Jaden the Giraffe

I know, I know...it's cruel but hilarious.

P.S....

I don't like MobileMe, so I'll be discontinuing that soon and will continue with Picasa... :)

Jeez...

Today, Jaden flat out refused to take a nap. I must have tried four or five different times with no luck. He ended up crying himself to sleep for about 45 minutes. So stubborn!

Jaden's been saying a lot more lately; it's amazing once they hit a year old that their verbal communication starts really picking up. A lot of the time he's babbling about stuff we can't yet understand, and other times he saying words like tree, that, yes, no, ball, buh (for balloon), Tete (for Christy), nana (for banana), shoe, sock, night night, byyyyeee...

I was changing his diaper the other day and all of a sudden he starts shaking his finger at me, saying, "no! no! no!" When Mike disciplines him, he sternly says no while he shakes his finger. Now and then when I discipline him he'll look at me, shake his finger and say, "no no no." Toooo funny.

The other morning, I was at the dining table on my laptop, and from under the table I hear, "I seeee youuu." I asked Jaden what he said and he goes, "I seee you!" very clearly. I often say this to him when he's hiding under the table. I then called up Christy who thought I was just hearing things and while she was on the phone I kept encouraging Jaden to say it. I think he finally had enough of my nagging because he yelled, "I SEE YOU!" Christy said, "wow, that was really clear." It was officially his first sentence!

I realize I've been really lazy with the pictures - to be honest, my camera has been dead for about a month and while Lolo visited we just used his. I got so spoiled using his DSLR that I've purchased a really nice Nikon kit that I'm hoping to get in the mail tomorrow. From here on out, you'll be getting so really sharp pictures. I've also signed up for a 9-week photography class at UCSD so my long-term goal is to start a small photography business some day. I've certainly got a lot to learn but I've got the creative mindset and the rest just requires some studying and LOTS of practicing. :) Thankfully, I have a willing subject (Jaden). Well, maybe not always so willing...

Speaking of Lolo, we had a really nice, low-key visit. Luckily, Jaden was in a really good mood that week even though he was diagnosed with an ear infection. Jaden had a lot of fun with Lolo and he still mumbles "Lolo" when we Skype. He enjoyed all of the walks and was so spoiled that when he left, Jaden was demanding to go to the backyard and for strolls. He's still enjoying his new shoes although he is so enamored with the velcro they often fall off. Apparently, I learned from others that it's not the best idea to get them shoes with velcro because of this. Oh, well...

I bought Jaden some potties. I've attached a grainy picture that Christy took during our Skype session - Jaden was showing Tete how to sit on the potty. Now, some of you may think it's way too early to even try, but I think it's worth getting him used to the idea. Who knows, maybe we'll be out of diapers by the time he reaches 15 months. That's my hope, at least!

My interest for early potty-training was encouraged by a few friends that have told me that they had their kids potty trained by a year old...and even one friend had their baby potty trained at ONE MONTH! This might be shocking to us, and even unbelievable, but I can assure it is very possible and is done in many countries. My friends are from India where it's a normal part of child-rearing to have them trained shortly after they're born. In countries with high poverty rates, diapers are often unaffordable, so this makes sense. In the U.S., it's referred to as Elimination Communication, which is simply the parent being attuned to their child's queues that they need to potty. When they see these queues, they will bring them to a sink or bathtub and the child will go immediately. I asked my friend if her son ever has accidents in his diaper, which he wears in the event of one, and she said no. He's now three months and has been trained for a couple of months now. Can you imagine how much waste is prevented and money saved by potty-training this early??? Amazing! For now, Jaden will just continue throwing toys in it and wearing it as a hat...

He's Bananas

Jaden decided to experiment with his snack by purposely mashing bananas in his hair.  And face.  It was so not fun to clean up.

Jaden's just about outgrown his shoes - time for a new pair soon.  I received the shoes that Lola sent (thanks, Mom!) but he won't be able to fit into them for at least another 6-8 months.  They're super cute though...I love them.  Time to spend another small fortune on shoes that he'll wear for two months!  

Jaden was at the park today and heard an F-14 fly by (the air show is this weekend) and he pointed up and said, "pane."   I don't know where he learned it, but it was awesome.  He also saw me grab his shoes and said, "shoe."  Fun stuff!

We're getting ready for Lolo to come into town next week - it should be a real treat.  And Dad, we'll have to reserve the mini Cadillac Escalade for perhaps his third Birthday...I think he'd do some serious damage with it, which we're not really prepared for.  :) 

Hello Again

It's been awhile since I've posted, and for that I apologize.  We've had quite a busy September - Jaden's Birthday Extravaganza, Mom's visit, illness, etc. etc. etc.  

Mom's visit was great - it went by way too fast but Jaden enjoyed it.  It was especially nice to have the extra help since Mike was sick almost the whole week!   He kept us busy... here's a video of Jaden pushing Lola's luggage on her arrival:

Jaden's party was a huge hit with the kids - they all loved it.  We held it at a place called Kidsville Playtown - it's a little town for kids to run around and play.  Most parents said that when they asked their kids if they had fun, they replied, "it was the bestest party I've ever been to in the whole world."  If kids walk away saying that, it's (a lot of) money well spent!

Jaden is getting more hilarious as the days go by - I guess when he gets loud in daycare his Mimi will "Shhh" him with her finger over her mouth, so the other day he came home and when I said "Shhhh" to him he put his finger over his mouth (and nose) and goes, "tttthhhhhhhhhh."  Lori and I also spent 10 minutes the other day looking for his lost left shoe in her garage which is jam-packed with toys, and Lori had the foresight to check the play kitchen, where it was conveniently stowed in the refrigerator.  Everything in it's right place, according to Jaden.

The boy had his one year checkup last week and it was a real treat to have Lola along.  I had his stats but I seem to have misplaced it.  Oops...I do know that he's 23.5 lbs.  He is on cow's milk now and seems to be doing great on it.  I hope that will save us a few bucks from the formula days but I feel very strongly about giving him organic milk so it is likely moot.  He's learning how to say the word "Milk";  for now he's saying "Mo."

Here's a funny video I'll call, "Salty Kiss."

Birch Aquarium

Today, while Mike worked in the office I decided to take Jaden to the Birch Aquarium in La Jolla.   He seemed to have had a good time, although I think he's slightly young to really enjoy it.  He did check out the fish and sharks but really just wanted to walk around and scream with glee.  

After the aquarium, I took Jaden to lunch at Souplantation - a first date with just me and him!  It was really quite daunting and I had to walk in there with a plan - I would make our food with him confined to the stroller, a helper to help move my tray of food to the table that I already setup with high chair and chair cover.  I would then take him out of his stroller to grab the other goodies, which took a good two or three trips before we could actually start eating.  When we were finally ready, Jaden seemed really excited about sitting across the table from me with his own plate of food.  He was dancing and smiling and was well-behaved for a good ten minutes before he started getting antsy.  I made him a plate of sliced celery, peas, corn, plain pasta noodles and another dish of mac n' cheese and blueberry muffin.  He didn't want to have anything to do with the healthy stuff and instead stuck with the mac n' cheese.  A true product of his father!  

Mike and I bought Jaden a bunch of new toys for his playroom - we're introducing them one at a time to make them last.  So far, we've introduced a couple of bouncey balls, a giraffe bike and a big foamy monster truck.  He LOVES the balls and can say the word "ball" very clearly.   He can also say "kick" and will kick the ball when I ask him to.  There are some pictures on Picasa of him on his giraffe bike.

Twirling

Here's a video of Jaden "twirling." He just started doing this a couple of days ago. Hilarious!