S'mores and Fireworks

So, we're a little behind in posting....

The Fremont Solstice Parade was a few weeks ago. Jadyn really enjoyed it. She saw some of it from the shoulders of our friends, Doug and David. She also tasted an elephant ear (didn't go over super big).






Jadyn and Daddy had non-Mommy time when she went to a conference in late-June. Upon Mom's return, we documented Jadyn wearing stickers


sporting little pigtails


and organizing the beer bottles to be recycled.

Turns out Jadyn LOVES s'mores. She tried them with neighbors a few weeks ago...


And then talked about them for days before our 4th of July BBQ with the neighbors.


We actually had perfect weather for the 4th -- upper 70's and sunny. Jadyn also obsessed about the fireworks, so we got her ready for bed, and walked about 10 blocks for a better view. She rallied to watch them, but fell asleep against Mommy on the way home.


We hope you all had a fun-filled 4th, too!

New Bike! Sunny Weekend!

On Memorial Day weekend, we spent hours considering wheeled transportation for Jadyn. She is very comfortable and proficient on a tricycle, but we began to consider getting her a balance bike as a new adventure in travel. In the end, after much internet research and an exhausting trip to REI, we settled on a Skuut. She like rolling around in the house on it, but she still prefers Cleo's old trike when she is outside. We had to put the Skuut together in a novel way (notice the Skuut name upside down) to help her reach the ground firmly at her current height.

Memorial Day weekend was cool and gray most of the time, but the following weekend was sunny, sunny, sunny! Jadyn and Mommy went on a walk at Tiger Mountain with some of Mommy's work friends. Here is Jadyn enjoying a wildflower + slug, a hollowed out tree trunk, and a piggy back ride from a chemist.




Near the end of the walk, she was exhausted, and napped in the car before we had a fun lunch in North Bend.

The next day, there was more sun! Mommy, Daddy, and Jadyn spent a couple of hours exploring Magnuson Park. Jadyn loved the ducks, the water, riding on Daddy's shoulders, and the abundance of flowers she could pick.






Long days with early sunrises make Jadyn think it's time to rise and shine far before her parents do. We are all a little tired here, but it looks like the weather is finally heading toward more normal for the season, and it'll be great to spend more time outside over the next few months. Stay tuned for more adventures with the ener-Jadyn bunny -- she keeps going, and going, and going, and....

Easter, etc.

It's been awhile since we posted. Just after our last post, family came to town, and Jadyn chose that week to skip a few naps and start night-waking again. Unfortunately for the whole household, sleep disruption has been a fixture for weeks, and we have all had a very sluggish spring -- fitting, though, as Seattle had the coldest April in recorded weather history, and it took until May 20th to hit 70 degrees for the first time in 2011. Because of the cooler weather, the scarcity of sleep, and overall busy schedules in our house, we haven't taken as many pictures as we usually do. But here are a few of shots from the past 6 weeks or so.

Potty training, to put it plainly, is not going anywhere. Jadyn is completely capable physically of jumping on this bandwagon, but has little internal motivation to doing so. She occasionally chooses to wear panties over her diapers. Less frequently, but still more often than she uses the potty, she wears her panties in other interesting ways. We believe she will let us know when she is ready to rid herself of diapers, so for now, we are all enjoying the panties as accessories.


Jadyn so enjoys being outside! She loves to play at parks, chase after the neighbor Cleo in our yards, walk around the neighborhood, ride in the stroller while Mommy jogs, and try any bike or scooter she can get her hands on. We will be getting her a tricycle very soon. Here she is enjoying "outside."





We did have an Easter egg hunt -- indoors, due to the weather -- that Jadyn enjoyed immensely. Next year we'll hope for better weather, so we can try it outside.





Our Saturday AMs at Lighthouse Roasters are routine, and Jadyn looks forward to the friends she sees there and her weekly scone. (She fancies the frosted ones -- blame that on Mommy, who shares the preference.)

Stay tuned for more adventures in the world according to Jadyn!

Spring has sprung!

With more daylight hours, we're finding little J waking a little earlier in the morning, and we have also begun to realize that she is much more fun to be with if she gets to spend more time outside. So spring has definitely sprung, and she's learning the names of spring flowers like daffodils and tulips. She is also able to identify several different kinds of birds we see around the neighborhood.

Jadyn has tired of her puzzles (they are now pretty easy for her -- we need to get some new ones) and has taken to climbing. At the end of March, after climbing out of her crib 3 nights in a row, we took off a side and she is now in what we call a big girl bed. She hasn't fallen out too often, and there are a few mornings where she played contently in her room for a bit after waking while Mommy and Daddy dozed through the din. Nice! Here is Jadyn enjoying her big girl bed the first evening she could climb into it by herself.

She often falls asleep with books nearby. This night, we left the room with her reading this book, and it appears she got tired and just dropped it.

(One night we checked on her found she had fallen asleep with a book open across her face -- !!! -- but were unable to capture it before she stirred, and the image was forever lost. We'll keep trying!)

Here she is climbing on a ladder. Who knew she was particularly adept at climbing ladders? We had to pull back hard to keep her from going up any further, as she had every intention to ascend to the very top, fearlessly!


Jadyn is also intrigued by new experiences around the house. A cracked fastener required we install a new toilet seat, and she was ready to pitch in immediately.



Drawing with pens and pencils is another favorite activity. She makes pretty good circles now as well as designs with broad sweeping strokes; then she also concentrates to make smaller, controlled scrawls and declares, "This is Jadyn's name!" Do you agree from these photos that she is probably right-handed?




Huge theme over the past couple of months: "I do it all myself!" She prefers to dress herself (when she is good and ready, mind you!) with clothes she chooses herself. We have plenty of evidence of her unique sense of style.


Most days, she is cute most of the time. The occasional age-appropriate tantrum is easier to overlook when she smiles like this!


With family coming to visit next week, there will be more photos posted again soon. Stay tuned!

Puzzle Mania!

Jadyn's latest obsession is puzzles. She has a set of 6 9-piece puzzles and a 24-piece puzzle that she assembles regularly and quite quickly now. She can do all 7, one right after the other, in less than a half hour when she is really focused.




She also really likes playing with Mrs. Potato Head.

She is a big fan of the book Clap Your Hands, and a line in the book is "Tell me your name. How old are you?" She answers, "Jadyn....I'm two!" Here she is snacking on some numeral 2 butter cookies from Larry and Kathy. She really liked these!


Since our last post, we have seen the pediatrician for Jadyn's 2-year check-up, and she is in excellent health. We now know that two of her last set of molars have broken through in the last few weeks and that she is 25 pounds (25-50th percentile) and 34 inches tall (50-75th percentile). No wonder that she is no longer amongst the smallest in her class and that she is growing out of her 18-month sized clothes! We were also assured that her penchant for "no", constant quest for independence, and valiant attempts to manipulate us are age-appropriate and normal. So we are settling in with a strong-willed 2-year-old, who is soaking up new words, songs, experiences like a sponge and melting our hearts daily. How frustrated can you remain with a little stinker as cute as this?