A Few Recent Photos

At yoga class (with Mommy) one recent Tuesday morning:


Playing on her "square" in the living room:


In her backpack on a walk to our favorite coffee shop:

Climbing on bags of beans in our favorite coffee shop:

7 months!

Jadyn turned 7 months old on Saturday. What a difference just a week makes! In the past week she has begun scooting forward with the same pace and deliberateness as she scoots in any other direction, and "mamamamama" is on hiatus as she now chants "dadadadada" several times a day. She is also saying "umbaba" and we're not sure what this means but it is cute. We also transitioned to giving her solid food twice a day and eliminating the "dream feed" right when we go to bed. She responded very well to this change, sleeping from 8.30-ish to 6.00-ish several nights in a row. Yahoo for Mommy and Daddy!

Another big milestone -- Jenny had an overnight retreat with her colleagues in the Science Division over in Leavenworth, and Jeff and Jadyn held down the fort at home. Day care kept Jadyn occupied during the day, and everyone survived the disruption.

Here are some photos taken this week, in the bathtub with rubber ducks, hanging out with the neighbors next door on a beautiful afternoon, and exploring on the kitchen floor one evening. The froggy chair has become a great toy to pull on and scoot underneath, rather than sit in. Life is changing everyday around here!

Growing Stronger

We think the froggy chair is nearing the end of its useful life with Jadyn. Even when she's strapped in snugly, she tries to get out of it if she's no longer in the mood for reclining and playing calmly with her toys.



Jadyn continues to get her knees under her hips and then rock a little, but she still is not crawling. She's been scooting (on her belly) in circles and backwards, but pulling herself forward is harder for her. She loves standing with support or bouncing in her jumper. She squeals with glee when the cats slink by, and I'm sure she'll be in hot pursuit of the felines before we know it. She pulls her socks off to get at her toes (or to chew on her socks). She has also learned in just the last week or two how to pull her hat off her head and either chew on it or throw it "overboard" (=out of the car seat or stroller).

We've been feeding her solid food once a day for a month now, and the amount she eats at one sitting has nearly doubled. She eats both rice and oatmeal cereal, carrots, squash, avocado, applesauce, and peaches. Carrots and peaches seem to be the biggest hits so far. It's time to feed her more often during the day; lucky for us, just like her parents, she seems to enjoy eating. She has taken to reaching for the spoon, often grabbing the food on the end (rather than the handle) and guiding it to her mouth. This makes for messy hands, but she is more focused on eating when she participates in the process.

Day care got better after the first day. She doesn't always take good naps there, so we hope she sorts that out soon! But Jadyn has proven to be very resilient, so we're pretty sure she'll figure it all out.

Her "mamamamama" babble is very clearly "mama" at times. We are working hard on "dadadadada" and "daddy", and today she might have said "dada," but we can't say for sure yet. Stay tuned!

August Ends with a New Beginning

The last day of Jadyn's August brought her first stay at day care. Apparently, she was fine for a few minutes and then cried for most of the next several hours. Thankfully, Mom does not have to be in the office yet, officially, and can arrange for Jadyn to acclimate slowly to her new reality, a few hours at a time. These next few days will be tough for both Mom and Jadyn!

On a cheerier note, over the weekend, the neighbors included Jadyn in an impromptu pancake breakfast. Cleo likes playing with Jadyn and LOVES playing dress up. Check out these super cute photos!

More visitors

Jadyn enjoyed 5 days with Grandma Jeanne and Grandpa Frank this week. During their visit Jadyn went on her first ferry ride, had her first taste of squash, and started babbling something very close to "mamamamama." Grandma really admired Jadyn's two teeth, which are now much more visible than 3 weeks ago when we first discovered them. We all thought maybe Jadyn would honor the grandparents' visit with actually crawling, not just threatening to crawl. But she is still moving herself towards toys and other items that catch her interest with a combination of rolling, scooting, arching, and reaching. Occasionally, we catch her pulling her knees under her hips and rocking a little bit, but she is not crawling officially yet. The visit was a definite success!

Jadyn liked the strong wind on the ferry ride


Jadyn and Grandma enjoying a diner on Bainbridge Island

Grandma feeding Jadyn oatmeal and squash




Jadyn enjoying an evening stroll in Seward Park with Mom and grandparents

Half-Birthday Time!

This week marked Jadyn's half-birthday (and, as you might expect, Jenny's, too). Jadyn turned 6 months old on Wednesday. Jadyn celebrated by going for a run with Mommy (in the Bob stroller, of course), stopping by the park with Jeannie and Alexa, playing with Hana while Mommy did some cleaning and some work, and then going to the Farmers' Market with Mommy and neighbors Karyn and Cleo. The foursome of ladies also stopped by Trophy for half-birthday cupcakes to honor Jadyn's new milestone. Next year, Jadyn, you can have a cupcake, too!

Jadyn reading on her half birthday



We tried oatmeal cereal and strained carrots this week -- the oatmeal was not a big hit, but the carrots were. However, her interest in eating waned as the week wore on, and we think it's because of her teeth. !!! Last Saturday, we noticed Jadyn's bottom TWO front teeth had broken through her gums. Teeth! Two at once! We were surprised we didn't notice more impact on her sunny disposition at first, but then later in the week, she had a couple of fussy days and some night waking. (We're not sure whether the night waking is due to the teething pain or the occasional hungry mosquito that we find in the bedroom.) There's a lot going on for Jadyn these days, with the teething, the introduction of solid food, and her motor skill progression toward crawling. We're grateful she is holding together so well in spite of it all. She's an angel!

Jadyn had another doctor visit this morning, and here are her current stats: she's 10th percentile in weight at 13 pounds, 5 ounces; she's 25th-50th percentile in both length and head circumference at 25.25 inches and 42 cm respectively. Dr. N. is very pleased with her progress, is not concerned she is on the lower end of the spectrum for her weight, and says socially and physically she is right where she should be. She thinks that Jadyn may 'scoot' before she crawls, and crawling can happen anytime from now to 10 or 11 months. We'll have another 'stat update' at her 9 month check-up.

Grandma Jeanne and Grandpa Frank will be in town for a visit next week. More pictures to come, for sure! (Thanks to Jason, Crissy, and Bryanna for this smart organic cotton outfit.)

A Weekend of Firsts

As July turned to August, Jadyn had a very full weekend of 'first' experiences. On Saturday, the whole family traipsed to North Bend for Hankfest, a big party at our friends' Ray and Marjie Butler. The party had food, live music, beer, and lots of fun people along with a few dogs enjoying their big backyard and the beautiful surrounds of the Cascade foothills. A nontrivial subset of the party-goers slept out in tents and enjoyed blueberry pancakes and breakfast burritos the next morning, and Jadyn was there for all the fun! She played on a blanket with growlers of beer at her disposal,

slept in a tent and woke cheery as usual,

and hung out in the backyard sun until it was time to head home.

Her first camping trip was deemed a success!

Sunday brought Jadyn's first taste of rice cereal mixed with a little breast milk. We video taped the first meal event, and so these still photos are from her next couple of rice cereal experiences. She took to eating from a spoon very naturally, and didn't even make that big of a mess, much to her parents' surprise (and, admittedly, dismay). Not sure she likes the cereal per se, but she seems to enjoy trying to eat. We've given her a little bit of rice cereal each day this week, and we'll try something else (fruit or vegetable) this coming weekend.




The last photo here is due to Daddy being a little silly as we were preparing her for a bedtime bath earlier tonight. Enjoy!