Jaydan-isms

Our Little man keeps us in stitches these days. Almost everyday he surprises (or horrifies us) with something new coming out of that little mouth. Here are some of our recent faves:

* He now knows that Daddy is "Jeff" and Mama is "Towee" and his name is either "Boogis, Jaydan or ME". The other day, I picked him up from the sitter's and he said "Where is Jeff?"

*He IS two. Some of his favorites are: "I go first", "my turn", "I do it myself", "I go again".

*He is convinced he is "Pu-pow" (purple).

*When he wants either his Daddy or I, he'll say "I need to hold Daddy" or me...... usually Daddy these days.

*Uh-Hi (ok, he's pretty much grown out of this already, but it was so cute I listed it anyway).

*"I fall down"

*Miss Kate had a talk w/ me when I picked him up the other day..... apparently he's calling all the little girls "Sweet hawt".

He also seems to be pretty smart (I know, I know all Moms think their kids are gifted), but on our way to Florida the other day, we say an airplane and he said "Air-pane goin to Granny and Grampa's"! See, I told you!

Ah, the Sea Air

Jeff, Jaydan and I took our first family trip in about 8 months this weekend to visit Jeff's Grandparents in Port St. Joe, FL. We got a phone call at about 4 on Friday that their A/C had gone out, and any of you who have ever been to Florida know that the Gulf Coast is NOT the place to be in July with no A/C. We decided to take our chances, despite all of that..... weekends off are hard to come by in world of Publix and we figured we had better go while we had the chance. We got a late start on Friday and had to take Zoe (our dog) b/c our usual pet sitters weren't available. We didn't end up getting into Port St. Joe until about 3:00 a.m. on Saturday..... needless to say THAT was a long night!
I was determined to get Jaydan (and myself) to the beach this trip.....the last several trips, we just haven't had the time. So early Saturday we loaded up and went to a favorite spot of ours, Stump Hole @ Cape San Blas. This beach was seriously damaged by hurricane Ivan and last time we were there it was U-G-L-Y.... the sand had washed out sufficiently that the stumps for which the beach was named were some 20 feet tall and all kinds of nasty stuff had washed up. I'm happy to report that it has been restored to even better condition than original. The waves were gentle, there was a nice breeze and it was pretty much heavenly! Jaydan loved the sand, wasn't so sure about the water (Jeff too for that matter), and Zoe and I pretty much loved it all! I could have easily sat on that beach all day, but a two year old's attention span can only handle so much so we headed home for lunch. Durning Jaydan's nap Jeff and I headed over to the bay and went crabbing and pretty much just enjoyed the area's bountiful beauty. Its funny how while we lived there, we took it for granted. Now we are just like all the other tourists and are a little blown away by it all! We now realize just how lucky we are to have access to the "last of the greatest" as Grandaddy says!

NO PEANUTS PLEASE!

We have long suspected a food allergy in our little man..... peanuts have always seemed to be a no-go. So, on the advice of our new Pediatrician, we took Jaydan in for allergy testing. Turns out peanuts are the biggie, but he also exhibited reactions to cashews and eggs (?). When we first starte eating solids, he reacted to eggs twice, but has never had trouble since, but Doc says no. This was one of those visits that makes you go home and cry as a Mom..... is this because of something I did wrong while I was pregnant or nursing? Or, is it just my crazy allergic genes surfacing in a new way? I suppose its always difficult to get a diagnosis that there isn't a treatment for.....we just have to keep him as far away from nuts as possible and carry and Epi-pen just in case.

All things considered, Jaydan handled all of the pokes better than Mama did..... after about the third round, he arched his back and said "OUCH", but that was about it. It was a looooonnnngg appointment but they gave him some bubbles and he was able to figure out how to do it himself, which was exciting for us both!

Welcome Baby Monkey!

Welcome Laila Lavon Smith to the family! This is her in the dress that I wore home from the hospital 30+ years ago! Her's cute, huh? Looks like her Auntie, I think ;)

Idaho Vacation

I am the worst blogger EVER! I'm telling you, I don't know what they did to me in Idaho this last time, but I can't get my head screwed back on straight since!
Jaydan and I had a wonderful time visiting our family and friends, as usual. My cousin Shell (a/k/a Nack "snack" to Jaydan) was home too, so we got to spend lots of QT with her and my Mom's parents who are "snowbirds" and had just "flown North" for the summer. Jaydan had not one but TWO birthday parties..... one with each side of my family, so he spent some time getting to know his "Grandma Soup" and Papa Smith, too. He got spoiled, as always but it was fun to see him sort of "get it" this year. Tyson, Priscilla and Jaz came for a few days and again, it was fun to watch the babies play. "Baby Monkey", as she has come to be lovingly known by the whole family will be here very soon and we are looking forward to another addition to the family. I got to golf w/ my Mom and Rashell which was a blast..... they really are not THAT much better than me and a few beers into it, that hardly even mattered. These pics are ones I've pirated from family member, I haven't even had time to download mine yet! Its so weird! I guess its to be expected between having a two-year-old, a new job and a serious case of jet-lag, but seriously I am ready to be myself again!
We hope to see Mom, at least this summer sometime. It seems like it gets harder and harder to say goodbye each time, so we'll need to start planning that next trip very soon!
NOTE: Check out Jaydan's shoes that are present in TOO many of these pictures. They originally belonged to our dear friend Sunny and were passed down to me, and then have spent about 25 years in storage! My son was OBSESSED with them..... even wearing them OVER his footie pajamas. He was convinced they made him run fast and somehow he WAS able to run w/out breaking his neck.... but oh boy, were they dorky!

First Dentist Visit!

Monday, April 27, was a "holiday" here in the South, known as Confederate Memorial Day (I think it may only be a "holiday" to Georgia State Employees, in fact). Trust me, no one is more shocked and horrified by that than me....... BUT it is a paid day of.....and virtually EVERYONE else is working so its a good time to do things like Dr's appointments, bank errands, etc. I scheduled a dental appointment for Jaydan a few months back, because he's a finger-sucker and he's got some staining on his front teeth and well, they say you should. I have to say, I've been dreading it......the melt-down potential is through the roof and given the fact that brushing his teeth is like WWF smackdown every single day I didn't have a lot of hope that things would go smoothly. Those of you who know me well, know that I'm a big subsciber to the "when in doubt, look in a book" school-of-thought so my fist plan of attack was to check out every single kids book on going to the dentist I could find and you know what? IT WORKED! Jaydan was a champ! When we first got there the receptionist was like "you know we usually don't start actually cleaning their teeth until they are at least three because they just won't usually tolerate it much before then". He not only let them clean his teeth and count them, check for cavities and look closer with the mirror, but he did most of it with a smile on his face! He introduced himself to the dentist and was such a good boy!
Naturally, as a reward I took him to McDonalds to play. Apparently he can handle a stranger's hand in his mouth better than he can handle being told that No, he may not take his juice box down the slide. He pitched his first ever public tantrum and had to be carried to the car (where he got spanked) kicking and screaming. Apparently his good behavior was taxed completely at that point!

Quick Trip to Boise

Jaydan and I were truly Jet-Setters this past weekend, flying to Boise on Friday and back on Sunday. My beautiful God-Daughter, Amya was baptized on Saturday and I was blessed to be able to attend. I hadn't seen her in about 4 years..... she has grown into such a lovely young lady and I am very proud of her!
Of course, Granny and Grandpa couldn't resist the opportuntity to spend some time with J while we were in the "neighborhood" so they drove down and kept him busy on Saturday while I was busy with baptism stuff. My sister-in-law Priscilla and darling neice, Jazmyn also ventured down to spend some time with us. Jaz and Jaydan are only 6 months apart and they have a very special relationship and it gets more and more fun to watch them together as they grow! Jazzy is very nurturing and protective.......which is good since she is about to become a Big Sis, but Jaydan gives the poor little thing a run for her money! Granny and Grandpa took the babies to the zoo and all of those fun things and fun was had by all.
We stayed at my oldest and dearest friend Sunny's house in Boise, but sadly she and her new hubby Darrin were out of town! Their house is wonderfully cozy and welcoming and it was very easy to make ourselves at home...... the only thing missing was them! We were also able to catch up with our old friends the Wilsons (Cindy and Zack, anyway) for dinner on Friday and my Aunt Sherie and Uncle Aaron and cousin Angela on Saturday. It was wonderful to see everyone and as always, the trip went way too fast! We are in recovery mode this week...... it takes a lot out of you to travel that far with an almost-two-year old for just a few days, but wonderful memories were made and it was well worth the jet-lag!