Jayden meets his 2nd cousin

Jeremy's cousin Jesse just moved to San Francisco to start his fellowship at UCSF. He came over yesterday to visit and to meet our little man. We hung out at the house a bit, and then went to downtown Burlingame to have brunch. Jayden was not really himself (he has some type of virus), but we all had a great time.

This little piggy

We were supposed to meet up with friends today, but they had to cancel since they weren't feeling well, so we decided to take Jayden to Hidden Villa farm in Los Altos. We had so much fun-- we saw cows, chickens, sheep, goats and pigs. Jayden even touched one of the pigs' snouts (well, he actually picked the pigs' nose...it was hilarious).

Ready to see the animals!

Mooooooooo

Baaaaaaaaa

LaLaLa

Hello Mr Piggy

I love the farm!

"Ok daddy, I'll drive us home"

Passed out after a long day (good thing we didn't let him drive us home)

Knocking down blocks

Every day Jayden and I play a game where I stack up blocks and he crawls over and knocks them down. He squeals with excitement every time he knocks them down. This game goes on for quite some time...usually until he is distracted by something else. We usually do it all over the apartment, but we did it in a confined space so I could catch it on video.

It's officially summer

Well, according to the calendar, it's summertime, although I don't think we've really had a spring. It still amazes me that the moment April ends, it doesn't rain again (AT ALL) until next winter- how crazy is that?! It's beautiful here everyday, but being an East Coaster, I always feel like I just HAVE to be outside and enjoy the weather because you never know what tomorrow might bring...even though it's always sunny and perfect out, I feel guilty if we spend the day inside. Jayden and I have been spending our day with friends, going to parks and hanging out at the pool. This weekend we relaxed, hung out with friends, and enjoyed some quality family time.

Jayden is talking up a storm, and moving like crazy. He is an extremely active baby and doesn't like to sit in his stroller or carseat for very long (hmmmm, who does that remind you of?!). He crawls everywhere and pulls up on everything. He's now able to stand up without pulling up on anything, which is pretty cool to watch. He is really starting to examine all of his toys now and you can just watch him and see his brain working like crazy. We put all of his toys in bins and he crawls over to the bins, pulls up on them, and takes out the toys he wants. He also started waving-- he can't do it on command yet, but randomly he'll just catch your eye, and start waving (right hand only).

Here are some random pics from the week. It's not that easy to get pics of the little man nowadays because as soon as he sees the camera he will stop what he's doing and pounce on me to try and get it.

It's so hard to be this darn cute

Big boy

Playdate with Oliver

Oliver pulling Jayden's hat off

Wrestling with Fatty

Hmmm, which toys look interesting today?!

Droolmeister

Jayden's new way of drinking his nighttime bottle

Finger Lickin' Good

We've been feeding Jayden purees for a few months...he used to sit there, open his mouth, and eat them up...but lately he started spitting them out and then he tries to grab the spoon and feed himself. I was talking to some of the women in my playgroup about this, and some of them told me about this thing called "baby led weaning." Supposedly it's big in the UK, and a lot of the mom's in the Bay Area are also getting into it.

The philosophy behind BLW is that you offer your baby age appropriate foods that are soft-cooked and cut into small easily manageable pieces. Jayden is LOVING feeding himself and is so happy during meal time. So far we have tried the following foods: cucumber, banana, watermelon, canteloupe, string cheese, veggie burger, baked carrots, baked sweet potato fries, steamed asparagus, steamed broccoli, and baked tofu (all cut into "spears" so he can pick them up himself).

Here are some pics from our 1st week of BLW...

The green monster comes to Cali

Two Boston championships in 1 year...hooray (should've been three if the stupid Patriots hadn't ruined their undefeated streak in the Super Bowl)!!!!! The Celtics just won the NBA Championships on Jayden's 8 month birthday and, although daddy doesn't like to talk about it, the Red Sox won the World Series the week Jayden was born...so, I think it's safe to say that someone out there is hinting that perhaps our little man should be a boston fan. Although we no longer live in Boston, Jayden wanted to show support for the Boston teams and decided to dress up today as the green monster.

Happy 8 month old birthday

Jayden is 8 months old today! Every day he looks and acts less like a baby and more like a big boy. He has mastered crawling, but much prefers standing and jumping. He pulls up on EVERYTHING, stands on his own for a good 15-20 seconds, and cruises around the couch. We finally made the apartment childproof and now he just crawls around and plays everywhere-- his new favorite place is playing under the kitchen table.

J is still eating his purees, but we've also starting introducing some finger foods. He loves Cheerios-- he only gets them in his mouth about 40% of the time, but when he does, he chews away with a huge smile on his face as if he's so proud to be feeding himself.

Jayden now has 4 teeth and the top ones are getting big enough that you can now see them when he smiles. His hair is also getting longer and curling at the bottom- we want to get his hair trimmed soon before he starts to grow a mullet! His eyes are also changing color- they are still blueish, but they are no longer bright blue (they're turning sort of blueish-grayish)...I'm assuming they'll turn green like his mommy's eyes since no one on either side of our family has blue eyes. I don't know how much he weighs, but he's got to be at least 20lbs...and let me tell you, picking up 20lbs all day long does not feel good on the back.

He's been babbling a lot lately. He says mamamamamama and papapapapa, but doesn't really know what he's saying. He loves to look in the mirror and babble and smile at the cute boy looking back at him.

Jayden is a VERY social baby. He absolutely loves people and always smiles at everyone. In fact, he is very popular in our building- everyone knows his name and always says hi to him whenever they see him.

J's favorite place is the park. We go to the park almost every day. We also go swimming a few days a week, which Jayden loves. He is definitely a water baby. Hopefully we're going to start taking swimming lessons soon.

Jayden is still our angel baby and we have turned into "those" parents who think their child is the best thing since sliced bread. We still have yet to meet a baby that's as cute and as cool as our little man.

We love you Jayden William...happy 8 month b-day!!!!

Trying to take pics next to his 8 month sign...not so easy now that he's moving everywhere

yummmm, this tastes good

"What, I get to feed myself tonight?! Is it because I'm now a big boy?!"

"I like being 8 months old"

"This self-feeding thing is so fun...why don't you always let me do this?"

Hanging out under our kitchen table

He moves all around under the table by grabbing onto the chairs...it's really funny to watch

Jayden and his twin

Relaxing in his chair before bedtime

Father's Day Weekend Part II

To celebrate father's day we spent the afternoon at the Oakland Zoo. We thought this would be a fun place for Jayden, but he was more interested in looking at the people (and the fences) than he was in looking at the animals. There was, however, a small petting zoo with goats & sheep, that Jayden really enjoyed...he had a blast playing with the animals, petting them (i.e. pulling their hair) and watching them run around dodging all the kids.

After the zoo we headed to Lake Chabot to have a picnic lunch. Jayden was exhausted from a long day, so we came home, put him to bed, and had a yummy bbq dinner. Overall, Daddy's Day weekend was a success and Daddy had a lot of fun hanging out with his little guy.

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY TO THE BEST PAPA IN THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD...
WE LOVE YOU VERY MUCH =)

Big boy standing all on his own

Yummy father's day BBQ dinner