Well I could go back and recount the highlights of the past year but why bother when they have all been recorded throughout the blog in more detail than I am sure some wanted...:). Instead, I will continue to focus on the past month and all that has happened.
We have certainly discovered that not only do we have a mischievous little one who one person says, has a case of FOMO (fear of missing out) but we also have a far too smart girl for her own good. One perfect example would be when she decided to play with the plug, the one thing plugged in our house and kept going back to it every time we would move her away. In order to stop her from reaching the outlet, I lied a chair down as a barrier but nope, all she did was casually pulled it away and made her merry little way right back to the outlet. Next idea was to put a pillow with the chair which was successful, that is successful in blocking that way. The smart little cookie simply turned herself around and went around the island so she could get to the outlet another way. Jade continues to shut doors on us and has a big grin in doing so.
Oh, now this was cute....well at least I thought it was. My mom gave her hair elastic to Jade who proceeded to reach her hands behind her head and stretch out the elastic as thought she was trying to put it in her hair. Then my mom bent her head over so Jade could reach her hair and Jade did the same thing with the elastic to my moms hair....guess she wants to start wearing some "pretties" in her hair. Doh, does that mean we have a true girly girl on our hands? If so, guess my family will finally get what they never had in me; I think I can handle it. On the other hand, she does have a love for baseball hats...much the same as I did when I was younger. Whether it is on someone else's head, on the floor or put on her head, Jade grabs at the hat and shines her bright smile while giggling.
Friday April 13th was d-day for Ted or as I like to say, it was the first day of a new beginning...the road to recovery. The knee surgery went well and he has been doing all his physio and keeping up the rehab schedule despite some pain. Of course, with Ted out of commission, Jade has decided it's time to get into even more stuff and more demanding. Between the two of them having to be reliant on me, life has been pretty busy....now's where some may expect me to say "and super tough"; however, I will honestly say that it is something I like doing and wouldn't change. Sometimes it seems like Jade really wants to sabotage Ted's recovery as she will often leave several toys in his path or chase him down the hallway and grab at his crutches. On the other hand, I think she just wants to get his crutches as she absolutely loves it when he pokes her in the stomach with them. Ted has been recovering well and is nearly clear of the crutches.
Oh, this was a good one too that I almost forgot about. The other day I was baking cookies at my parents place and Jade was playing around in the family room. It took me a second to realize it but it had suddenly got fairly quiet and when I peeked over, there was Jade on the floor with grandma's iPad which she had pulled down off the table. Jade was hard at work, scrolling along and viewing whatever it was she was viewing....yep, she knows things she shouldn't.
Not too sure what this little gals pain receptors tell her sometimes. Seriously have to wonder what is going through her little head when she sits against something and bangs the back of her head against it over and over again with a huge smile. Well maybe it is just the pain receptors in her head that we should question as I discovered this month that she certainly does feel some pain. The poor gal had to have some blood work done and it certainly was not a smooth experience. Four flipping lab techs checked both of her arms, using the tourniquet, and having me hold her still, looking for veins. The fourth one finally was able to find very small ones and it took pokes in both arms before they were able to get enough. Jade was screaming, it was heartbreaking and thankfully now over.
We had our first "accident" that drew some blood when Jade did a tooth plant into the wooden coffee table. The poor gal must have cut her gum as her mouth had a little blood in it. As painful as it looked, Jade only had a short cry and was ready to get back to playing in no time flat.
Jade is putting her Dutch heritage to use in helping my dad with the yard work. She has helped him water the plants and watched him do some planting but did not take too kindly to the sound of weed whacker. After their tough working time, the two of them hit the back deck and sat down for a play and relaxation. You know she has some sort of green thumb when she is normally terrified of loud noises but when the lawn mower comes near her pushed by grandpa, she is all good.
Oh, another "only Jade" moment happened at aquafit. All the moms put their little ones in these floaties that are shaped like fish and have a little seat in the middle and rather than play like the others, Jade decided she would attempt to get out....of course there was no giving up and by the end, she had succeeded and in doing so had the instructor and me on our toes. The other moms looked at her and were utterly shocked; kind of bad that I was not at all surprised.
Holy dinah, minah, this girl can have some real hyper fits at times. There were a few nights, at about 9:30, that she was literally bouncing around the couch....side to side, up and down, hollering, dancing and waving her arms. I think one of the nights she continued this for about 40 minutes and that still didn't result in her sleeping through the night.
Jade and I went to a baby shower for a coworker of mine which was nice not only for the party but also that I got to see everyone from work and also show Jade off a little, lol. It was interesting as at first Jade played the shy role but I guess that was only while she did her observing and took in everything and everyone. After that, she was up to her normal antics, crawling to whatever she could find, visiting and stuffed her face with Goldfish, fruit and a mini cupcake. At one point she sat with Aunty Laine who had to keep hold of Jade's pants because if not, Jade would be in all the plates on the ground or opening the presents.
Though she may have played the shy role temporarily at the shower, I think it was exactly that....role playing as this little gal is far from shy. When we go to storytime, Jade is all over the place...from one side of the room to the other, over the kids, to the moms and nannies....she only looks to me to make sure I am still there I guess but otherwise she is off exploring. This past week Jade went right up to the guy who leads storytime, grabbed his leg to help pull herself up then stood there with a huge smile on her face....in front of the entire room. Ya, my child, can we say my polar opposite? She then grabbed his name tag and started playing around with that; all the while Jade had the BIGGEST grin on her face. Ironically we ended up meeting one of our neighbours there who has a little 8 month old. They have come to invite us out for a walk since then but unfortunately we have been MIA so we hope to do that sooner rather than later.
Jade got to spend an evening with Aunty Ashlee when she was briefly in town and of course they loved it...okay, well Jade hindered Ashlee's studying but no doubt it wasn't such a bad thing, lol. Aunty Ashlee completely spoils Jade when she comes to town and this time was no different eventhough Jade's birthday was only a few days later. As always we were sad to see Aunty Ashlee leave and hope to see her soon again.
Awe, you can tell how attached to my parents Jade has become. The other day her and I were over there and they had to leave before I had Jade ready to go; when they left, Jade quickly crawled to the front door and started to cry a little...it was heartbreaking but then again kind of heartwarming to see how much she loves them.
Grandma couldn't resist giving Jade an early birthday present and it seems to have paid off for both Jade and Ted. They got her a little push car which Ted can now push Jade around on and in turn work on walking without his crutches....a win, win for both of them.
Poor gal ended up getting a cold with me and of course it have to hold on to her for her first birthday. Hopefully though by the time her party rolls around on Saturday, we will both be ready to go and her ready to PARTAY!!!! No doubt she will be bopping around as we swear that anytime music comes on, she starts to dance. Aunty Ashlee got Jade a cute little pair of rubber boots with a matching jacket in addition to the giraffe pillow buddy she had already given her. Grandpa so far has the winning toy with the little drum he bought her. Check out her bebopping skills & letting Dexter know she was busy playing and he can't take part.
She also got a little tricycle from them which when she is able to she can pedal away on but for now it has the contraption for us to push her. Can we say spoiled??? Jade's birthday dinner was at Earls with grandma and us...she of course was trying to entertain the diners sitting nearby. For dessert she got to have some sundae...mmmmm...that was after another tour of Costco with the taste testing. Favourite taste tested item today was by far the chocolate milk....takes after me in her love for chocolate :)
Hmmmmm....what else, what else? Let's see, we talked about the shower, we had Aunty Rachel over for a short visit, time with Aunty Ashlee....don't think there is much else to report for this past month. I shall do a short blog after the party on Saturday and post more pictures. Now that we have passed our first year, I probably won't blog as precisely as every month but rather when noteworthy things happen. We start daycare the first week of June and I head back to work this month while Ted will probably head back the week Jade starts daycare.
Honestly can't believe a year has passed already....so much has happened and so much yet to come. This little monster truly is an angel who has left a mark on my heart and everyone else she has come in contact with. Jade is a ray of sunshine 24/7 and knows how to brighten any rough day. Ted and I are so lucky to have such an animated, loving and happy little girl.
Again, please check out jadegayle.shutterfly.com for some recent pictures.
