One last video and some pictures

Because these noises that Jayden makes are just so cute and because my pictures finally came through on the email:

Jayden has started making these awesome noises.  He's discovering all kinds of cool things he can do.  BUT, he learned how to flip his lips with his fingers and make noise at the same time.  It was so cool.  And he can make these other noises too, which I haven't managed to capture on video yet.  But I'm working on it.

Crashing into the fireplace.  And waiting for Mama  to come fix it.

Getting in Mama's face so she gets a good picture  before she leaves for D.C.

In the elevator after throwing a fit in the really nice restaurant  Mama tried to take me to.  She'll never do that again . . . muah ha ha ha.

Throwing a fit Sunday morning because Daddy wasn't there.  He recovered but  was never quite the same.  :)

Second Halloween!

First of all, thank goodness Grandma Barb found a super cheap halloween costume.  If we'd paid more than $5 for this costume, it would have been a huge waste of money.  Sadly, with all of our traveling, we didn't get to do any fun events with Jayden.  So, we did put the costume on him tonight and took as many pictures as we could.  He wasn't so happy, so it was a challenge to get a good picture.  But here are the best of what we could get:

Not loving the dinosaur hood, nor loving the fact that Mama woke him up from his nap.

Even though food is coming, the hood still keeps him unhappy.

The full outfit from behind.  So cute.  And thank goodness it was a size 18 month - it wouldn't have fit otherwise!

Finally.  The hood is off and we can sort of enjoy ourselves again.

Our walking dinosaur!

Long Time, No Blog

So now you're all in for a doozy.  I'll mostly post pictures/videos, but I have to give a little bit of the background.  Last Tuesday through Thursday I was in Washington D.C., spending the first night away from Jayden ever.  It was definitely difficult, but I was traveling with my boss so that made me cry less, which I think was a good thing.  Carmen and Jayden survived (which I knew they would) and I did too (which I was less sure of).  I got home late Thursday night, went to work Friday and then Jayden and I flew to Seattle on Saturday so that I could attend a conference on Sunday.  Carmen flew to Denver on Sunday.  I got home Monday, with Jayden and Carmen got home Tuesday.  And now all three of us are finally all in the same house for the next couple of weeks at least.

Here goes the visual evidence that Jayden is healthy, happy and learning and growing more and more each day:

Loving the walker.

Hanging out in Seattle - after a pretty decent flight with Mama.

Grandma took really good care of me.  Even though I decided I suddenly didn't like food I had loved the day before.

The only way Grandpa Allan gets in the picture - in the background of a picture of Jayden.

Getting ready to get on the plane back to Santa Ana.  This flight was not so pleasant, but we did survive.  

I have a number of other pictures too, but they haven't come through on my email yet.  I'll put up another post with the extra pictures as soon as I can.  For now, enjoy!

Movin' on up

Jayden wants to stand all the time now.  Crawling is still sometimes acceptable, but he definitely wants to be able to do what he wants, explore what he wants, touch what he wants.  It is certainly challenging.  But he's also pretty good at listening when we say "no."

Carmen has been out of town since Wednesday, and Monday he got home pretty late.  So I've been a single mama most of this week.  It hasn't been too bad, though.  Just a little lonely.  But I've taken advantage and talked to someone almost every night.  Friday I knew I had to leave the house early, so I got up at 6 to shower and had just planned to do a few little things before Jayden woke up sometime around 7 or so.  Well, the best laid plans . . . Jayden woke up at about 6:10, about 5 minutes after I got in the shower, screaming bloody murder.  He must have had a nightmare or something because he rarely wakes up screaming like that (or screaming at all, really).   It wasn't that big of a deal, it just changed our morning around a little bit.

I've been meaning to post this, but was hoping it would happen again so I could get a picture.  No such luck yet.  But Jayden stood up all on his own, not holding on to anything, last Sunday.  I was sitting on the floor, one the phone with my mom.  Jayden crawls over to me, holds on to my legs and pushes himself up to standing.  And then he lets go!  And is just standing in the middle of the room all by himself.  It was hilarious. He promptly sat himself back down and hasn't done it again since.  But his balance is getting so much better it might happen someday.  I think he didn't even realize what he was doing and I think he was as shocked as we were!

Here's a video of some supported walking (so much less spotting is needed now):

I also finally got a picture of Jayden dancing.  It's not long, maybe a few seconds, but it gives you the general idea.  He starts moving his body and then sometimes moves his arm in front of him.  It's hilarious, but also pretty awesome.

And lastly, just now Jayden and I went to lunch after running errands.  And he had his first restaurant meal!  I figured he eats pretty much everything now, so it means I can feed him off the kids menu.  So he about half a cheese quesadilla and some rice and beans.  And still a pouch of fruits/veggies.  Plus, he devoured the milk that came with the meal, which is amazing since he almost never drinks milk when I offer it to him.

There were two little boys with their mom and grandma in the restaurant at the same time as us and Jayden was waving to them.  It was hilarious.  They had no clue and were not preoccupied with Jayden at all.  But he couldn't stop looking at them.

Oh and one more pictures, just because it's cute:

Bathtime fun.  This little duck is his current favorite bathtime toy.

Pumpkin Patch

In a much less emotional post for me, Carmen, Jayden and I went to the pumpkin patch today!  We had a good time, although when Jayden is walking it'll be even more fun (then we can explore the hay maze).  We did pick out our pumpkins, now we just have to carve them - maybe tomorrow night.

Here are a few pictures from the day:

At the Pumpkin patch, when we first arrived.

Look Grandma Barb, Jayden's a pig!  (it took about 8 shots to get this picture; the shadows weren't good and Jayden was not excited about having his face close to this wooden thing)

In a place filled with pumpkins and what does Jayden want to do?  Play with the straw. 

Finally we got him standing with the pumpkins - he eventually figured out the pumpkins were kind of cool.  But we couldn't get his attention or get him to smile to save our lives.  Way too many kids running around and other things going on.

But then he was in the middle of a bunch of pumpkins there wasn't room to sit on the ground to reach the straw (of course).  Only a baby in diapers could sit on a pumpkin stem and not be bothered.  

Mama and Jayden with the pumpkins.  

Daddy and Jayden in front of the tractor.