A Busy Weekend

Jadyn worked hard this weekend pulling herself to standing, then letting herself back down on her knees, and then standing again, and then resting on her knees, and.... She also began crawling -- really crawling, not scooting -- for a few paces at a time. We have noticed she crawls on surfaces where scooting is more difficult, such as on a rug where there is more friction on her belly. Then, once she gets on the wood or tile floor, it's back down onto her belly, scooting as she has been for the past 2+ months.

Here are some photos from our weekly coffee shop visit, hanging out at home, and a short video of Jadyn being her usual BUSY self. Enjoy!

Tooth Factory

Since our last post, Jadyn's cold got worse before it got better. After tugging on her ears one night and again the next morning, we took her to the doctor, and she was diagnosed with a mild ear infection. She's about half-way through her antibiotics, and she's not tugging on her ears anymore. Yay! Plus her cold is almost gone now, having run its course. (Notably, her new playmates at daycare have lost their runny noses as well.) In the peak of her cold, she was waking some at night, and we thought she was just having trouble breathing. But NO! It turns out Jadyn is a little tooth factory. !!! She's getting three top teeth right now; one broke through last Friday, one broke through today, and a third is close behind. As if a cold, an ear infection, and new teeth aren't enough.... She is now pulling herself to standing with all sorts of objects -- tables, chairs, stereo equipment, the legs of a parent -- and then spending quite a bit of time in that standing position, bouncing a little and exclaiming with glee. She can also climb up on to the couch on her own. She's a complete joy, and her parents are barely one step ahead of her these days....



The bonus to having an unexpected doctor visit is that we got a weight update a little early. She was over 15 pounds! They weighed her fully clothed, though, so we aren't exactly sure how much she gained since her 6-mo check up. It's somewhere between 1.5 and 2 pounds over the last two months. We think her healthy appetite for solid food is really helping her grow, even though she is insanely active.

Jadyn is still attending yoga classes with Jenny once a week. Now that she is mobile, she can keep herself busy while the yogis are practicing, as you can see below.



When we get a chance to capture the new teeth in a photo, we'll post it here!

8 month posting....

So Jadyn turns 8 months in about 48 hours, and she amazes us every week with more changes and developments. At the end of her second full day at BC's daycare, Jenny entered the infant room to see Jadyn standing on her own two feet, having pulled herself upright by using the bars of a crib. Now she does that at home as well.... She also got her first real cold this week, and then promptly gave it to Daddy. Isn't that sweet? Jadyn weathered the bug in stride, sleeping pretty well at night and not being too crabby. She is now eating solids about 3 times a day, hasn't rejected a single food we've introduced her to, and seems to be growing like a weed. Our next appointment with the pediatrician is for her 9-month check-up, so we have another month to keep guessing about her weight.

Below you'll see Jadyn snoozing in her backpack on the way back from this morning's trek to our favorite coffeeshop, as well as hanging with some of her relatives at the Burgermaster. Uncle Harvey, Jenny's great uncle, will turn 103 tomorrow, and so Jenny and Jadyn spent some time with him this afternoon to say 'happy birthday' and enjoy the company of family.

Busy Busy Jadyn

Jadyn is a busy little girl who keeps her parents very busy these days -- her scooting (army-crawl, with belly in full contact with the floor) has become more of an inchworm-crawl (butt high in the air while belly comes off the floor briefly) and she can get pretty much wherever she's interested in going much faster than her parents would like. She has up-ended the cats' water dish all over herself twice already, and she naively tries to roll off the bed and changing table most times she's on them. Her sitting muscles have matured so that we feel we can safely strap her into the stroller for walks (rather than strapping her into her car seat and then to the stroller). In the past week she has regularly pulled herself up on to her knees using a stationary object (see photos below) and we've transitioned her from her first daycare set up to the child care center on Jenny's campus. She is taking all these changes in stride. We can't believe we've been blessed with such an angelic child! Also below you'll find photos of Jadyn at her second Mariners game ever, the last one of this season. It was bright and sunny but the wind was chilly, and we got to enjoy a nice win against the Rangers. Go M's!

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!