Happy Halloween

Jordan was a lobster for Halloween this year. We don't know if she would have chosen to dress as a lobster, but we like to think so. Josh and I accompanied the lobster dressed as a pair of chefs, complete with white chef hats. We didn't trick or treat this year, but Jordan helped her daddy hand out candy to other trick or treaters. Here she is seen selecting candy from the bowl and giving it to her daddy. She loves to feed us and especially the dog at every opportunity.

Harvest Festival 2010

The WSU Children's Center sponsors a fun (and highly p.c.) event they like to call the Fall Harvest Festival. Children are encouraged to wear their costumes, bring a non-perishable food item for the food bank, and come prepared for a world of sensory delights! This being our first Harvest Festival we didn't know what to expect, but were pleasantly surprised.

The event featured several infant-friendly stations that Jordan really enjoyed. There were fun pouches of a gel-like substance that had hidden treasures in them; a long roll of sticky paper was adhered to the floor which was extra fun to walk around on because of the loud noise it made when your shoes un-stuck from it; a large pot of cooked spaghetti and a tub filled with dried legumes proved to provide endless entertainment for baby hands; and finally a small "pond" filled with floating rubber ducks and other aquatic dwelling creatures entertained all. Plus, each duck was numbered and was accompanied by a corresponding door prize of the same number! To top it all off, there was a smorgasbord of snacks, beverages and treats provided by parents and family of WSU children. The Harvest Festival was a huge success and a lot of fun for Jordan.

New Videos

Jordan loves Kipper


Jordan playing in her new birthday toy.  She loves the ball pit!

Jordan is a Runt

We're now at the 12-month milestone, and it's time to see where Jordan stands among her same-age peers:

Length: 27.9" or 16th percentile
Weight: 19.2 lbs or 20-21st percentile (she has finally doubled her birth weight!)
Head Circumference: 18.2" or 84th percentile

In summary, Jordan is a runt. With a large head.

Jordan received all four of her regularly scheduled immunizations plus the first of a 2-shot series for the flu. She will have to return to see the nurse in a month and receive the required flu-booster that all first-time flu shot recipients need. Bummer.

We are transitioning, rather abruptly, to whole milk for Jordan instead of breast milk. I have packed away the breastpump (good riddance!) and dream for the day when I am no longer Jordan's personal pacifier. It's going well. She doesn't seem to mind the different flavor of cow's milk, nor the fact that it is served in a sippy cup instead of a bottle. Now if we could only end her incessant attachment to me I could be a happier mommy.

New Chompers

Sometime last week (probably while we were sick) Jordan sprouted two more upper teeth! So now the official count is at four on top, and two on bottom. Time to learn how to brush baby teeth I suppose.

Happy 1st Birthday to You!

Officially you won't be one full year old for another 45 minutes, but Happy Birthday, Jordan! Thanks to the nice little flu virus you passed on to your mom and dad I doubt you will get to do anything too fun today. The activities will have to wait until your birthday party, assuming we all feel better by then.

It's been both the shortest and longest year for us as parents and we can't wait to see what the next one brings!

Illness Update

Jordan had a puke-free night last night (yay!) but her diaper was dry this morning (boo). She is keeping liquids down again, so we proceeded with our morning routine as usual. What we should have remembered is that daycare has a 24-hour symptom-free policy. That means that we got her up and changed and over to daycare only to find out that she needed to be at home today because it had only been 18 hours since her last sign of illness symptoms. What a major drag. I guess I should be glad that they are enforcing their policies at daycare, but it's not an easy thing to deal with when you're a working mom!

Rough Day for Baby J

This morning I snuck into Jordan's room while she was still sleeping and saw little piles of what I thought was part of a fleece hat she ate the previous day all over her crib. The piles were covered in dried, crusted mucus. I immediately ran downstairs to get Josh for a 2nd opinion, since I couldn't believe my eyes. He looked and discovered that the little piles were actually pieces of the black beans she ate for dinner last night. Poor baby J had puked everywhere, and as a result, had rosy red rashes on both of her cheeks (probably from laying in the vomit all night). We never heard a peep from her last night, so we aren't sure when all the sickness happened.

After a cleansing morning bath, baby J couldn't seem to hold down liquids, as she puked after nursing, and then puked after downing a cup full of pedialyte. It was very worrisome, but we continued to force the fluids, while allowing her to munch on Kix cereal (her favorite).

By about 5 pm Jordan went down for a nap, and has been okay (so far) since then. We decided to dilute the pedialyte, and that seemed to help. We will see how she fares in the morning. We're hoping for a wet diaper, at least.

Jordan Gives a Round of Applause

Tiny J is so proud of her achievements she will now give herself a round of applause...literally! She is hooked on clapping her hands together and interlocking her fingers. Sometimes she attempts to wave bye-bye while her hands are folded. It seems that she has really made a lot of discoveries related to her hands and fingers because she also points at everything she sees.

Also, sometime between our last post and today Jordan decided it was okay to crawl on her hands and knees after all (as opposed to her usual army-style crawl). This sort of happened overnight, as if she had been holding out on us the entire time and only wanted us to think that she couldn't crawl. Likewise, we knew she could ascend the stairs like a champ but had no idea (until last weekend) that she could also crawl back down safely. We first observed this new skill while visiting grandma and grandpa Lewis. She crawled up to the top of the stairs, and as I went to bring her back to the living room she promptly did an "about face" and scooted back down on her own accord, feet first on her belly! We are guessing that she picked up these new skills at daycare where they have a small play structure with a low staircase.

This may have been one of the low points in Josh's life, but this next anecdote is worth mentioning because Jordan might think it's funny if she ever reads this blog. On Monday evening Jordan and I came home from swim lessons and were greeted by a freshly-shaven Josh. Apparently Jordan didn't approve of her daddy's new haircut because she screamed and screamed relentlessly any time he was in her sight. We surmise that she didn't recognize Josh and was not comfortable with this "stranger" in her home. Much to Josh's dismay, this behavior lasted from Monday night until Thursday morning. However, the daddy/daughter relationship was pretty much repaired today when she got to have a sick day at home with her daddy. They had fun playing and hanging out together.