Happy Father's Day!

What a weekend.  In the best way possible.  It wasn't terribly productive, but it was relaxing and fun, and much needed!

We had some of my work friends over Saturday night for swimming, drinks and food.  I made some turkey burgers that I highly recommend - basically they were ground turkey, shredded cheddar cheese, onion, garlic, cilantro, jalapeno and lime juice and seasoned with cumin and paprika.  I highly recommend them - we got rave reviews from the two year old up to the 40 year olds, including the 4 year old, 7 and 8 year olds and the 30+ year olds all in between.  A little bit of work with the chopping, but not spicy at all (and Jayden is super sensitive to 'picy so I'd know).

Jayden and his friend Ollie ("Aw-wee") in the hot tub.

They were synchronized swimming - they'd look at each other and take off at the same time.

Floating in the pool together.  Ollie had an extra pair of floaties that we put on Jayden.  After yesterday we thought we'd buy something like what Ollie has on for him.  But then we went in the pool today without the floaties and Jayden was swimming much more scared than normal.  So we decided no more floaties - only if we absolutely had to.

Eating jello beach desserts, courtesy of Lili.  :)

Oh, and before we had people over, we had swim lessons (yes, we spent half of our waking hours yesterday in water).  Jayden had a new partner in his semi-private lesson and she was a little more brave.  Ms. Stacy took them in the big pool - the outdoor pool - and Jayden loved it.  When he was supposed to walk next to Ms. Stacy while she worked with the little girl, he tried to swim.  Ms. Stacy took him to the deep end and let them jump off this block into the deep end.  Jayden climbed right off and jumped right in, no hesitation whatsoever.  The other girl hesitated and Ms. Stacy said she gave her a "look," so she jumped off the edge.  But Jayden would've done it eighteen times in a row if he could have.

Kicking with the noodles.

Kicking back in after the jumps.  The block in the background is what Jayden jumped off of - into the "deep" end. 

One of the great things about the gathering was that everyone who came had kids, so everyone was gone by 8 pm.  We got Jayden to bed, cleaned up and I was in bed early.  It was fun, but definitely exhausting!

Today we had a few plans, but also wanted to relax.  Carmen got another workout in this morning while I took care of Jayden and the dog.  We got ready and headed out the door - first to Whole Foods to buy fancy lobster and shrimp for Carmen's Father's Day dinner and then to Nordstrom so Carmen could use his gift from his mom (which he did - it was the Men's Half-Yearly Sale, thank goodness).  Funny enough, the way I got Jayden to be excited about the store was to tell him we'd buy him socks.  We were walking and I was telling him what we were going to do that day and he tried to complain he didn't want to go to the store.  I told him that while Daddy was looking at clothes we could go look at socks for Jayden (socks was the first thing that came to my mind - don't ask me why because I don't know!).  And Jayden said "ooooooh!  Socks!  Yay, less go to the stow-re!"  So apparently socks are a big deal for him.  Who knew.  From there we headed to the waffle sandwich and beer restaurant, one of Carmen's favorites.  Jayden hit his wall towards the end and was passing out on the bench, and then woke up enough to throw a fit when Carmen tried to put him in the car.  By the time we got home he was fine and I was able to get him down for a nap relatively easily.  We spent the afternoon outside and in the pool, and then had our special seafood dinner and then it was bedtime.  Not a very eventful Father's Day, but a good one, I think.

Jayden got a balloon in the kid's department at Nordstrom.  He wanted to take it into the restaurant and I finally convinced him not to by telling him I'd take a picture of it so he could look at it.  Thank goodness (again) for smart phones!

Passed out on the bench at the restaurant.

Bubbles!

Grilling shrimp and lobster with Daddy.  "Ooooh, iss hot!"

After his bath tonight I was trimming his finger and toenails - which happens twice a week, I might add, ridiculous - and told him "Jayden, you have to tell me when your fingernails get so long!"  He said "but, I can't!"  So of course I asked why.  He said "because I a wittle tie-yewd."  So apparently if you're tired you can't tell that your fingernails are long.  It's good to remember things like this.

Jayden has been really tired since we got back from Florida.  Yesterday he napped about 3 hours, today another 2.  And we've been trying to get him to bed as early as possible (except last night, of course).  But he's been incredibly cheerful, with the exception of his tantrum leaving lunch today.  He is an incredibly resilient kid - but as my friend said when she was explaining why she wanted to adjust her hours to be home more with her four year old, "I don't want him to have to be resilient - I want to be there for him!"  Obviously adversity is good for anyone, to a point, but for a two year old that point comes pretty quickly.  He's a smart kid but there's still a lot that he can't process developmentally so the more that we can talk him through things the better he can be.  For instance, when he was throwing his tantrum in the car, rather than telling him to "cut it out," I talked him through it - to find out why he was so mad - and figured out what could be done to fix it.  And then he was fine.  He calmed down and was actually cheerful the whole way home.  It takes a WHOLE lot of patience on our part, but it makes for a much happier, calmer child.  And it helps him figure out how to solve his own problems too, which is really a wonderful thing.

This is not the greatest video, but he's happy and laughing in it, so it's kinda fun.

Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there.  It's a wonderful day to celebrate the influence dads have on their children and how important it is for dads to be present and involved in their kids lives.  My photo tributes to a few of the fathers in my life:

As our cousin Adam said "was this that time you rescued the hostages?"  Clearly the answer is "yes."  But I love this picture.  Especially with both boys looking in the same direction.
My thoughts were/are this: Happy Father's Day to one amazing dad.  Always ready to hold hands, throw a ball, cuddle when he's scared or catch him when he jumps off the deep end of the pool.  The challenges only get bigger and better from here.  Love you Carmen!

No words.  Just me and my poppa.  Love him so much, and wishing him rest and peace this Father's Day.  So maybe a few words.  But those that know me know that when I say "no words," I clearly mean at least a few words.