Jaeden's 1st week of Pre-school

TEDS - Trinity Episcopal Day School

Unfortunately, I was not able to dress Jaeden that morning, as they arrive at their grandparents in pjs. I always have a spare outfit packed... Jaeden ended up in the spare shorts, not the jeans shorts I had planned for him to wear :(


After much searching and debating, I finally decided on a pre-school for Jaeden. He is going Tues and Thurs mornings from 9-12. Unfortunately, I had to work both days this week, so Grandma Junie was the lucky one to take him to school. We were worried that he wouldn't want to stay, so I kept telling him it was like nursery at church, which everyone knows he LOVES!!! When they got there Tues morning, and Junie was telling him bye, Jaeden said, "Don't worry, I'll have fun!" It was pretty funny, but definitely HIM. Jaeden could find fun in a completely empty room!!
Like mentioned in a previous blog, Jaeden loves to be other people. Since his new favorite movie is "Mary Poppins" (also one of my top 5 favorites - so it makes me very happy!), he pretends to be either Jane or Michael, and of course, bossy Jaeden tells Jayce who he is also, but luckily Jayce doesn't understand and goes along happily. However, Mary Poppins (aka mommy) and Chimney Guy (aka bert, aka daddy) have to remember who to call Jane and Michael because Jaeden does not answer to Jaeden when in character.
So there is a point to that side story about Mary Poppins, because now Jaeden has two options for pretending...either Jane/Michael or Ms. Kris/Ms. Deanna - is new preschool teachers.

Scooter Boys

So, I still need to blog about Jaeden's birthday, but this blog is much quicker than that story. Jaeden (and obviously Jayce) love the Harley scooter from Grandma Junie. Jaeden is still practicing how to ride, but is doing very well. Jayce just enjoys standing and being pushed around, which he does very well too. The scooter makes cool motorcycle noises when you rev the handle like a real motorcycle. It also has lights that blink in front with the cool noises. So we now have another fun toy for the boys to fight over :))

Jaeden's 3rd birthday party with the family 9/19

My first 3rd birthday party!!!!
Thanks, Aunt Therese for the fun tool box. I use it every day!!!
Thanks, Junie for the coloring book and fun toys!!

Thanks, Aunt Cindy for demonstrating my new toy!!
Thanks, Aunt Mimi for my first Bob the Builder DVD. I love watching it!
Thanks, Aunt Cindy for my Backyardigan's memory game!! One day I'll be as good as mommy.

I can't believe he's already 3! Time sure goes by quickly. We went to visit my Aunt's the weekend after the hurricane, and through Jaeden a quick, late night birthday party, which he truly enjoyed. After Gwen's volleyball game, everyone, but Jaycer and me, went to eat Mexican food. I stayed home, and baked Jaeden's cake (yellow cake, chocolate icing and lots of sprinkles). We didn't get together for the party til after nine, which was late for Jaeden. But for the most impatient toddler, he did very, very, well waiting. He waited so long, that at one point he got up to go potty. When walking out of the kitchen, he repeatedly said "Don't sing without me. Please, don't sing without me!" It was sooo funny, that he thought we would sing happy birthday, without him in front of the cake. After we finally sang to him, he politely said "Thank you" It was the sweetest thank you!!! He was sooo happy to finally be celebrating his birthday. Of course, he didn't eat any cake, but did lick the candles. He was most interested in opening the presents!! He has waited since Jaycer's birthday in May to finally have his birthday again, and there are a lot of family birthday's in the summer - Zachary, Daddy, Papa, Junie, Aunt Julie and then his!!

Other exciting pics from the weekend adventure!! Jaeden remembers riding and falling off the jet ski..... story to be blogged in the future. But he still loves the jet ski!!

Nothing could keep him off the trampoline. It had rained recently, so it turned everything black... the reason for jumping in a diaper!!! Yes, he's potty trained, except at night, and the diaper doesn't come off until the first time he potties in the morning. He was out there jumping first thing!!!

First Game of One-on-One Basketball

Pics from 8/11/08.

After a hard days work in the yard and sandbox, nothing's better than the first game of one-on-one basketball. Jaeden also made several baskets, I just didn't get any pictures.

Just a side note, this red mickey mouse ball is courtesy of joel and whitney. They spent about an hour throwing rocks at the ball in a tree. It was in the playground tree across the street from Whit's. They climbed the tree, but could not reach the ball from where they climbed. The ball was finally poked out of the tree with a broom stick. It would have been much quicker if the broom stick idea had come up sooner!!!! But it was a fun afternoon whitney!!

pics 8/1/08. I think she's feeding Jayce some chocolate. She definitely knows the way to my kids' hearts.

Olympic Training

Pics from 9/15.

Here is Jayce training for the Olympics!! He enjoys hanging from almost anything, but nothing's better than annoying the older brother by hanging from his chair during lunch!! There is a bar under the chair by his feet, but he doesn't use it to get into that position.

Jayce's words at 16 months

9/15 : Jaycer playing hide-n-seek in his favorite pretzel cabinet.

So, my mom has always said that babies can only develop one skill at a time, either walking or talking. It takes too much brain power to do both together. My boys have definitely proven this. Jaeden was saying/signing 40 words at 13 months. Yes we made a list and counted! And he didn't walk til one week before he turned 15 months!! Jayce has been the opposite. He started walking at 11 months, and has finally started to increase his vocabulary this past month!!! Thank goodness, because "anh, anh, anh" gets very annoying, very quickly.

Jayce's words: mommy, dada, ga-ga(jayce), dog, duck, quack, ding, ball, bell, emma (grandma), jump, go, jaeden, cheese (when smiling for pics), bang, thanks (which he says almost every time he's handed something), baby, and he signs candy, more, and he did milk for the first time today.

9/16: Jaycer-Racer signing "candy". To really sign candy, you place your index finger on your cheek and twist the finger/hand. Jayce usually places his finger directly in his ear and twists. Of course while trying to take this picture, he decided to sign it correctly. So this picture was the closest to having the finger in his ear. Also, to note - his right ear is not normally that large or red. He was bitten by a mosquito that day, and his ear was EXTREMELY swollen and red, especially from behind. It took 3 days for the ear to completely recover.

Jayce and His Pretzels

Pics from 8/24/08

So I got tired of buying a bag of pretzels EVERY week at the grocery store, so I bought the big pretzels at Sam's which have lasted for quite awhile and are still being enjoyed. Jayce loves the preztels and brings them to me almost every day. The pretzels and animal crackers are the only food he can reach by himself, but he does LOVE his pretzels. The pictures show him at the cabinet, sliding the pretzels all the way across the kitchen floor and carrying them to me in the living room.

Surviving Hurricane Ike

Sept 13, 2008 The first pic is a look down our street towards I-45, and the second pic is our front yard shortly after the passing of Ike. Hurricane Ike arrived shortly after midnight with heavy rains and wind. We lost power at 4:30 am, and I know the time because we were previously awakend by the loud winds. We were very fortunate to not have a tree fall in our yard, as many neighbors in our area had trees on their house or in the yard. Ike's path really seemed to go straight up I-45 from Galveston, and yes, we are the 5th house from the freeway. We were truly blessed to have power restored 45 hours after losing power!! Most of our neighborhood including those across the street from us are still without power 8 days after the hurricane. My parent's just had their power restored yesterday. Their power return was delayed because of a tree that fell on power lines across the street from them.

Hopefully, it will be another 20+ years before a major hurricane hits Houston again. The last major hurricanes were Alisha in 1983 and Carla in 1961.

I have much to blog from this past month - our trip to Branson and then Ike have hindered my blogging this month.

Yummy, watermelon!

Pic 7/6/08

This summer we enjoyed many hours of swimming and watermelon at Grandma Junie's house. Jaeden is definitely a little water bug. He would live in the pool if we let him. He is a fairly good swimmer with floaties, and he'll be signed up for swim lessons early next summer!! He was able to swim across the pool by himself with floaties by the end of summer!!

Jayce doesn't always love the water, but he was much better at getting in the pool at the end of the summer. Jayce's favorite part of swimming was the watermelon snack!! He definitely inherited that trait from Grandma Junie, who also loves watermelon. Jayce could out eat almost anyone when it came to watermelon. I frequently found him eating the white and green rind with no complaints, he just kept on chewing!!!

"Daddy called me names"

Pic 8/24/08

Lately, Jaeden loves to perform. He is often an "entertainer" as he calls it. As an entertainer, he sings and dances, and makes everyone clap at the end of the song. He loves finding stages or creating a stage - on his bed or the couch or the living room floor. He also enjoys being a chef, a sonic waiter, a skater, and various animals. This picture shows Jaeden getting some major air while singing 'Jesus wants me for a Sunbeam'.

When Jaeden is pretending to be something, he makes you call him by that name - entertainer or chef, etc. The other day, Jaeden was the entertainer as usual. Joel sat down on the couch (or entertainer's stage), and Jaeden went to ask him to move. All of sudden Jaeden ran to me crying. I asked him what happened, and he said while crying "Daddy called me names!" I asked what did Daddy call you, and he said "Jaeden" So, we now know to never call him Jaeden when he's pretending!!!

Jayce has recently started to jump. He is not consistent at getting both feet off the ground, but he has managed a successful two foot jump several times over the past few days. He jumps very well while standing and holding on in the crib. He's trying to follow in his brother's foot steps and jump just as high.

Ga-Ga

Pic: Outside Jorgy and G's house, April 2008

So a few weeks ago, Jayce finally decided to acknowledge Joel, and say Dada. However, Jayce's dada sounds much more like ga-ga. One game Jayce enjoys is when Joel holds him up at the mirror. Joel will hit his chest and say dada and then hit jayce's chest and say jayce. Jayce always gets a huge smile. Today at breakfast Jayce decided that he was now ga-ga. He repeatedly was hitting his chest and saying 'ga-ga'. We're still waiting for him to utter his own name.

Pic: Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, Mar 2008. This is proof we do have at least one day of winter here in Houston.

Jayce says Mama very well, and it may be his clearest word. I think he has also said Jaeden once or twice. He has recently started to say Grandma, which the 'an-ma' part comes out sounding like Emma.

Memory Lane: Jaeden was 14 months when he looked in the mirror, while visiting Jorgy and G's house and said his own name. Also, Jaeden said Dada much earlier than mama. He was saying many things before he uttered the mama sound. He also said papa much sooner than grandma, which is the reason he calls my mom Junie. Two of Jaeden's first 10 words were outside and elephant, however, he could never say Grandma. Everything related to my parent's was Papa - Papa's house, papa's car... One day while driving to their house and talking about Grandma, I said her name was Junie, which he instantly repeated back, and she has been Junie or grandma Junie ever since.

Jaeden's 1st Talent Show

Warning: Do Not Let This Look Fool You!!! Object in picture is not as innocent as he appears. He is prone to be mischief, stubborn and sweetly energetic.

Last night, Jaeden got to participate in his first Primary Talent Show. His nursery class sang and jumped to "Jesus wants me for a Sunbeam." Jaeden of course knows all the words and will sing quite loud at home, but he does not say much in front of a crowd. I was surprised that he did sing at least one or two lines of the song. And of course, he was by far the best jumper!! His 'act' was towards the beginning, so I don't think he had warmed up to the idea of the talent show because towards the end I could tell he really wanted to get up there and do something else, and he also told me he hadn't done his talent yet! Thankfully, the Sunbeam class had also practiced the same song, so I let Jaeden stand with their class and sing/jump again. He definitely did better the second time around.

Family Yard Work

Jaeden, Jayce and Grandma Junie

This pic is from June 2008 at Old MacDonald's Farm, but goes along with the blog.


Tonight, we did some family yard work. Joel went out to mow the lawn, and the boys and I went out to play. Jayce's outside toy is the bubble mower, although we don't fill the bubble holder very often, because he really just enjoys pushing the mower on the driveway and side lawn. Anytime I'm out with the boys, I try to weed our attempt at a flower bed in the front of the house. So after I had picked the first few weeds, Jaeden came to see what I was doing. He then asked if I was getting dirty and wanted to look at my hands, which already had a little dirt on them. Since I had told him he could not get in his sandbox tonight, he decided he would get dirty by pulling weeds. Jaeden did a pretty good job of pulling a few weeds, until he was distracted by the shovels Jayce pulled out of the garage. Once the shovels were out, the flower bed became the sandbox. Jayce was also really cute in his attempt to pull weeds. Unlike Jaeden who understands these are real plants/flowers, Jayce did not. He tried to help, but was only breaking leaves and flowers off the ruellas that border the flower bed, and then walking whatever he had in his hands to the trash cans, where we were throwing the weeds.

So I know I have a lot to make up for since I have been so UN-inspired to blog this month.

On your mark, Get set, "Go!"

In the beginning... "should I jump or should I go??"
April 2008 at Great-Grandpa and Grandma Bellows

Jayce continues to suprise us with new words, although definitely not on a daily basis. His favorite daily words continue to be mama and jump, but he has now added Go to his daily vocabulary. He refuses to say any helpful words, like milk or raisins, but instead prefers the action words. Jaeden and Joel play an eating game that starts with on your mark, get set, GO, and Jayce loves to finish the phrase with GO!!! He also loves to say the word 'Go' and then takes off running around the house. Jayce has also learned to roar, and he loves to roar at you and then runs away wanting you to chase him. He laughs the entire time while running and roaring!!

Jaeden the Ob/Gyn

Jaeden with Baby Bodie, end of April 2008.

I know it's a little early to know what Jaeden's career path will be, but if you had to decide at the age of 2 our choice would probably be an Ob/Gyn. Yes, this sounds strange for a 2 year old boy, but it is very in line with Jaeden's interest. Jaeden has been obsessed with little babies for quite a while, at least since Jayce was born if not before that. He loves to admire and hold very little babies, such as Bodie and Brandon, whenever possible. Jaeden still frequently wants to hold Jayce like a little baby, however, Jayce rarely cooperates.

About 2 months ago, out of the blue Jaeden asked when are we going to have another baby? As he noticed that Jayce is becoming more of a big boy. Of course, we told him we will have more babies, but not for awhile. Several days after that while showing his babysitter his brother's room, he said this is where the new baby will sleep (while pointing to the crib). Of course we had to tell her, we are not pregnant, Jaeden just loves babies.

Jaeden's favorite movie segment (yes, segment since he will not sit more than 15-20mins to view an entire movie), is "Baby going to the hospital" as he calls it, from Cheaper by the Dozen 2, where the pregnant daughter is rushed to the hospital to deliver the baby. He has seen this segment close to 50 times, and can almost quote the entire thing with his favorite line being "I'm having a BABY HERE!!!!"

So this morning, shortly after he woke up, we were all sitting in the living room, when Jaeden lifted his shirt and looking at his stomach, asked "How does the belly open??" Being early in the morning, I was thinking as the belly in terms of food, not babies. First I stated the belly doesn't open it just holds your food and drinks. Then he asked, "How does the baby come out?" Joel and I were both shocked to hear our 2 year old ask about how babies are delivered. We proceeded to tell him some about c-sections and I don't remember what else, but it was enough to appease his ever questioning mind!!

Words and More Words

Jaeden at almost 16 months, Jan 2007

Jayce one year ago, July 2007

This evening made me hopeful that Jayce will soon be using more words and less "ahnhn" (currently his word for everything!) and pointing. His new favorite activity is standing on the coffee table or ottoman and attempting to jump. Of course being only 14 months, he does still require help to lower himself to the ground, and is not truly 'jumping'. However, he repeatedly kept saying "jump" every time!! I do wonder why both of my kids have always been so eager to jump. A normal child is able to jump between the age of 2-3 years. Jaeden was successfully jumping with both feet off the ground several months before he turned 2 years, and it seems that Jayce will be following in his lead. The scary thing is being able to read Jayce's mind eventhough he is not talking. His face definitely reads "How do I make myself jump?"

The other words Jayce shared with us this evening were Dog and thank you. He has said thank you before, but it's been awhile, and it was the first time he said dog that I know of. At least my mom was here to vouch for these words because when I tried to have Jayce tell his daddy the words, he thought it was funnier to blow raspberries.

Another story from this morning: We were all sitting at the breakfast table, when Joel asked 'what do we do before we eat?' and Jayce instantly folded his arms, and i think attempted to say the word 'prayer' He responded much faster than Jaeden.

Memory Lane: By 15 months, Jaeden was regularly using the words - outside, elephant, horse, cat, dog, pancake, apple, mama, dada, more, all done, help, no, up, 'hold you', teletubbies
By 19 months, Jaeden was counting from one to ten.

A regular day at the Jorgensen house

So, when i have the time I will try to share the funny thoughts of a two year old. Jaeden has been potty trained since February, but just the past 1-2 weeks, he holds it until the absolute last minute usually resulting in slightly damp underwear. We typically know when he needs to go and have to persuade him to stop to use the bathroom. I use to think it was because he just didn't want to stop playing, but today I realized he never wants to leave the room because he's afraid someone aka jayce will take the toy he's playing with. Tonight Jaeden was playing with a new circus train set, jayce was in bed sleeping and we were eating dinner. Jaeden was still afraid someone was going to take his train he if left to go potty. A short while later Jaeden needed some help with a toy, and the lazy parents we are, we tried to encourage him to bring it to the table for help. Instead he told me 'don't worry, no one will take your food, i'll make sure' He always knows just what to say!!

Today was aunt mandy's birthday and jayce's 14 month birthday. He wished her happy birthday this morning in his single word language "ahnhnhn" It's amazing how different each child is. Jaeden was still not walking at this age, and jayce is running. Joel was chasing him tonight (one of jayce's favorite games), and jayce almost knocked me down while I was walking down the hall. It's amazing how fast he runs, although i know it's in the genes.
Of course, Jaeden was saying and signing over 50 words at this age, and the only two words jayce says regularly are 'mama' and 'amen' he has said a handful of other words, but only on rare occasions. Just over the past 2-3 days, Jayce has started to fold his arms for prayer. If you tell him it's time to pray he will stop and hold his arms. He then anticipates when to say amen, so it usually comes a little earlier.

On the subject of church, Sunday during sacrament meeting I was sitting between jaeden and joel. During one of the prayers, i hear jaeden whispering, "daddy close your eyes, daddy close your eyes" I had to nudge joel so he could pray correctly. Jaeden obviously knows the rules, we just wish he would chose to follow them more often.

Once we obtain some recent pics off my parent's camera, I will have more interesting things to share. The first week or two of blogs will not be chronological. I want to try and go back a blog some recent happenings.

Initial Blog

So, I have created a new blog, since we have no clue how to access the first short lived blog from over one year ago. My goal is to post at least once a week. So hopefully I will keep up with my goal. Pictures will be added more regularly as my skills improve. I created this blog (not joel) so I will remember how to access it :) We hope you all enjoy our daily moments with silly jaeden and goofy jayce. And not to be missed is the OHIO STATE inspired background. Yes, both of these pictures are over 4 months old, since we rarely upload pics off our camera, which that is to change very soon!!!