Jayden - 19 Months, 3 Weeks

I always get the urge to give an update on Jayden before he actually hits a nice even milestone (i.e. 19 months, 3 weeks as opposed to 20 months) but if I don't do it when I think of it, I know from experience that (1) I will forget or (2) I'll lack the motivation or thoughts when those nice even milestones come around. So here goes...


Jayden is a runner! He still often moves too fast for his little body and falls or doesn't watch where he's going and trips over something in his path but he is usually quick to pop back up and continue on his way. This morning I told him we needed to hurry, hurry, hurry (we were running late for "school") and he understood what I was saying and responded with "Nun, nun, nun" (his way of saying "run"). 


Jayden is getting so much better at eating a variety of foods. He will actually attempt just about anything which I'm very happy about because at least I know if he doesn't want to eat something, it's because he really doesn't like it at that moment and not because he's just unwilling to try it. He still has his favorites and "go-tos" and I'm trying to get better about offering him different things (like different varieties of vegetables) and not just what DJ and I typically like to eat. That's a hard one but frozen vegetables are a good option for that sometimes since I can just heat up what I want to give him. He also loves to drink milk.


Jayden is still set solidly in 18 month size clothes. 24 months are pretty huge unless the brand runs small. It's been nice to get some wear out of his 18 month clothes whereas other sizes we rushed through so fast that the clothes hardly looked worn when I put them away (which is a good thing but then he also didn't get to wear some really cute clothes for that long!) Unfortunately a lot of the summer clothes that I have for him are 24 months so I may have to do a little shopping soon since the weather has been so nice here already!


At his 18 month appointment, Jayden was 26.4 lbs and 31.5 inches tall. He is now in the 50th percentile for weight and 25th percentile for height. He is definitely losing the chunky look and is so "little boy" looking. My baby is officially a toddler in terms of looks. He wears size 4 diapers for day care but we are still using cloth diapers at home and actually, I haven't had to adjust the settings on them for a really long time. That should probably be on my list of things to do since his little legs are thinning out so much. We sometimes experience leaks as a result of gaps where the diapers meet the legs.


Speaking of day care, Jayden adores it there. I'm so glad even though daily, I go on guilt trips because I just have such a strong feeling that a 1 one year old should be with his momma all day and not with strangers. I'm praying that one day God gives me an opportunity for a job that allows me to be a work-at-home mom that can do work when I'm not otherwise taking care of my children and not the other way around. But the fact that Jayden seems so happy every day when I pick him up makes me feel a lot less anxious overall. 


He does some of the coolest crafts and activities and I'm usually so impressed with the ideas of the teachers (or maybe it's the curriculum the day care uses but either way, I would never have thought up some of the things they do)! He does things like painting with corn syrup, playing with baby powder mixed with oil (apparently creates a cool consistency), painting pictures using trucks instead of paintbrushes, making pictures with shaving cream, and currently, making a garden on the wall. They have glued dirt to paper, made grass with their hand prints, decorated raindrops and suns with glitter and sequins, and I'm sure flowers are in the near future. He also gets to go outside a lot now that it's getting warmer and every day when I drop him off, his other little friends all exclaim "Jayden!" when he walks into the room. It's the cutest thing ever. I also really like his teachers. They are always so friendly and willing to talk to me about Jayden and what's going on with him. I love that they don't make me feel like an "inconvenience" when I ask questions or want to hear about Jayden's day. 


Jayden has a few things that he is completely enamored with right now. 

• One of them is Elmo. (And this is somewhat interesting because when the topic of Elmo first came up, DJ and I were completely confused about how Jayden even KNEW about Elmo. To our knowledge, Jayden had never seen Sesame Street and although we have some Sesame Street books, we had never made a big deal about any of the characters; we more or less just focused on the topics of the books themselves. So we've decided that Elmo is so much a part of our society that children are born knowing who Elmo is now.) Daily Jayden asks about Elmo and wants to watch a little Elmo video that we bought him. And slowly but surely Elmo has infiltrated other areas of life as well because it just makes Jayden so happy - how can we resist?? We have pajamas, stickers, books, and soon probably, bath toys because watching Elmo is pretty much the first thing Jayden wants to do in the morning and since I don't want to get in a habit of having the tv on in the mornings, I need to distract him some other way and get him ready for the day. So hopefully I can find some Elmo bath toys.
• Jayden also loves to play golf (which makes DJ very happy!) with his golf set. He calls it "whack" because that's what DJ tells Jayden to do to the balls. I love how Jayden carries/rolls around his golf bag.
• He loves to play with his sticker book that I previously mentioned. Usually there are stickers littered throughout the house of pretty much anything, i.e. food, numbers, Sesame Street characters, animals, etc. Oftentimes DJ or I will find random stickers stuck to our own clothes. 
• Jayden is getting more attached to his Cookie Monster doll that he received in his Easter basket. Jayden likes to eat Cookie's face. Not really sure why other than that is a game that DJ and Jayden play where they "eat" each other. They take turns taking bites of each other and saying "yummmm". It's so cute.
• And lastly, Jayden LOVES to read books. And this makes ME very happy. Jayden likes to have books read to him but he will also look at books, especially in the car, and "read" them out loud. I LOVE hearing him talk to himself when he's "reading". 

Jayden has a pretty consistent sleep schedule now. As you know, we have struggled with this for awhile and although for some people, the schedule Jayden has now would probably be torture, DJ and I have finally decided that we've come up with something that works for us (just in time for it to change again when Ava arrives, as it inevitably will...). He has a pretty set bedtime routine that starts at roughly 6:30 or so. Most nights he falls asleep within 30 minutes to an hour and then he usually ends up coming into our room sometime during the night and sleeping the rest of the night with us. He has been sleeping till about 7 each morning. He also takes a pretty good 2 hour nap every day. So finally I feel like he is getting the rest he needs and for the most part, DJ and I are well-rested too. It's truly amazing how something so seemingly natural can be such a struggle with children. 

Jayden is showing more and more independence every day. It has been challenging to learn how to respond to a toddler who is learning to form his own opinions and desires. There have been many tantrums endured when this sweet little boy doesn't get his way but thankfully they are quickly forgotten by both sides when we are able to get past it. I know a day will come when disagreements won't be so easily forgotten so I try to remember that as I am watching my usually laid back little fella scream and cry. For the most part though Jayden has the best disposition and I LOVE the way his mind works. It amazes me now when I figure out what he is thinking; I can only imagine how amazing it will be when he can speak what he is thinking!

Every day I get more and more joy from Jayden. Sometimes I just sit back in wonder as I think about how wonderful my life is because Jayden is a part of it. It is hard to fathom what it will be like when Ava is a part of it as well!