Gabe & I have been looking at Strider bikes for the past few months now, but tonight we finally purchased one. If you haven't heard of them, you should really check them out (www.portlandstriderbikes.com). Not only can children as young as 18 months old ride them, but they teach kids the balance & coordination that's needed to ride a bike - most Strider riders can transition right into a big-kid bike without ever using training wheels! These bikes don't have pedals; instead, kids can walk/run/stride to propel the bike forward & can pick up their feet to just glide along.

Brianne already had an appointment with the owner of Portland Strider Bikes this afternoon & she invited us to come along. Jada & Rowen tried out the bikes together and both totally fell in love. They were naturals. Rowen chose the blue bike & Jada chose the green bike.

What big kids. I'm so proud of my Jada Bear. This will be extra motivation to get outside for some exercise as the rain and cold weather is quickly approaching. Good for Jada and Mommy. :-)

Wow, it has been quite a while since I've updated our blog! Miss Jada is already 20 months old and is as busy as ever.

She loves talking and is developing her sentence building abilities every day. I thought I'd document some of the cute phrases she currently says because I'm sure they'll be changing before we know it.

Current Jada isms:

"Hoh-dit" (translation: "Hold it" or "May I hold it, Mom?")

"Upeez" (translation: "Up Please" or "Please pick me up")

"Elmo Deece" (translation: "Elmo Dance" or "I'd like to watch a YouTube video of Sesame Street")

"Mommy Deece" (translation: "Mommy Dance" or "Mommy, will you dance with me?" This is commonly said in a public setting or while eating.)

"Do It" (translation: "I'd like to do this on my own; I don't need any help.")

"Eat It" (translation: "I think I'd like to eat this". This is usually said as she places something non-edible into her mouth.)

"See Yee Daddy" (translation: "Silly Daddy". This is always said with a huge, proud grin)

"Uh-Oh [insert subject here]!" (translation: "My toy/food/shoe/whatever just fell down. Will you please pick it up for me?")

On the educational front, she can officially count to 2 and understands the concept of counting! She was dividing up dog food pieces between Aunt Annie's two dogs (also utilizing her "Eat It" skills - see above) and with every piece that she divided, she counted out "One...Two...One...Two...One...Two...". I'm so proud.

She can identify the letters P, R, Q, B, I, T, A, D, K, O & Y. She can sound out P "P says puh, puh, Papa" and R "R says rrr, rrr, Rowen". Yesterday, as we were driving down the road, there was a Parr Lumber advertisement on a bus stop. She saw the PARR and said "R! R!". I was so proud.

When we sing our ABCs, she sings along a little. When we stop, she'll sometimes take off from where we left off. For example, tonight I sang "a b c d e f g" then she said "h i j kaaay..... P!". On her own, she just gets to e, then smiles and says, "Mommy ABCs" which means she wants me to sing it instead. Tonight, we broke out the ABC flash cards & she had a blast. I would show her the "A" card & she said "A... apple!" (there was a picture of an apple). Then she would say "More! More!". She's so hungry to learn right now.

Her imagination is incredible. When we're reading a book, she'll pretend to pick up the items in the pictures and give them to us. For example, if there's a picture of corn, she'll pretend to pick it up, then will hand it to me and say, "Mommy, eat it. Corn". She also loves "feeding" her babies and stuffed animals.

She can verbally identify various body parts, most recently including the pinky & thumb. Her favorite toys are stickers (SOOO cool, although she recently discovered that they stick on any service, not just the plain piece of paper that I give her) and a funky yellow chair that we bought at a garage sale for $2.

Here's a cute video of her playing in the fountains at Magnolia Park yesterday. She was a little cautious at first, but after she was soaked, she just wanted "More! More!". :-)

She is such a delight and we are so blessed to have sweet Jada in our lives.