JADEN!

We've finally done it...created our own blog! I guess for our first post, we'll talk about our favorite subject -- Jaden, of course!

Jaden is now almost 19 months old, and is so much fun! At his 18 month check up, Jaden weighed 27 pounds and was 32 3/4 inches long. Though his growth has slowed down quite a bit since turning a year old, he still seems so big to us! Especially considering mom is only 60 inches tall, he's well over half my height already!!

I'm sure Jaden's development is perfectly average, but as everyone thinks their child is the greatest, we are no different. He amazes us every day! He's such a little chatterbox now. We were keeping track of all of his new words until we got to about 35, and then we lost count. It seems like he comes up with a new one every day - most of them we haven't even tried to teach him. He just listens, and then surprises us by repeating things and naming objects that neither of us were aware we taught him. He's got probably 50 + different words that he says now. It's so fun to see what he's going to come up with next!

Thanks to his daddy, and his daddy's genes, Jaden is a very coordinated little boy. He can throw a ball overhand, and kick well. He and daddy play catch and soccer in the house all the time, and he picks up on things very quickly. Unfortunately, mommy's athletic abilities are pretty much limited to skiing and dancing, so any of that coordination involving playing with a ball and catching and throwing, doesn't come from this side!

Jaden is also at the "I want to do everything mommy and daddy do" stage. I'll post some pictures I have of what a big helper he has become. He likes to take the clothes out of the dryer and carry them to the living room to be folded, take bits of paper to the garbage, put dishes in the sink, and help mommy put the clothes away, to name a few. Though he still likes to empty out drawers and cupboards occasionally, it's very nice that this is no longer his main activity, and he has now found some other interests!

Jaden has recently developed a great interest in pens and markers and drawing. The other day I was working on the computer, trying to get some things done before he started helping me type or started unplugging things. (He can only handle me not paying full attention to him for a short time.) Anyway, I was sitting on the floor, so Jaden decided to sit in the chair behind me. He got a pen out and started "drawing" on my back. I was periodically checking to make sure the pen was turned off, and all was well with each check. I was glad that his activity was keeping him busy, so I just let him be. Well, a couple of minutes later, Jaden ran to the kitchen and got a dish towel, and started scrubbing on the back of my shirt, trying to clean it off. I couldn't see what was going on, but I figured out pretty quickly that he had gotten the pen turned on when I wasn't paying attention, and was trying to get his mess cleaned up before I noticed. It was pretty cute, but unfortunately the dish towel did nothing for the pen marks! :)