SEPT -NOV

Everyday is so much fun with Jaiden. He teaches us new things as we teach him. He is an amazing listener and simply, just "gets it." Whatever it is, he understands. We must watch what we say as he does not miss a thing. Sometimes we don't realize he hears us but he'll bring something up that we were talking about weeks later.

Went on our first camping trip with his cousins to Carpenteria in September. Had a blast. His cousins are twin boys 3 weeks younger than Jaiden. The boys played, ate smores, went on nature walks and night walks looking for well just about anything. So fun! We went bike riding, walking, built sand castles and played in the ocean water. This was the first trip where Jaiden really LOVED the ocean. He would run in and out, screaming with joy. He would sit in the sand and wait for the water to come splash on him and then lean back laughing hysterically. I actually got to relax quite a bit on this trip. Mostly because Jaiden is at a great age where he just hung out next to me on the beach building different things in the sand for hours. So much fun.

One night camping I was putting Jaiden's pj's on and I told him to give me his leg, and he said, "You used the wrong word Mommy. You meant foot not leg." And he was right, shame on me!

Jaiden LOVES to build. He will sit for hours and build with his legos, blocks and robots. It is Robot everything around here. Jaiden and Daddy build a new robot probably once a week or so. He will take the directions out, put all the pieces in order and then within a short period of time a new robot is built. He names them all and will take them apart and put them back together over and over again. Very impressive.

Another love of Jaiden's is coloring and drawing. He is quite the artist. He will again sit for hours and draw/color. He stays within the lines and if you help him and you miss something he will let you know right away. "Hey Mommy, you missed a spot." He is very detailed with everything!

One morning Jaiden was in my bed having his morning milk with Daddy and I was getting ready for work, when he called me. "Mommy." When I got there he said, "Don't go to work Mommy." I said, "sorry honey Mommy has to go work but we'll play later." He said softly, "Okay Mommy, well you look really nice today!" So darn cute, of course after that I really didn't want to go work.

A few weeks ago in the car Jaiden said, "stupid Mommy." I said, "what?" He said, "stupid Mommy." I was shocked and couldn't believe it. So Jess said," where did you hear that?" and he said, "the stupid owl." Not sure where he got it and Jess and I were sure we NEVER use the word stupid. I called his Nanny and she had never heard him say it before. So I told Jaiden why we never use the word "stupid" and to never use it again. He said okay and"sorry."

About a week goes by and we never hear him use the word again. Then he says to me one night, "Mommy I need to tell you something in your ear. So I bend down and he whispers," I will never use the word stupid again." I started laughing without him seeing and thought he has no idea how funny he is. He's never said the word again. I guess if that's the worst word he's used so far that's not too bad!

I traveled in November back east to my cousin Linda's twin boys Bar Mitzvah. Mom and I flew together and Jordana met us. We had a lovely time visiting with our family. Before I left I told Jaiden , "Mommy loves you so much her her hurts." I said this without even thinking of what it would really mean to him. He immediately said, "Oh Mommy your heart hurts? I am a super hero and I will make it aaaall better. " I tried to explain to him that my heart did not really hurt but at that point I had already said too much. I missed him terribly while I was gone, it was the longest we had been apart. When I returned home I waited outside for Jess and Jaiden to pull up. Seemed like the he big white truck took forever to pull in front of me. I opened the back door and saw my beautiful son sitting in his car seat- he reached for my coat and opened it at the top peering in as he said,"Mommy does your heart still hurt?" It was the very first thing out of his mouth. I said over and over again, "No honey my heart doesn't hurt, it is filled with love for you!" Our united moment was beautiful and it was as if we had not been apart at all.

We had a nice Thanksgiving and long weekend that followed. Not having to travel far made this year made it much easier. This year we spent the first part of Thanksgiving with my family at Bubbe's and Pop Pop's and then we went to Haley's to spend it with Jesse's family. Although it was a sad time for all because we were missing Mom Arlene tremendously, we all had each other and for that we were all grateful.

MAY-AUGUST

These 3 months have been astonishing with Jaiden's understanding of words, forming intricate sentences, using plurals, counting in both English and Spanish and expressing himself with the word that describes a particular emotion.

It has been such an enormous joy to watch Jaiden develop. He is the kind of kid that thinks about what he is going to say before he says it. He will actually put his finger to his mouth and say, "hmmm", as he is thinking about what he wants to say. You can ask him anything and he will give you an answer. It is just like communicating with an adult. If I don't understand something, he will tell me "mere mere" (come here) and take me and show me what he is trying to say. Like the other day he said to me while pointing at a picture in a book of "friends", 'Mommy friends outide tweet." And I kept saying it back to him incorrectly because I could not understand what he was saying. So he told me to "mere mere" and took me into the garage, told me to open the garage door and then pointed to the street. Oh then I got it. His friends were outside in the "street."

We have spent allot of time at Pop Pop's and Bubbe's especially when Jess was gone. He went on a week long fishing trip to Loretto Mexico brought home lots of fish for us, although not as much as he has on past fishing trips, and then he went on a extra long weekend dirt bike camping trip. During that time Jaiden and I spent one night at Bubbe's. It was the first time we slept over. Had a great time, stayed in our PJ's till 11am the next morning and Bubbe made her famous french toast. Super fun.

We have been talking about Potty Training for some time and have had a few potty's in the house since Jaiden was 18months old. Most nights before he takes a bath he will go pee pee in the potty.One night June 2, 2011 Jaiden was undressed and ready for his bath but Dad was doing something fun out front so we ran out front for a minute to check it out. We played for a little while naked out front and then Jaiden ran behind a planter and said with this strained look on his face, "Mommy I have to go poop!" I swooped him up and placed him on his potty because there was no time for anything else. And he went! We cheered him on, and he cheered himself. Never thought we would be so happy about "poop." We tried a few times after that to put him on the potty but he was not diggin it. On July 21st I told Jaiden tomorrow we are going to gather all of your diapers and give them to the babies that need them- the next morning July 22 that is exactly what we did. Jaiden went around the whole house gathering his diapers. I told Juana that on that day just to have either running around naked or in his big boy underwear. And that is what she did. She took him to the park they played, he had a few accidents that day and that was it. The following day he had one accident -and since then he has never looked back. At first he had a pull-up on at nap time but then he did not want one, so we took it off. The first week when he would wake up from his nap he would point to his sheet and say, "my crib is aaaaaall dry" and it would be. I put a pull-up on him at night but that only lasted about 3 weeks when one night he told me no more pull-up Mommy. So I said, "you got it, no more pull-up!" He is so funny, for about the first 3 weeks he walked around saying, "no more diapers." "I have my big boy underwear on." SO cute! Of course I had to buy him a million pairs of size 2T underwear, some with characters on them, like Buzz Light year, Mickey Mouse, some boxer style, but my fav which I could not refuse to buy are his Calvin Klein's. Yes I know sounds crazy but come on how darn cute are a size 2T Calvin? Worth every penny! We are so proud of our lil dude.

MARCH/APRIL

March and April were phenomenal months for Jaiden. His vocabulary has grown tremendously, and he forms longer sentences than ever before. It is astonishing to listen to him speak, so clearly, and to watch him as he adds more words together. For example he used to say, "love you." Then it was ,"love you Daddy," now it's " I love you Daddy" and if someone says to him, "love you Jaiden," he says, " I love you too!" So cute. When we would be driving up to our house he would say," my house," then it was, " Our house," and now it is, "going to my house, or going to our house." Remarkable. The other day he told me, "good idea Mom." I laughed realizing I say that to him all the time, "good idea Jaiden. "He repeats EVERYTHING we say. He may not say it to us right away, but he will pull it out later that week. It's amazing.


Jaiden was sick a few times in the last few month. Once was a respiratory virus and the other a flu/cold. He has only been sick 3 times before, we have been very lucky. He's funny because most kids don't care if their nose is running, but Jaid does. If his nose runs, he points to it, and whines to me, "nose Mom," and won't stop until I wipe it. Needless to say I carried a tissue on me for days. Our first camping trip of the year to Carpenteria was canceled because Jaid was sick. I had to reserve our spot 6 months in advance. I was bummed but got over it quickly. Our second camping trip was which I had to reserved 6 months in advance too, was cut short because Jaid was sick. We went for only one night. The rain was coming too so that made it easier for us to leave. At least we got to run on the beach, throw rocks, bike ride and sleep in the camper, even if it was just for a night.

Coco, Jaiden's Nanny left in April. We loved her but it was time for her to move on. We hired a nice gal who only lasted a week, and then met his new Nanny Juana who is wonderful. She is bilingual Spanish, fun, smart, loving, creative and so nurturing. It is amazing how quickly Jaid transitioned.

We have begun to look at preschools and realize how important it is to us to have a place close by. Unfortunately we have not found "the one." Still looking. The good thing is Jaid is ready. We took him to one and he fit right in. Within minutes he was climbing the jungle gym with playmates and sitting around the break table sharing his snack. So cute. Would like to have him go a few days a week, from 9-12. It's gonna be much harder for Mommy than it will be for Jaiden!

Founder's 2011

February is the infamous month of AppleOne's elite vacation. This year we traveled to South Beach Miami and then on a Caribbean cruise.
We had Jaiden all prepared with a special carry on luggage. The luggage has 4 wheels and he sits on it and we pull him through the airport. So cute. Inside we packed all sorts of fun activities for him to keep him busy on the plane. Wouldn't you know once the carry on was on the plane we never opened it. Jaiden was quite the passenger. He visited with a few friends, took a long nap, watched a movie and by then the ride was over.
On the bus to the hotel we met our friend Paul's sister Grace, who was traveling from NY as Paul's guest. She was lovely and at that time little did we know we would spend a good portion of our trip hanging out with her.
The Hotel Lowes SB was very nice. Jaiden cruised everywhere with us, his favorite thing was swimming and playing in the pool with Uncle Paul and Daddy.
The best thing about these work trips is that we get to visit with people whom we only see on this trip, and others good friends who we only see once in awhile, like Kimmie, Duane and Romie, Jaiden's big bro! One night we went to dinner and Duane stayed back to babysit both Romie and Jaid.
One night at dinner in the hotel restaurant we were offered a DVD player for the table to entertain the baby. We thought,"no way" we are not introducing that to Jaid, however a few nights later when we ate at the same restaurant and Jaid was done with his food before we got ours we told the waiter, "PLEASE bring us the DVD player." Whew....it saved our dining experience!
Off to the Bahamas where we went to Nassau and Coco Cay . We did not do too much exploring. On Nassau we walked around with Paul and Grace, taking in a little bit of the culture. And on the Coco Cay island we pretty much just relaxed with Grace and Paul, played in the water and Jaiden napped for awhile. No water sports for us on this trip however Paul and Grace went parasailing.
The ship was nice, we loved seeing our friends Gary and Cheryl from Canada. They are a really neat couple and so much fun. Lucky for us it worked out that we got to enjoy a dinner together with them. Paul and Grace joined us too. We all laughed so much and basically were kicked out because the restaurant was closing.
Jaiden was a star....making it very easy for us to travel with him. The flight home was just about as easy as the way there!

GRANDMA ARLEEN WIENER MAY 21 1942-JAN 23-2011

Jesse's Mother passed away unexpectedly on January 23rd, she was only 69. As you can imagine we are deeply saddened by this unbelievable loss. I will write eventually.

Fantastic & 2

It seems impossible that Jesse and I have a 2 year old. How crazy is that? Some days it seems like just yesterday we were rocking our little baby to sleep and then other days it seems like he has been with us forever! We celebrated Jesse's birthday on the 11th, which was nice. I actually only worked half day and then took him to lunch and the movies. It was a nice afternoon. The morning of the 12th I woke up extra early so I could decorate the house with balloons so that Jaiden would be surprised when he woke up. As soon as we heard him we both ran into his room to sing the HB song to him. He was so excited he even said HB to himself. We all laughed. It was not long before Jaiden had the Mickey Mouse balloon close to his face kissing him. He loves Mickey Mouse. Jaiden and Daddy came to work to celebrate with his Aunties during the day. There were lots of gifts, food, and yummy cupcakes. Super fun. Then we went to my parents house for dinner where Jaiden got more gifts and ate more food and of course birthday cake. When we said goodnight to Jaiden we walked down memory lane from the day we brought Jaiden home, reminiscing about everything. Both Jess and I astonished at how fast the time went. We were in the middle of a hard decision that week because our Maggie Dog who was 22 was nearing the end. And we had hoped that she would have gone to sleep and not woke up but that was not the case. So we had to make the decision and called the mobile Vet to our house on the 13th. Jesse held Maggie so tight as the Vet administered the medication. It was quick, peaceful and very painful for us. We cried and then buried her in the backyard next to her partner Bart. The weekend came quickly and it was time to celebrate Jaiden's bday with all of his friends. We rented this place called "My Gym." It is a very cute kids gym with tons of fun equipment and space for the kids to run around. There was zip lining, swings, trampoline, a puppet show, a tub of balls and so much more. The kids all had a blast running around for 2 hours. It was nice to visit with our friends, the parents although we did not get much time with them. We were thrilled that our friends Tuyet and Peter we had met a few years ago in an adoption class made it. It was the first time we had never met their beautiful daughter Tessora. We served some snacks and then Janet made totally cool cupcakes in ice cream cones that everyone really enjoyed. One of the best things was there was really no set up or clean up. It was super easy! The following week we were off to Mammoth. This year it was just the 3 of us, and we had some friends joining us for the weekend. It was a different kind of trip because I hung out with Jaidene which was just as well because both of us had a little cold, and Jesse snowboarded 1/2 days. Our goal was to get Jaiden on his snowboard which was his bday gift from Mommy and Daddy but that did not really happen. He did stand on it. Jaiden's vocabulary continues to grow every day and he is putting together so many words... "Daddy go,"" going to Bubbe's house," "reach up," "go to park," "my house," "Bob's Big Boy," "release," "put back," "love you this much!" All of it incredible! We are so grateful for our lil Jaid and are enjoying every single minute with him. I can't believe I have a 2 year old!

23 MONTHS

Each age is a beautiful stage, and with each month brings so many new things.


At 23 months Jaiden was stringing 2 words together, increasing his vocabulary by several words a day, and talk, talk, talking.


We Celebrated each night of Hanukkah and with each night came the lighting of the candles and at least one gift. By the second night Jaiden was saying, "Menorah" without being prompted and "Happy Hanukkah."The holidays this year were really fun. Mostly because Jaiden understood how fun it was to open up gifts. The unwrapping was more fun than anything. It did not matter what the present was whatsoever just as long as he could rip the paper. I would get home from work and before I could put my stuff down, Jaiden would look at me and say, "present?" So cute. Of course I did not make him wait long at all, I quickly put my things down and gave him a present.



We had a nice time visiting with friends and family during the holidays. We managed to make it to a few open houses, and a few parties, all were super fun.

Jesse and I celebrated our 8year wedding anniversary with my parents who were celebrating their 53rd wedding anniversary. This year we hired a private chef who cooked us an amazing meal at my folks home. Jaiden and Aunt Alli joined us. We all had a great time.

Crazy to think Jaiden will be "two" next month! And when you ask him how old he is he says,"two!" SO cute.