller when it is not in use after we found she could climb into it herself (and almost topple it in the act). She plays in the collapsed stroller anyway.


And bubbles.... She really likes bubbles!

Waiting for Summer to Arrive

It has yet to hit 75 in Seattle in 2010 (this sets a record), and so we are all still waiting for summer to arrive. Jadyn gets super excited about spending any time outside (she says "go" a lot to mean "let's go outside"), but it has been rainy and gray far too much in the last couple of months, and we find that we've not taken as many pictures as we usually do.

Another factor in the lack of photo documentation has been the various health issues in the house. Jadyn brought home the coxsackie virus from daycare just after Mother's Day -- that's not such a fun one. Also known as hand, foot, and mouth disease, a fever is followed by raised bumps appearing on the hands, foot, diaper area, and then inside the mouth. The mouth sores can keep little ones from eating and drinking, and we are lucky that Jadyn had a mild case and recovered fairly quickly. Unfortunately she shared this lovely virus with Dad, and he missed a whole week of work due to extensive, painful mouth sores. ;-(

After the joy of HFMD, we returned to "normal" for only a short time before Jadyn came down with a cold that worsened over Memorial Day weekend. A day with a fever had us suspecting an ear infection, which was confirmed as 2 ear infections once we could get in to see the pediatrician. The good news was the doc told us "I've seen worse ear infections on her" and we avoided antibiotics this time. But Jadyn's sleep continued to be disrupted due to several teeth emerging, coincidentally, the very same week. She now has all of her first molars, and some of the canines are dropping into place as well. Needless to say, the last four weeks have brought a lot of sleep deprivation to all the members of the household.

When Jadyn sleeps really poorly, Mom and Dad retreat to the futon in the living room in an effort to quell the disruptions for everyone. Here you'll see Jadyn parked next to the futon, exploring Dad's CPAP machine (non-surgical apnea treatment). She figured out how to turn on the CPAP machine, and then, after having seen Dad wearing it, knew to put the mask up to her mouth and nose. The air coming out of the machine made her giggle (and sent her mullet sideways)!




Last weekend Dad took Jadyn to Golden Gardens to check out the sand and bright sun. The breeze was chilly, though, and she still needed her jacket.

Tonight's dinner was take out and Jadyn liked trying fresh spring rolls for the first time. She also had a little pho soup and rice noodles. We like that she is adventurous with food!


Jadyn can name "toes," "nose," "eye," and "mouth" while pointing them out, and she also correctly identifies belly button, head, ears, and fingers when we ask her to point to them. We are also working on shoulders, elbows, and knees. She has gotten pickier at meal times, sometimes asking and signing "more" specifically for mac and cheese. She is very close to saying "avocado" correctly, though, ironically, she has refused to eat it the last few times we have offered it to her. Never a dull moment with Jadyn in the house!