Counting in Spanish

  Last Sunday Jasper counted to six in Spanish out of the blue! I think he learned it from watching Diego. Here's a video of him counting to three. It's amazing what kids pick up!

A Weekend Away

 
I had a nice weekend at my Church's Women's Retreat. It was at Camp Mack from Saturday morning to Sunday afternoon. It was nice to get to know some of the ladies at church better, and I also got a lot of scrapbooking done! Jasper helped me pack my suitcase on Friday and then enjoyed lounging in it after I emptied it when I got home.

Jasper and Josh had a fun time together, just the guys. They did have dinner with Grandma Cathy and Walt on Saturday night, and they went to church on Sunday morning. Uncle Colin came over Sunday afternoon for lunch and football. When Colin and Josh went outside to take care of the dog, Jasper wanted to join "my Co-win" so we bundled up and played in the snow for a while.

A Handy Man

 
Jasper was all decked out this morning in his work gloves, hard hat and goggles working at his tool bench. Jasper and I decided to stay in today rather than brave the 20 below weather outside. I was going to take him to daycare for a few hours so I could go into work and get some things done. I had already decided not to venture out when daycare called and said they'd be closing at noon.

Jasper has been playing pretend with the doll today. He pretended to take his temperature, change his diaper and put him to bed. Jasper also figured out that if he wanted to look in a drawer that he couldn't reach that he should go get a stool. He went looking for his stool, and when he found it, brought it in, climbed up and got in the drawer. He found an infant's pacifier thermometer and has been putting it in his mouth calling it is "ba ba." He also found his sunglasses and had a good time trying to get those on.

Lately, Jasper's been telling us when things hurt, but sometimes it's hard to tell if it really hurts or if he just wants to say the word. He is still pretty tough when it comes to boo boo's. For instance, this morning he bumped his head on the corner of the end table and had a pretty nice gash. He whimpered and said, "head hurts, Mommy kiss." After a kiss and his "boo boo bunny" he was fine.

Jasper and I played "Mommy says" today. He loved it. He didn't really get the idea of not doing this if I didn't say "Mommy says" but he liked doing different actions like standing on one foot, jumping, spinning in circle, touching his head and rubbing his belly, etc.

Nano is surviving the cold just fine. He sleeps in a wooden box filled with straw. It has sides and a back and we've given him blankets (which he always carries outside) Today since it was so cold, we carried his bed into the workshop and locked the door to the garage. He seems to like the somewhat-warmer area. The only problem is there's no doggie door, so I have to go let him out occassionally. Apparently he's not used to holding it though, because he'd gone right next to the door, and it's so cold I couldn't even clean it up because it was frozen solid to the ground! Yuck!

Happy Birthday to Me!

Today is my 28th Birthday. I woke up to Jasper in a great mood chattering away. He said, "Mommy eat cake, Mommy open presents, Mommy 2-8" Josh also taught him to say Happy Birthday. He's feeling much better and should be ok for Aunt Heidi to come watch him on Friday night, so Mommy and Daddy can go on a date.

It's VERY snowy here, so Josh left us the truck. A good thing, because he could barely get out of the driveway in the car. Jasper and I took our time getting ready this morning, and then I took him to daycare, so I could have the day at home to myself. I haven't done anything too special, just some laundry, dusting, vacuuming...the usual, but it's been nice to only be here by myself. I also excercised. I'm up to 8 minutes on the elliptical now! I can hardly wait for the weigh-in tomorrow.

Another update...Josh got an A on his latest class. I read (well I'm only up to page 20) his final exam, and he is SMART! I'm really proud.

A Good Night's Sleep

Jasper seems to be feeling pretty good after just two doses of antibiotic. He went to bed about 8:45 p.m. last night and was only up once around 4 a.m. just long enough to have Daddy help locate is cup of water. Then he slept until nearly 8 a.m.!! This is the most sleep we've gotten in weeks!

We had a nice lazy day around here. We watched TV, played games, put together my new elliptical, and Jasper took a nice nap in the truck on our one trip out of the house today to go to the store in town. We're going to stay home from church tomorrow since the dr. said Jasper shouldn't go to daycare for a couple of days, we decided we shouldn't take him to the nursery either. Jasper's sleeping now and we're hopeful that we'll have another full night's sleep.

Pneumonia

We went to the Dr. today for Jasper's 2 year "well baby" check up. He wasn't exactly well, though. His cough that we thought was from a sinus infection was still lingering, and the dr. heard some crackling in his chest, so he gave him a breathingtreatment and ordered a chest x-ray. Jasper did fine during the exam and fairly well during the breathing treatment, but the chest x-ray was a different story! It took three of us to hold him down. After the x-ray, he was super hyper and was running around the waiting room (in his Looney Toons gown) squealing and having a good old time. Apparently the medicine in the breathing treatment makes kids hyper! He continued to act like he felt ok since the dr. appointment.

The dr. read the x-ray and said he definitely had pneumonia in the left upper lung and a little in the right lung. We have to keep him home from daycare Monday and Tuesday and go back for a follow-up. We got a new antibiotic and will give him his first dose when he wakes up from his nap (he's been sleeping for almost 2 hours!) We're hoping that when he gets over the pneumonia, that his sleeping and behavior (i.e. tantrums) will improve. Mommy and Daddy REALLY need some sleep!

A Rough Week

This past week has been rough for Jasper. He hasn't felt his best and he's begun the terrible two's...He's not been sleeping well for a couple weeks, but in the past few days he's begun throwing major tantrums when he has to do something he doesn't want to like: get in his car seat, wear socks, go back to bed at 2 a.m., etc...The worst ones were an hour long fit in the middle of the night and a 20 minute tantrum while I was trying to get him in the car after a visit to the library.

There have also been some high points to the week, though. Josh finished up his second class for his master's degree this week. It was a lot of work, but I'm really proud of him. And VERY glad it's him and not me who has to be that academic! Last Saturday we visited Uncle Colin's apartment and went out to eat for his 24th birthday. We went to Daddy's "business" as Jasper called it and then went to lunch on Wednesday. Then we came home and played in the snow and then had hot cocoa. Jasper has done and said his share of silly things recently. Here he was walking around the house in my shoes and pink hat.

Matthew Came to Visit

Last Friday, we watched Matthew Finney (Jasper's friend from church) because his Mommy had to work and his daycare was closed for the holidays. Matthew got to our house around 7:30 and stayed until about 4 that afternoon. We joked that it was a good test to see if I could handle two kids at once. Matthew's daddy pointed out that I'd never have the luxury of having two so close in age to play with one another, though!

Jasper and Matthew played very well together and only had a few spats over the Elmo balloon and the 4-wheeler toy. They worked the 4-wheeler dispute out very nicely. I suggested one ride and one push and then they could take turns. They were behind the couch so I couldn't see them, but I said it was time to trade places. I heard some rustling and then Jasper said, "Thank you, Matt-you" and out they came Matthew now pushing and Jasper riding.

We did have a brief incident when Jasper hit Matthew in the head with his tape measure. It wasn't malicious - I could see the wheels turning in Jasper's head as he did it- he looked at the tape measure and then at Matthew's head and wondered what would happen if...? Well after a timeout and an apology all was well. Later Matthew hit his head (not hard) on something else and was crying a bit. I said, "Shake it off" and Matthew looked at me with a puzzled expression and then shook his arms and legs!

Later before naptime, Matthew whispered to Jasper, "Let's hide in the closet." So they both got in my closet and shut the door. Later Jasper whispered the same to Matthew and they did it again.

The boys enjoyed playing with tools and fingerpainting the most. After naptime and two clothes changes, we headed into Plymouth to drop Matthew off to his Mommy. I thought it went very well, and I decided if I could magically produce a child about 6 months older than Jasper, a second child may be an option...

New Years Resolutions

Happy New Year! Yesterday, Jasper went to the doctor for a nasty cough he's had, and it turns out that he has a sinus infection. We started some antibiotics yesterday, and the dr. said he should be as good as new in a few days.

Last night, we went to Eric and Val's house for a New Year's Eve party. Jasper enjoyed spending time with his "baby cousins." He can say Ada's name and attempts Nathan's. Jasper enjoyed riding Nathan's rocking motorcycle. We didn't get home until VERY late, but it was a good time. Heidi (and her dog, Fink) stayed here last night. Today has been a lazy day. We're getting ready to go get Jasper's 2 year pictures taken in about an hour.

So, to the resolutions...I made two - one is to lose 30 pounds and the other is to begin helping meet needs of people that I come across whenever I have the opportunity. Josh is also trying to get healthier, so we've thrown away all the sweets and are going to be attempting to eat healthier and exercise. I'm looking into some sort of exercise equipment that I can do at home since it's too cold to walk outside and the slope of our OLD house makes things fall off the wall and tables when I try to do exercise videos in the living room! I'm going to post a weight loss count down mainly to help motivate myself.

Happy 2009!