Poor little JW

So yesterday morning he woke up with this green gunk in his eyes.  I tried to clean them out all day but it kept coming back.  And this morning he woke up with it again.  I had googled it last night (the worst diagnosis tool, but sometimes the best one I have) and the responses I got indicated a bacterial infection.  One person even said the poor kid could go blind!  So needless to say I was ready to run to the pediatric urgent care as soon as it opened this morning.  On my way there I decided I should call Jayden's regular pediatrician, just to see if they were open.  They were open AND they had an appointment in 20 minutes.  So I drove straight there and Jayden was officially diagnosed . . . with an ear infection in both ears!  Poor kid.  Basically he got some kind of bacterial infection in his nose and it spread to his ears and now to his eyes, which is why he had all that gunk.

The doctor said on a scale of 1 to 10 he has a 7 in one ear and a 5 in the other.  He's actually amazingly cheerful and his ears don't look bad at all to the naked eye.  But I guess to the doctor's eye through his ear-looker machine (someone with a medical degree please correct me on the actual name of the tool) it was quite obvious.  So now he's on amoxycillin twice a day for 10 days.  He can't go to daycare tomorrow, but maybe Wednesday if he's better by then.

I tried to get a close up to show you the grossness:

He had an almost fever this morning too, which was surprising to me.  Apparently neither Carmen nor I are very good at taking a temperature with our thermometer.  Oh well, I guess that's why there are doctor's offices.  I now just wish I'd taken him in Friday to get diagnosed and start the medicine earlier but at least he's relatively cheerful and on the path to health.  The doctor said this medicine should take care of the lingering cough that he's had as well.  So two birds with one fierce penicillin-based stone.  Not bad.

Happy 50th MJ!

In honor of Michael Jordan's 50th birthday (and thanks to Auntie Ellen's timely gift), Jayden was all Jordan-ed out today:

A little blinded by the sun, but a good view of the whole outfit.

"Mama, na-na"  Which basically means, "Mama, go get something for me.  Now."  I love how big the shorts are on him.  I almost changed them this morning but was quickly informed by Carmen that Jordan shorts are supposed to be worn this way.  I think I'm going to need a lot of help when it comes to boys fashion as Jayden gets older.

Jayden has managed to come down with yet another cold - this winter has been rough on all of us.  Carmen is still coughing every few minutes, getting over an illness he got through all his travels and late nights recently.  I still cough every once in a while, getting over my illness from early January.  And now Jayden has his third or fourth cold of the past few weeks.  Julia was convinced he had a fever, but in my measurements he hasn't been over 99.4 at all this weekend.  And he's been more tired than usual and eating less than usual, but otherwise he has been his same playful self.  He mostly just has a runny nose and still has a cough.  But today he started having pus in his eyes.  From my completely scientific google diagnosis, I think he will now have to go to the doctor.  Poor kid.

One of the best things about this haircut is that his changed his opinion about wearing his fancy hat:

Happily wearing the fancy hat, and even at a slant.  He's definitely got some attitude (in a good way). 

He is still talking a lot.  I think I've identified a few more words.  He definitely says "agua" for water and I think he says "abra" when he wants something opened, like a door.  I love that at least some of his first words are Spanish.  I just wish I could speak Spanish well enough to keep up with him!  I'm working on it, but it's just so hard when I don't use it regularly.  But it is absolutely awesome that Jayden is thinking of things in both English and Spanish and learning that way - this is one of the few things I would consider forcing on Jayden if I had to.

Valentine's Day was not really anything special - being on a Thursday we pretty much went to work, picked Jayden up, fed him dinner, put him to bed, ate our dinner and went to bed.  BUT, we did have some presents to open in the morning before breakfast, so that was exciting:

Thanks for the books about trucks - you know me so well Auntie Ellen!  That night before bed, the first books I wanted to read were the truck books.

This weekend has been relatively quiet.  Because of Jayden being sick, he slept until 9 am on Saturday and until 8 am on Sunday.  Kind of amazing.  Both Carmen and I stayed in bed until the last minute, rather than being ambitious and getting up and exercising or cleaning or doing anything else remotely productive.  Carmen said he felt rested, but from 5-something until Jayden got up I woke up at every cough, grunt, groan, cry, etc. that came from the monitor.  I think I just need to start going to bed at 8 pm.  Someday, maybe.

The weather was gorgeous, in the 70s both days and sunny, warm and beautiful.  All of us broke out the shorts/skirts/sandals this weekend!

On his way down the stairs with his legs sticking out!  

I love me some three day weekends - I am so happy to have tomorrow off.  It'll be back to work like crazy on Tuesday, but Jayden and I are going to enjoy our day tomorrow as best we can.  Although now I've convinced myself we'll be making a trip to the doctor's office to get his congestion and eye gunk checked out.

In non-Jayden news, Carmen and I hired a babysitter last night and were able to spend an evening out by ourselves.  And tonight Stacy came over and she and I were able to go out to dinner while Carmen fed Jayden and put him to bed. It was nice to have some time both nights.  But it definitely makes me happy that I still have tomorrow to hang out with my baby.  Hope you all had a good Valentines Day and are having a good All-Star (slash President's Day) Weekend!

A Big Day!

Seventeen months old and a first haircut!!!

Since I had the day off (love Lincoln's birthday), we took Jayden to Carmen's barber this morning for his first haircut.  I was worried but Jayden, as usual, was amazing.  We sat him up on the chair and he just sat there, silently, the whole time.  It helped that there was a giant television in front of him but he also just was patient. It was kind of sad to watch his curls fall to the ground, but he looks super cute with his short hair too.

Here are some photos from the event.  And Grandmas, don't worry, I saved you some curls.  :)

Jayden being patient.

More patience.

Almost done!

Posing for the camera with the new 'do.
Also, I figured out today how to use those nifty little elastic things inside kids' pants so that the waistband isn't huge.  It only took me this long to figure out how amazing they are!

Another Sunday Funday

Jayden and I had a really good day today.  He's really adapting to a new schedule of one nap a day and becoming so fun to run around with.

He and I got up early this morning (6:35 am, if anyone is keeping track), went for a walk, ate breakfast, played a little and then took off for the park.  We got there just after 9:00 am and we were the only ones there!  It was a little chilly, but not bad and totally worth it to get the whole park to ourselves.  By the time we left around 10:15 it was definitely getting crowded.

Mama may  have forgotten to check whether or not the slides were wet before sliding down them.  Unfortunately for Jayden he went first so he took the brunt of it.  The next slide I checked before he went down.  Luckily Jayden wears diapers and it didn't faze him one bit!

Jayden went down the big slide by himself today.  The first couple times we went together but it was clear he didn't need me so after that he always went by himself.  

After the park Jayden was exhausted and slept for 2-1/2 hours.  Carmen had to leave for work before he woke up so Jayden and I went to lunch and then went to get my car washed.  Jayden watched quite a few cars go through the car wash and we ran around outside.  While we were watching the cars, he crouched down like this and I thought it was so cute.  Until a few minutes later when I realized he had probably been pooping.  And I got to change that not-so-pretty diaper in the women's bathroom at the car wash.  Gotta love his timing.

He was pretty fascinated with the cars coming through the car wash.  A couple of the car wash guys waved at him as they were getting in the cars to drive them to be dried.  It was pretty cute.

Hamming it up in the bathtub.  Sometimes all I have to do is laugh and he laughs back.  He was fake coughing tonight and then cracking up about it as soon as I caught on.  Such a character.

I did get a call from Julia today and she is back in business tomorrow.  We'll see how it goes.  I'm worried that her health is suffering and I'm going to have to find a new daycare permanently some time in the near future.  I hope not, for my sake but really for Julia's sake.  In any case, I'm not worrying about it now because there's no point.  I'm just glad she's back!

Live and in person

Sort of.

Jayden is so active and is developing such a personality that I wanted to capture it on video to show everyone who hasn't seen him in a bit what he's like.

A note: he has no pants on because there was an incident involving a whole cup of water, the lid being removed and Jayden tipping it up like a bottle.  Needless to say, the pants came off quickly.

This is just Jayden being Jayden.  Our day pretty much goes like this: run around in circles, play tug of war with the dog, yell/sing/make noise, run some more, pick up a car and drive it on something, run some more, strum our lips, run some more, climb on something, hug Mama, run some more, have a snack, take a nap and then do it all over again.

This is Jayden in the bath tonight - what I consider his first word!  It's the first one he's said with intention.  Maybe I told this story already, who knows.  If I did, feel free to skip to the video.  The other night he was in the bath and I went to grab something.  I was gone maybe 1/2 a second and came back and said "Hi!"  And Jayden said "hiiii" back.  And this is essentially how he said it.  He's been saying it every day since then, almost always in the right context.  You can tell he's pretty proud of himself.

I'm still trying to get more videos of him to share, but it's hard to take video when I also have to make sure he doesn't dive headfirst off of whatever is closest.  He is certainly a daredevil, pushing all of the limits and throwing his body around with reckless abandon.  I wanted him to be brave and fearless, but sometimes I wish he had a little more fear in him!

Pictures pictures pictures

Eating dinner, aka "num-nums"

In his play cabinet with Grandma.

Going up and down the step outside.  Nothing better in Jayden's world than being able to step up and step down again.

Pushing the push cart around outside - probably with a few rocks in it too.

On the move.

Bubbles!

Smiles with bubbles.

Caught in the act!  

Grandma Barb lets me outside!!!  Nothing makes me happier!

Learning how to sweep with a broom that's three times his height.

"helping" with the dishwasher.

stirring, measuring spoons, measuring cups, the perfect kitchen toys for toddlers

Not so excited about being in Mama's arms when there's grass to run around in.  But will put up with a picture or two.  No more.

Looking through the glass with Grandma.

Checking out the ride in Toys R Us.  Yes, one came home with us.  And I am still trying to figure out how to put it together.  It's so hard to put together I'm worried it won't be safe when I'm done.  

Bathtime!

We LOVE bath time!

Jayden?  Jayden?  Where'd you go?  I can't find you.  Jayden?

There you are!  Peek-a-boo!

Touchdown!  or Three! (depending on the season)

Brushing his teeth with his Winnie the Pooh toothbrush, standing on his stool.

Rinsing the toothbrush before it's time to brush again.

The best, grossest, sloppiest kiss ever is a Jayden kiss.

And yep, I get all of it.  Mmmmmm.

Hugs (and probably open mouth sloppy kisses) for Jasmine too!

A long overdue update

Well Jayden is growing more every day - sometimes it seems like every minute something changes.  The last couple of weeks have been hectic with Carmen out of town most of the time - and even when he is in town he's often on his phone with work stuff.  My mom came to visit slash give me a little break last weekend, which was very helpful.  Especially considering I was getting sick and supposed to run a half marathon.

Grandma Barb and Jayden clearly had more fun than might normally be possible in four days.  I have a bunch of pictures from her camera which I'll post after this.  But here are a few, with stories/descriptions from my camera.

Running around in the grass in Huntington Beach after I picked up by bib and other gear for the half marathon.  

More fun in the grass.  There was a hill that led down to the sidewalk and he'd have one of us help him up the hill, then he'd go running twenty feet, turn around, run back and have one of us help him down the hill.   

Being silly, drinking milk and water.  I just missed the moment, but a second or two before he had both of these in his mouth and was trying to drink both at the same time.

On Monday night I got a call from Julia, our daycare provider, telling me that she had pneumonia and would be closed the rest of the night.  I freaked out, a little, and called our babysitter and tried to figure out when I had to be at work over the next few days.  She called back an hour later and said her niece also runs a daycare and that she could probably take Jayden.  So I called Julia's niece (Dorkis) and got no call back.  The next morning I called again and still no answer and no call back.  Finally, around 9 am she answered when I called and said Jayden would be welcome to come to her daycare.  I dropped him off a little later and he was fine.  Another boy, Andrew, from Julia's was there.  Andrew was crying when I got there but as soon as he saw Jayden he was fine.  The two of them have a little bit of a love-hate relationship in that Andrew terrorizes Jayden, but I think they both appreciated the familiar face.  The challenging part was that I had to pick Jayden up by 4 pm every day, so I did get to leave work early, but I definitely got behind in my work also.  On both Thursday and Friday Jayden was not happy when I dropped him off - on Friday he was sobbing and grabbing and clutching at me which nearly broke my heart.  I had to disentangle myself and practically run out the door; otherwise I would have just taken him with me, I think.

Because I was getting home earlier, I actually got to play with Jayden and dinnertime wasn't such a frustration either.  On Tuesday I was going to make him a little pizza so I got everything out and sat him on the counter with me while I put it all together.  Apparently he was starving because faster than I expected, he grabbed the piece of bread and started eating it:

Without a second thought the bread went straight to Jayden's mouth.

So then I just put some grated cheese and some lunchmeat out and he basically ate his deconstructed pizza off of the cutting board.  Whatever works, you know?

Dorkis did fun projects with the kids; This is Jayden's first painting!

Jayden loves airplanes.  Whenever he hears one, he points at the sky until he sees it.  And makes sure I know about it too.  Sometimes his arm is up a little higher and it looks like he's saying "we're #1!"

Thanks to Grandma Barb, all we want to do these days is go outside.  It's great except for when it's rainy and cold and muddy.  Luckily this week the weather was okay, so when Jayden and I got home, we went outside with Jasmine for at least 20 minutes.  

Devouring macaroni and cheese and bread at dinner last night.  We're definitely going to have to start ordering him adult meals in like a year.  Last night the meal we ordered was for 12 and under.  There is no way that will be enough food for him a year from now.  Carmen decided that means he's going to be a seven footer.  We'll see.

Jayden, where's your nose?  That's right!  Again, I think thanks to Grandma Barb, he now knows where his nose is.  He sometimes knows his mouth and his ears too.  And if you tell him to wiggle his toes, he can usually do that too.  

I haven't been able to get a video, but he also says "hi," which is so cute.  He moves his mouth in a very deliberate way to get the sound out.  He also says "uh-oh," usually when he drops something but other times too.  We're working on getting more words in his vocabulary, but so far nothing else is really understandable.

More pictures to come!