Jadyn was invited to an older friend's birthday party. This friend, a 6 year old, opted for a roller skating party. With slight trepidation I packed her up and off we went to the rink. Putting on those training skates was an experience, but nothing compared to the experience of watching her take those first few tentative glides on the floor.

She did really well - she remained upright most of the time...

Sometimes she looked like this...

And at one point she got tired and did this...in the middle of the rink.

Eventually she got tired of having wheels on her feet.
She turned in the skates and went to the play area.
Ah, the ball pit.

3rd Birthday Bash

Learning how to aim and shoot.

That tongue cracks me up every time. She always does this when she's focused.

This is one of my favorite "all-natural" shots of her.

This was a joint birthday gift from the family. The first time she put her foot on the pedal, she broke down into a fit of giggles. SO funny! Riding with her is Lillian, a friend who was born just 5 days before Jadyn. They always go to each other's parties.


I LOVE this picture of the two of them.


Her friend Alex decided to take her for a spin. He's concentrating, she's laughing hysterically.


She wants to know where her chauffeur went.

Smiling as we sing "Happy Birthday" - she loves being the center of attention.

Three years ago she came into our lives and changed everything. Time, for the most part, has flown. Every now and then it has crawled. Each moment has been worth each struggle.

What a cutie. I can't stand it.

Three candles on her tiny little cake.

And of course she blew them out!

And now, a comparitive study from the past three years.

Shortly after birth.

Her first birthday.

One year ago.

Tonight. (Yes, she's wearing the same shirt as last year.)

Crazy, isn't it?

Ah, JOY!

So, about 18 months ago, Jadyn used the potty for the first time. She did great for about a week. I thought, rather mistakenly, "Wow, this is going to be easy." Yeah, not so much.

Here we are. Jadyn is going to be 3 years old next month. 4 weeks ago I was convinced she'd still be in diapers for 6 months. We'd try to put her on the potty, KNOWING she had to go. She'd sit there and cry and squirm and BEG to get off the potty. It was as though we were torturing her. Then when she could hold it no longer, she'd finally go. We'd dance and cheer and we even started rewarding with candy. But still she would not go on her own. *SIGH*

Then suddenly, about 2 weeks ago, it seemed that something just clicked. She'd go when we took her. She even started ASKING to go. The same thing was happening at preschool. Last week her teacher said, "Two more weeks of pull-ups, then she wear panties all day."

At church she asked her teachers TWICE to potty. At the restaurant, she went "twosies" on her own. Last night at our favorite Chinese restaurant, she stopped mid-bite and announced, "Mommy, I need to go POO-POO!" Off we went, and sure enough, there she went.

I think we've arrived - Diaper-free Paradise.

Then last night, we knew we hare

Another First

I want to apologize for the quality of these pics. They are blurry, I know, but I had do document the occasion.

Jadyn's first haircut.

Before.

During.

After.

Maybe you can't see a difference, but I promise, I can.