In the past few months, he has picked up so many new words, some of his favorites being car, boat, PawPaw, moon, dome, basketball, Elmo, and one that I'm sure I probably taught him, "No!" Jeremy and I recently started playing the "Who do you like more" game, where we ask Jasper who he likes more, Mommy or Daddy. He ALWAYS responds, "MAMA!" And when we ask who he likes more, PawPaw or Elmo, he answers that one 50/50. He knows some sign language, including "more" and "milk." We didn't teach him that; he just picked it up at daycare... because he's a genius.
He can point to his nose, ears and eyes. He can point out different animals in his books like cow, horse, kitten, frog, etc. He makes the "Moo" sound when we point to a picture of a cow. It's impressive to see how quickly he catches on to what's what. Then again, would you expect anything less? He gives Daddy and the guys high fives and "daps" all the time. He has perfected his unique wave and does it on command, along with blowing kisses to all the ladies. If you have the opportunity to kiss him on the lips, he lets out a big, loud "MMMUUAAHHH!" And on top of all that, during his bath tonight, he repeated, "I love you" to me. Yes, my heart melted.
We're finally to the point where he watches television. Do you realize how wonderful this truly is for us? I know, I know, we should be reading to him more and not parking him in front of the TV but you know what, it's just not realistic to keep up with all that. Dinner has to be made, laundry needs to be folded and these last 15 lbs. aren't going to lose themselves. Anyway, "Santa" brought Jasper some Sesame Street DVDs for Christmas and he is positively mesmerized by them. When I tell you that this kid NEVER sits still, I am not exaggerating. But put him in front of the TV with one of Sesame Street's Elmo videos and suddenly, I'm the maid I always wanted!
I know it's probably too early to tell, but I'm pretty sure that Jasper lucked out with a combination of our best music genes. He loves all kinds of music. He dances to any-and-everything. If I sing a simple ABC song, he rocks his head back and forth. Every time he hears music, he bends his knees and hops to the beat. I hope he always likes dancing as much as he does now. It will definitely pay off later with the ladies. And it's not just the dancing; he now has his own trumpet and french horn! As he walks around the house blowing the horn (and tormenting Callie) like he's in the marching band, Callie chases after him barking and biting at the end of the horn. It's quite entertaining to watch.
He's fearless. Jeremy had the attic door open and with PawPaw supervising, Jasper climbed up to the top of the attic ladder. Jeremy is teaching him karate. Well, not exactly. But they both walk around the house yelling, "HIIYAAA!" I'm not sure what that's about. Must be a guy thing. Speaking of guy things, they play football, basketball, baseball and some wrestling all in our very own living room. A few days ago, while I was working, Jeremy worked a half day (it was a holiday), picked up Jasper and took him to "Happy Hour." FYI, our version of Happy Hour involves selecting your own yogurt and many, many toppings at TCBY. Sounds like a pretty awesome happy hour to me!
We experienced another milestone last week (2/13/13) as Jasper climbed out of his crib for the first time. Lately, he's been wanting to get to bed later and later. His regular bedtime is already 9:15. So when I tried putting him to bed a few minutes before 9 p.m., I knew we were in for a good 20 minutes of screaming. Sure enough, he didn't disappoint. But when his bedroom door opened and I was in bed and Jeremy in the kitchen, we knew instantly, there was a problem! We had an escapee, and a very cute one at that! So there's a little more to the story from that night that I feel I need to share... Jeremy wanted to see how Jasper climbed out, so he put him back in the crib and grabbed his phone to record Jasper on video. Well, Jasper was too slick. He put his hands on the rail, hopped up and over, and plopped on the ground in seconds. So to throw him off, Jeremy got creative. He turned most lights off, threw the blanket over Jasper's head pressed "record," and hid in the closet. One small problem. Jasper never hopped out of the crib. Instead he sat in his crib, stood up, sat, stood back up, sat, and eventually fell asleep about 30 minutes later. This is where "Dad of the Year" comes in. Because Jeremy didn't want Jasper to be afraid of monsters in the closet for the next 30 years of his life, Jeremy stuck it out, standing in the closet, in the dark, silent for 30 minutes until Jasper was fast asleep. Best Dad. Ever.
With Jasper getting older, going out to restaurants is getting harder and harder. He gets fussy and he can't sit still for long. He tries letting go of my hand when we're walking in crowds. He can be super whiny when he's tired and he often shows much too much separation anxiety when Daddy gets too far from his sight. But it's incredible watching him slowly begin to follow instruction, see and experience things for the first time, do things independently, and to show affection for particular family and friends. He may throw the remote on the floor, but when we ask him to pick it up and put it back on the table, he does. He's also very nice about sharing, especially when this involves his food and Callie. He gives me things, like shoes, toys and even a half eaten pretzel, and he usually doesn't take them back. I've even begun reasoning with him that he doesn't need to cry to get what he wants, but to simply ask. He likes trying to feed himself (with an emphasis on "trying"). He likes sitting next to Callie and petting her. And tonight, he crawled up in Daddy's lap to read a book together. He's precious and we're very lucky. I'll have to remind myself of all this the next time we're out in public and he won't stop running and screaming, haha!
Now, you know I couldn't post a blog without adding pictures. Here are a few more, taken between December and February. As always, we love you! XOXO.
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