Hotlanta

We went on a mini-vacation to Atlanta, and it was a blast. Since we've been hearing some clamoring for new pictures, we took this opportunity to take 400 of them. Literally. I'm not kidding. Fortunately for you, we are not going to post all of them - just about 5% of them.

DAY 1

We spent the day with friends who have 2 little boys of their own. It was great to have them play together.

She decided to climb into an especially "little" red wagon.

We went to Build-a-Bear and made Jadyn her first personalized stuffed animal. It's a dog named Didi and dresses quite similarly to Jadyn.

We went to an indoor play area in a mall, and Jadyn has a blast crawling on, under, over and through the oversized rubber toys.

I can't tell if she's bored, tired, or wishing someone would come play with her.

Just us girls.

DAY 2

We went to the Children's Museum in downtown Atlanta. It was so great to let Jadyn roam somewhat freely.

Walking through a slide shaped like a giant banana. She loves bananas.

Her favorite character.

Conquering her fear of sliding unaided by Mommy or Daddy.

While in the museum, Jadyn got to experiment with several possible future career opportunities.

Pianist.

Forklift Operator.

Fisherman.

She also tried her hand as an artist. Here's how it went:

Trying on the apron.

A great shot of Jadyn playing with her paintbrush by the painting wall. Isn't the reflection cool?

Her own little masterpiece.

DAY 3

We spent sometime downtown in the Olympic Park.


They had this great fountain that was shaped like the 5 rings, and we enjoyed cooling off while playing in it.

Watching the water.


Little JJ and her Daddy.

One moment she was happy and lively...

The next she looked all worn out.

It was a fun trip and a busy one. We're glad we went, and glad to be home.

18 Months

Yesterday (Saturday) was Jadyn hit the 18 month mark, so naturally we celebrated by holding her up against a growth chart to see how big she was (29 inches), and by taking some pictures. Here's the best of the bunch:

She knows she's cute.

Something caught her interest. Attention span of a toddler: 2.3 seconds.

I'm tellin' ya, she's the happiest kid EVER!

Blast from the Past

Every year our church hosts a party to watch the Big Football Game (can't call it by it's name due to stupid copyright laws - CRAZY!). Anyway, the small groups set up their own themes with decorations, food, etc. Our group did a 50's malt shop. So of course Jadyn dressed the part.

Yes, that's a poodle skirt. Yes, I'm THAT kind of Mommy.

(But no, I didn't make it myself.)


The cuteness! It's overwhelming!!!

Do you think she's trying to tell us something?


Yes, the floor needed sweeping, so Jadyn showed an industrious spirit Saturday morning and decided to take care of it herself - in her way. It must have been bad because she used two brooms.

Above, she looks like she's trying to figure out how to steady the broom.


Of course, we had to get the obligatory posed shot - with a little free publicity for the AA minor league baseball team in Daddy's hometown.
For the record, we'd already planned on sweeping and "Wet Swiffering" the floor this morning, and that's what we did!

Dog and Baby Show updated

We posted early on that we had concerns about Jadyn's interaction with our dog Hershey.
Overall, things are going well in that department.
Hershey's being very cooperative and patient with this little, animated doll who happens to drop him snacks every now and then. Case in point:

She appears fascinated with his "room," our laundry room, which is where we keep his food, water and box. This is the first time I caught her actually crawling around in his box and I just had to take pictures.
She also tends to like to dip her hand in his water bowls. Not sure the interest there, but it's frequent and it looks like in this picture that she got caught "wet"-handed.

Taking a Bite

New Video

The latest installment:

The "letter H" mystery solved
I put our dog up one night this past week and noticed this odd-looking piece of plastic in the corner of his box. I leaned down and took a closer look. It didn't take long to realize what I'd discovered - this missing letter H!
Two theories arise - Jadyn very well could have been holding it when she went by his box to splash her hand in the water cup, something she loves to do, and it dropped out of her hand.
Or, he tried to use the piece as a form of drawing attention to himself - diverting it off of Jadyn - and he just forgot he had it and dropped in the corner of his box.
Nevertheless, the whole original set is in place.
And we now have a backup just in case.

Had a Holly Jolly Christmas

Yes, it was wonderful. Paul picked Jadyn and Amanda up from the airport on Christmas Eve in Montgomery, AL and we headed out to celebrate in the area.

Here's a pictoral essay, complete with witty captions, compiled by Amanda.

We put Jadyn in her new Christmas pajamas, complete with hat. I think she looks like an elf.



Did I mention she's not fond of headgear?



Like, at all? We gave up on the cute elfish hat.



This silly toy came from the gift shop of a "stuff yourself sick" smorgasbord in Amish Country, PA. I just thought it was silly, and when she showed it to her at the shop, she said please. How could I resist such manners? (And yes, those are my cheesy Christmas socks.)


On Christmas morning we had breakfast with family friends in Montgomery. Jadyn was her usual charming self.


This classic toy, the "Chatter Telephone", is probably the only rotary dial phone she will ever see. But she loves dragging it around by its receiver like a dog on a leash.

Yes, she was a bow-head. For all of about 18 seconds.


We did our own present-opening later in the afternoon. Since this was her first "interactive" Christmas, we fully expected some hilarious moments, and we were not disappointed.



This, in typical Jadyn fashion, is how she began taking items out of her stocking.

There are two things I'd like to point out about this picture. First is the big red Elmo chair. It giggles and jiggles when sat upon, which at first was very disconcerting to Jadyn. Now she gets a kick out of bouncing in it to make it laugh. Second, she already understood the "rip the paper to see what's inside" idea. I was thinking this wouldn't happen until next year.



I just love this picture. Aside from the great look on her face it looks like Elmo is sneaking up behind her to bite her ear off.



We put the bows on her head so many times that eventually she thought that was a natural part of the process and started doing it herself. Scary what you can teach a kid this way.



See what I mean about the ripping?



She got a Leapfrog musical activity table. That smile says it all.



She says, "Thank you."



Sometime in the last 3 weeks, Jadyn started making a face that we have since called "Funny Face". She often perfoms it upon request.



There's a house in Montgomery that is ultra-decorated for Christmas. I mean MEGA. Hardly a square foot of lawn goes without some sort of singing, dancing, lighted or inflatable doodad. This was Jadyn's reaction to it all.

Big Girl on Campus (BGOC)

Jadyn and Daddy took a stroll on the Mississippi State University campus today - a clear, breezy but warm day in early January.

Standing "tall" in the shadow of Davis Wade Stadium.
Something catches her eye out away from the stadium.

Caught her looking!
Playing ball near the Chapel of Memories.
"Man, will you just take the picture? I'm tired! Let's go to the house!" (This was the last frame I took before we headed for home.)

Brought to you by the letter 'H'
Amanda and I want Jadyn to learn how to speak properly, despite the culture in which she resides and my tendency to mumble in my native Southern accent.
We don't want it said of Jadyn that she is among those in this region who think "head" has two syllables - "heyad," for example. At the same time, I hope she grows up with an appreciation of and reflecting both her Southern and Northern roots.
She has one of those Leapfrog toys which uses magnetized letters and attaches to a device, applied usually to a refrigerator or other metal appliance. When the letter is attached, a young child's voice comes on and says what the letter's sound(s) is (are). "'B' says 'buh,'" etc.
She got it for Christmas and we did a great job of keeping up with all the letters - for about a week.
On Thursday night, I did an inventory and found "H" missing.
We hunted in every logical place for H and couldn't find it.
We decided to buy a replacement set and it should be on the way soon.
"H says ... 'huh,'" I think. I don't remember.
But after we get it back, I hope to play it enough where I won't forget it.

Come fly away

Last month my grandfather passed away at the age of 95. In spite of the crazy holiday season, I decided to get tickets so that Jadyn and I could go. Besides the fact that she can make almost any difficult situation more pleasant simply by her presence, she had never met her uncle (my brother) and aunt (his wife).

The difference between this trip and the one this past summer was that while for both flights I didn't have to drive as far to/from the airports, we DID have a stop in Atlanta each way. That, coupled with the fact that Jadyn was no longer in the "bucket" seat that snapped into the stroller, gave me cause for concern. But hey, we managed.

Here, without further ado, are the pictures.

The Atlanta Airport has this cool little play area where kids can blow off steam while waiting for their next flight. Here she is interacting with another girl who is the same age but definitely NOT the same size.


Can't you just see how happy she is to be out of that seat for a while?!


At the hotel, playing with (what else?) the remote.


With Aunt Misty & Uncle Jason.


Waiting in the airport on the return flight. Notice that big white thing on the stroller? That's her car seat. Yes, it was quite a stroller-full, but look at that smile!