Visit from the guys...

Jamie's buddies from the Tacoma area came over this weekend for a Magic Tournament. They spent all day on Saturday playing cards and hanging out. On Sunday, we got out in the sunshine and walked along the boardwalk at Howard Amon Park in Richland. Jaiden had a blast. We walked over a mile and a half. By the end, Jaiden was tuckered out and suckered the guys into carrying him. He calls each of them Uncle. They are very protective of him. It's funny to see these guys play, read and take care of him like family. On Sunday night, Jaiden requested that JP read him stories instead of mom or dad. It was CUTE! These guys have been really good friends since before Jaiden was born. We truly miss having them around on a more consistent basis. Here's the pics (left to right: Uncle Keith, Uncle Brian, Jamie, Jaiden, Uncle JP)...

1, 2, 3, 4...

Jaiden and Jamie had a little wrestling session today to work off some of Jaiden's extra energy. One of the things Jaiden likes is when Jamie bench presses him. We added the counting today...trying to get him to count to 20. He can count on his own to 14, but then repeats himself and then skips to 17. It's pretty cute. Anyway, here's the workout session... :)

Jaiden's new shirt

On Grammy's adventures for work she is getting Jaiden a new shirt or hat or something as a souvenior from her travels. Here's the latest...very appropriate for this election season.

Progress Report

Jaiden is really enjoying daycare these days. They have started an alphabet curriculum where every week they teach a letter of the alphabet, centering all the activities they do around that letter. Jaiden is learning to color inside the lines more and more everyday and even will trace letters. It's so fun watching his skills develop.

In the evenings and on weekends, we occasionally play Rock Band or Guitar Hero together. Jaiden likes holding the guitar, although he has caught on to the fact that it is not on while we are playing.

Lazy weekend...

We really didn't do much this weekend other than clean the house (which Jaiden helped with, I should have taken pictures, but of course was busy with my own chores), and play with Jaiden. We took him outside after dinner this evening and Jamie caught this cute snippet. Jaiden kept climbing onto his slide and waving at us, yelling "HI!" So we would wave back. The dogs started barking so I went out to see what they were barking at. I snuck up on him....

Flashback...

We finally got around to copying some video of Jaiden's birth on the computer. Here is a snipet of him in observation after the birth. He had passed meconium in utero and they wanted to observe him to make sure his breathing was ok. You'll notice the commentary from Jamie is pretty much non-stop. A very excited papa! That's the excuse.

Someone yelled, "FIRE!"

So, today Jamie took Ellie for her last class at Petsmart. On his way back he saw this flag flying on the side of the road, then he noticed what was holding it up there.

The local fire deptartments have a centralized office in Richland off Gage Blvd. which is just blocks from where we live. So as Jamie pulled up he noticed lots of fire trucks parked in this parking lot, with kids and parents getting tours, spraying a small fire hose, dressing up like firefighters, getting balloons, etc... He called me and I quickly got Jaiden and I dressed to go. He picked us up and we went. When we got there it was even better than we though. They had games, popcorn and cotton candy, face painting, and the kids were able to sit in the trucks. First Jaiden played mini golf.

Then got his fireman hat and sat in one of the trucks.

And then got to drive...

Then he got to get dressed up in a firefighter coat and spray the hose. First with the fireman's help and then on his own...

After that, we got some popcorn and took some pictures by the firetrucks. Below is a close up of Jaiden eating popcorn.

Overall, it was a GREAT afternoon! Jaiden couldn't stop talking about it.

Cute Jaiden story...

Last weekend we went to lunch at Bruchi's, a sandwich place. They play reruns of the old Top 100 with Casey Casem from the 80's. Jaiden was bouncing and bopping to the theme from Ghostbusters having a grand ol' time. The next song came on and it was some really lame slow song, which I have forgotten the name to (for good reason), and he yelled, "NEXT SONG!" Incidentally, that was our thought too.

Another random thing. Jaiden loves to be wrapped in a blanket like a burrito. He even asks for it, "Wrap Burrr-It-o." So the other night Jaiden brought out his cars blanket and said, "Wrap burrito!" So as Jamie was wrapping him so he could sit on the couch and watch Cars for the nth time, he sang, "Tostada, Enchilada,...BURRITO!" and tickled Jaiden. Jaiden exploded in laughter. "Again, again!" He yelled. Now it asks for the Enchilada song and laughs before you even get done saying tostada. :)

Jaiden at his best...

This Labor Day weekend we did very little. We played outside with Jaiden, played inside with Jaiden, and went grocery shopping at Costco (by the way, this third activity was a BIG mistake; the crowds were horrible!). On Monday, Jaiden would not go down for his regular nap. So, I decided to get him a little more exercise and try again in a little while. We went out and played in the sand box, played with bubbles while the puppies chased them, played tag, and generally had a good time. We came in and I thought it would be a good time to try to put him down for a nap......nope, he was having nothing of it. A little later Jamie came home from the gym and started picking up and then sat down to play a video game. By this time, Jaiden was pretty cranky and only wanted to look at pictures on the computer. Jamie suggested Jaiden play with his percussion instruments. Jaiden loves to play his instruments along with music so we gathered up his instruments and moved to my desk area to listen to some kids music on the computer. I pulled up Itunes and searched for some kids music. We listened to some different types, but the Kids Motown album caught my attention. It was catchy and easy to play rhythms to, so I started playing the different clips. I started bouncing Jaiden on my knee and we were playing the shakers. By about a third of the way through the album, Jaiden wasn't playing anymore, he was just sitting on my knee staring at the screen. By a little over halfway through the album, his eyes were drooping and his head was bobbing forward. I noticed this so I supported him with my arm a bit better and propped his head on my shoulder. Within a minute he was fully asleep. What you see below is Jamie capturing the moment for posterity....

Reports from daycare....

"He loves to paint and he is sooo clean when he does it. Other kids paint themselves, give themselves highlights in their hair, but not Jaiden we only ever have to clean his hands." (I wish he was like that at home when he paints!!!

"He is very good at sitting quietly and listening to stories."

"He is really picking up his colors very quickly. We have been working on our harvest theme, so the kids have been painting fruits and vegetables. He likes to point out the colors we have used and are using."

Yesterday when I came to pick him up this was the scene that greeted me (I took them from my work cell phone and am having trouble getting them the right size, I will probably try to redownload them and try to post again). If you can't tell, Jaiden is the one in the red apron (firefighter costume).

Today when I picked him up....he was a cowboy, but I didn't have my camera. He was skipping and running around the room, grabbing his hat, and yelling "YeeHaw!" It was adorable!