Hooray for Fish

This is Jaden's favorite book right now. He has brought it to me about 5 times already today to read and it's the only one he wants at bedtime!

http://www.candlewick.com/cat.asp?browse=Title&mode=book&isbn=0763639184&pix=n

Advice

Hey there. I know there are a number of you that read this blog that have little kiddos. I'm looking for some advice....

Do you know of anywhere I can get a good set of guidelines for what and how much food a 13 month old should eat? I keep running out of ideas. Jaden does well with most table food but, you know, sometimes mommy and daddy don't eat as healthy as we should. I want to be sure he's getting enough of the right kinds of foods.

So far the only types of menues I've been able to find are through Gerber and they just include lots of their name brand snacks and baby foods. If you have any tips, I'd really appreciate it!

Shower

I think I can finally guarantee myself a shower EVERY DAY!!!!

This morning I took Jaden in the bathroom with me armed with several toys to play with while I was in the shower. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesnt. Lately he has been more and more interested in the water coming out of the faucet so today he didn't want anything to do with the toys. He had to check out the water. The only problem was, he kept getting sprayed. So, I took off his clothes and plopped him in the tub with his bath toys. He was totally entertained the whole time! YEA for showers!!!!!!

Big Deal

Well, today is my birthday. I woke up this morning with aching feet. Is this a sign? I know things don't fall apart when you turn 30 so, it must just be getting used to flip flops again! YEAH!!!!! It's WARM enough for flip flops!!!!

Grandma K has returned to the snowy north. We already miss her. Although our schedule has been so wierd since about 1 hour after she got on the plane that I'm not sure Jaden quite gets it yet!

Thursday we spent pretty much all day at the office catching up on odds and ends as well as getting ready for this weekend's trip. We are on the road with the mariachi. We rented a van to ensure smooth travels but the rental is acting up. So, we'll see how easy it is to get a mechanic in a small town on a Saturday!

The thesis is going well.....I'm into the proofreading / editing stage. We'll see how long that takes! I still have my heart set on a May graduation so, go, go GO!

Sorry I don't have pictures for today. They are all downloaded onto the external harddrive at home. I'm sure we'll take some today so maybe I'll post a few a bit later. Otherwise I'll have to work on catching up next week!

Lots of Fun

Well, I'm obviously not doing very well at keeping this updated often. I guess that is just because I've been working HARD! I'm on Chapter 4 of 6 in my Thesis writing......

But, here are some updates and cute pictures for you anyway.

Jaden has been getting lots of training on tasks around the house.....

Here is is helping Grandpa K refinish the bathroom cabinets...

Of course...after all that work a guy just needs to kick back and go for a cruise

We also got to hang out with Grandma & Grandpa H one Sunday after church

Hey grandpa...stop tickling me!!!

Jaden has a LOT of toys and now he thinks it is pretty fun to take them out of the bins. We're working on putting them IN as well....but, one morning daddy thought it would be funny if Jaden sat among the toys.

Yes, he's allowed crazy hair first thing in the morning!

This is another new toy from G&G K. It makes a fun popping noise!

Today's project is fixing the crumbling rock wall. We need to mix some mortar...

Another day, another job....today's task is swiffering the floor!

He really had a good time with this task.....see that smile!
And still, every day he sees the handle in the corner of the laundry room he goes after it. I guess I just have to teach him how to do it well and I'll always have clean floors!!! :-)

Valentine's day brought MORE presents. Man, when Grandma carried the wrapped gifts into the room, Jaden's eyes lit up. I guess with all those weeks of "Christmas" leading right into birthday presents he figured out that those wrapped packages are really fun!

This was from G&G K and a BIG hit with the little musician! He opens his mouth like this every time he gets to banging!

On the 16th it was our 5th Anniversary of the day Stephen proposed. We usually try to do something fun on the 16th instead of the 14th cause there is less of a waiting line anywhere. One of our friends tried to tell us that we only get ONE anniversary a year....but I disagree! I like our 16th tradition! We ACTUALLY went on a date. Okay, we ate Subway sandwiches and went to a movie....but hey....it was fun!

Today we learned how to scoop up the dog poo from the yard. A useful skill!

Then we played "volleyball" with another V-day gift.

Jaden thought it was really funny when mommy would catch the ball too!

After lots of days of fun....Grandpa K had to go home. :-(

I think the little guy misses him a bit! They had a lot of fun! I don't know WHAT will happen when Grandma has to go too. ....Let's not think about that just yet! We still have 2 weeks of fun ahead!

Oh...and have I mentioned that I think Jaden is a genius!? When Jaden had his 1 year checkup the doctor said that babies can't really feed themselves with silverware until about 18 months. He said that until then they have no way to telling where the end of the spoon/fork will end up so they can't get it in their mouths. HERE'S what I have to say to that.....

Pure genius!

OOps

I don't know how, but I missed a picture in last night's post.

12 month vaccines are a BUMMER - - - but at least Jaden didn't appear too upset by his many band-aids. Of course, I can't say the same for when they TRYING to take his blood and giving them to him!

A Busy Week

Jaden has been having lots of fun as a ONE year old. Mommy has been sitting in front of the computer a LOT. Daddy has been busy with work and school. And Grandpa & Grandma K have been having a blast with the little guy!

Here are some new shades.....

TOO cool!

Grandpa K refinished the bathroom cabinet. Too bad we didn't get a BEFORE picture! But, BOY do they ever look NICE!

Tonight we had to try on the bathrobe. It is too small. BUT, still cute!

I gotta say, I think I'm going to enjoy summer where I get to see more of these cute chubby legs!

I think Jaden looks like his cousin Bethany in this picture. I've SEEN Bethany make this face!

Sorry, I just got carried away. But it was cute with the hood too! :-)

Hopefully we'll do something FUN rather than just WORK this coming week for something more interesting to report about! ;-)