Helping at Work

Jaydon already has the keyboard all figured out. We're waiting for his first poetic masterpiece...

Playing with Ella, trip to Dubai and mohawks

Jaydon's decided that his girlfriend down the street has some really cool toys. He loves her bouncy seat and jumped in it so much that he realized how to use his Johnny Jump Up (the jumper you hang from the door frame). He's also a big fan of her cool walker car. He scooted around in it and had a great time playing with all the buttons and lights on it. Don't forget to check your blind spot before merging... We also had to take a day trip to Dubai for Jaydon's shots. (There's one that they don't give here in Qatar). The tiny nurse who gave him the shots made him look so big in her arms we all thought it was pretty funny. He's over 19 lbs now.

Jaydon also got to visit with his Aunt Sarah again. We all went to the souqs and Jaydon couldn't take his eyes off some stuffed animals...not quite the teddy bears he's used to playing with. Jaydon's hair style has also progressed from mullet to mohawk. The hair in the back has fallen out and now he's only growing it on the very top. One morning he woke up with it all standing straight up. We thought it so funny we couldn't help but document it even if he wasn't in the mood for pictures.

First Food

Well time sure is flying by and it's already time for Jaydon to give solid foods a try. 1st step was getting the nice (and clean) high chair set up. Jaydon liked hanging out in it especially sine it made him eye level to the fish tank. Jaydon's 1st food was oatmeal, no reason why - just happened to be what we had. He took to the food very well and even made a few surprised faces that made us think he was really enjoying it. Not that we had any doubt in our mind but Jaydon has turned out to be a great little eater. And funny enough he is now drinking even more milk than before we gave him food. He better be heading for a growth spurt soon or our baby is going to more round than he is tall. Jaydon also decided that spoons are pretty fun toys. He just needs to learn to not gag himself with them. Once Dad heard that Jaydon was eating grown-up food he decided to introduce him to one of his favorites...Jaydon liked the cold can on his gums but we decided he better stick with the baby version of grown up food.

Brunch and the Pool

One of the big things to do in Doha on Friday when everything else is closed is to go to one of the western hotels and have a 5 star brunch. A bunch of people in our compound were celebrating birthdays, anniversaries, and even an engagement so we decided a group brunch was in order. We headed out to the Intercon and spent the afternoon enjoying oysters, shrimp, chocolate fountains and all kinds of other good food.
With all that eating we needed a little activity so headed out to the pool for a quick dip. Jaydon really enjoys the pool and is getting a better hang of it. He almost floated on his back without dad's help.

Giggles

Well Jaydon has turned into quite a ham. He spends a good portion of his day just cracking up at things. This video was too cute not to post, so if you need something to make you smile this will definitely help!

So I forgot again that you can't rotate videos so just turn your head to the left and enjoy :)

Aunt Sarah

When we went back to the US in May to introduce Jaydon to the rest of the family my sister at the same time was moving to Doha.
She's a C-17 pilot for the air force and her current station is in Doha for the summer (lucky her). The AF has all kinds of rules regarding how, when and where she can go when leaving the base. She'd also been flying around all those 'stan' countries so much that Jaydon still hadn't met her.

She finally got approval to leave the base and 'certified' to drive in Doha. She was able to join us for dinner at our favorite Arabic restaurant. Jaydon had a great time and can't wait to see her again soon before she heads back to the States.

We found out the next day that she could come for the morning on Saturday so we set our alarm and drove out to the base to get her. Jaydon had a great time swimming with Sarah and even dunked his head under for the first time and didn't seem to mind too much. He also got to try out his new pool float which was a hit. **For some reason blogger is refusing to load the pics but they're on facebook for all to enjoy.

Happy 4th

Jaydon spent his first 4th of July like all Americans should.
Out by the pool having a BBQ. Jaydon didn't come out until after the sun went down and the temp dropped back into the 90's.
And mom forgot to bring the camera out so no pics of the night. All well, there's always next year.His dad got him a special outfit for the occasion and it was a big hit. Next holiday to celebrate is Ramadan...we're still looking for a "baby's 1st ramadan" outfit.

BFF

Well Jaydon is almost 5 months old and is growing - well, like a weed, I guess.
He's learned how to sit-up and does really well until he gets so focused on playing with his toys that he forgets about balance.

We even have him mostly sleeping through the night, he sometimes wakes up to early but seems to sleep about 9-10 hrs every night.

And his very favorite new play thing is...

Athena.

He has a giggling outbreak at her at least once a day. Don't know why but he thinks that she is hilarious.

Every time he hears her paws on the tile he's craning his neck to see her. He loves to touch her and get licked. Athena is still trying to figure this all out but loves the attention she gets.

Jaydon and Athena will definitely be BFF!

Back to Work Disclaimer

So I'm finally heading back to work after about 4 months off. Just when Jaydon is learning how to play with his toys, loves to be tickled, and in general is a great time to hang out with. All well - at least he'll be extra motivation to practice work/life balance (something his daddy is completely oblivious too). Going back to work means less time with Jaydon and a LOT less time messing around on the computer. My goal will be to try and post a couple time a month from here on but no promises... New pictures usually make it to facebook before being loaded here since blogger takes so long to upload so if you're missing Jaydon look for us there. Just wanted to let all you Jaydon fans know :-)

Old Toys, New Toys and Static Electricity

Finally settling in back home and enjoying not living out of suitcases. Jaydon's having fun with his old toys - that seem so easy to play with now. We used to celebrate when he was able to hit the toy cat just right so it sang. Now it might run out of batteries from singing so much. We also got some new toys. The exer-saucer. This toy is a replacement for baby walkers, it allows them to stand and spin around but no walking (and falling down stairs). We also discovered a small problem with having your couches vacuumed everyday - static electricity. Jaydon's hair will completely stand on end - it's pretty funny, we just have to be careful not to shock him too much.

Final Stop - Louisiana

The final stop on Jaydon's grand tour of the states was Louisiana. Jaydon got to experience his first road trip which was a real challenge for everyone since he hates his car seat. But it was all worth it so he could meet his Aunt Renee and cousin Tanner. Tanner was great with Jaydon and kept asking if he could play with his baby cousin - we had to keep reminding him that was still a little small to play with. Next stop was Steve's Grandpa's house. This part of the trip was bitter sweet. It was great to see everyone but Steve's Grandpa passed away in March and never got to meet Jaydon. He spent a lot of time with his great grandmother Marilyn... and also got to meet his great aunt Claudinelle. On our drive back to Houston we stopped back by Renee's again. Melissa and her kids Karlee and Trevor were visiting from Alaska since school was finally out so we had a rare opportunity for a picture op with all the cousins. Karlee also got to have on last snuggle before we got back on the plane for our 16 hr flight home to Doha.