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!