Jasper Draws A Monster

Jasper is really beginning to have some control over his drawing. He can easily draw circles and straight lines. He has begun saying he's drawing mommy or daddy, and will draw two dots and a curved line so it looks like a smiley face. Yesterday he drew a circle and said, "Look, Mommy, it's a monster." Then as he drew lines coming off of the circle he said they were two arms and two legs. He drew two dots and said they were eyes.

He's also been trying to write letters. So far, he's told me he drew a D, an A, and an H. I could actually identify them, too!

Jasper Makes New Friends

 
We went to a cookout at the Hildebrand's house on Sunday evening. Jasper was very social and quickly made friends with Brian (1) and Jenna (3 1/2.) Jasper and Brian played on the slide and in the wagon together. When Jenna arrived, she and Jasper were soon running after one another. After dinner, the adults were playing euchre and dominos and Jasper and Jenna were getting out every toy in sight. Around Jasper's normal bedtime he announced he was ready for bed. We got his PJs on and then he and Jenna covered up on the couch to watch some cartoons. The sleepy time didn't last long and he was going until we left at 11 p.m. (and then he was up and at 'em at 7:30 a.m. the next morning!)

Cousins Galore

 Jasper had a great weekend and got to see lots of his cousins on Saturday evening. We went to a cookout at Jeff and Lanette Combs' house. The whole extended family was there including the two babies, Nathan (1 in a couple weeks) and Ada (turned 1 in April.) The coolest part was that both of the babies started walking right there in front of us! Jasper had a blast playing with them and with his older cousins Austin and Jayden.

Jasper's Spring Program

Friday was Jasper's Spring Program. He'd been practicing songs all month including Jesus Loves Me, He's Got the Whole World In His Hands, I've Got the Joy Joy Joy, If You're Happy and You Know It. I was really looking forward to him standing up on stage and singing, but it turns out that all of those songs were for the older kids. Jasper is still in the 'toddler' class, and won't 'graduate' to the 2's class until fall, so he basically just sat on the step and looked cute! After the program, we had snacks and then he got to show us his classroom and do a little craft. Grandma Cathy and Walt came along, so it was fun for him to show them around, too

Wonderful Weather Week!

This week has been beautiful! Jasper has had a bit of a runny nose, but we've determined that it must be allergies because when he's on kid's Zyrtec, it's SOO much better!

It's sad, but I can't even remember what we did over the weekend...oh yeah, Josh worked Saturday, we went out to dinner Saturday night, church and groceries and house projects on Sunday. We did get ice cream on Sunday evening. This time Jasper opted for the ice cream sandwich. It was bit messy...

Wednesday, Jasper and I took a morning walk and played at the park in our PJs - Jasper loved it! Then we came home and got ready for our playdate with the Porters. Norah (4) and Brady (2) and their Mommy, Mary (I won't reveal her age) came over. The kids had a blast playing inside and outside. Jasper was so sad to see them go and kept calling for "Dora" to come back. Norah said through the window of the car as they left, "It's ok, Jasper, I can come back tomorrow." Jasper refused to take a nap after they left because he was so upset, so I told him we could go in the truck and see if we could find Norah (I know, a bit of a lie...) Well, he fell asleep, but as I was carrying him inside, he woke up, looked around and said worriedly, "Where's Dora??" Needless to say, that didn't work, and he didn't actually fall asleep until 4 p.m. Between my first attempt at nap and actual nap, Jasper dropped and broke our digital camera - so no pictures for a while. Looks like I'll be able to borrow my parents old camera until we can replace ours.

All week, Jasper's been serenading us with songs from his school program (tonight) and it's so cute to have him sing to us before bed instead of us singing to him. My favorite from this week was He's Got the Whole Word In His Hands (the verse when he said, "He's got da wittle bitty baby in his hands" was the best!)

Last night was so beautiful that we ate dinner outside. I think Jasper enjoyed that. Heidi brought her dog, Fink, over to stay for a couple days while she helps her sister move. Jasper thought it was neat to have two dogs at our house!

Today, Jasper and I went to the greenhouse to get flowers and vegetable plants. He was very good! Then we went to the library for books, movies and CDs and to sign up for the Summer Reading Program. Then home for lunch, a little playtime, and then I did a brave thing (or stupid??) I took Jasper and the two dogs on a walk. I hooked both leashes to the stroller and off we went. All of them did well, but we had to bring the dogs back before we were really done walking because it was so hot. Jasper fell asleep as we finished our walk and is still sleeping now. I had to stay in for a while to cool off, but am now headed out to plant flowers.

Prince Jasper

Today started early with Jasper up several times during the night with the start of a cold. He and I ended up sleeping on the couch from about 4 a.m. until he announced he was ready for breakfast at 6:15. One good thing about an early start is that I had eaten breakfast, cleaned up the kitchen and started a load of laundry by 7:30 a.m.

Jasper and I decided to build a castle of a cardboard box this morning. We have a book that gives ideas of all kinds of things you can make out of boxes. Our castle has a drawbridge and flags and 'Prince' Jasper has a crown. He is currently watching 'Cars' and eating a snack inside the castle. I take that back, he just said his castle was too scary and climbed upstairs to play (but he's still wearing his crown.) Earlier he told me that it was "nice and warm in my castle."

Coffee and a Cactus

Jasper has done some funny things lately. One that I put on the quote of the day last week was really good! I was making tea on the stove and went to pour the hot water into my cup and Jasper said, "I want coffee, too, Mommy." Then he continued, "In my bird cup...with a straw." We have a mug that has a flamingo as a handle that he had hot cocoa in this winter, and I would give him a straw to drink it out of, so I think he assumed all hot drinks worked like that. I was curious to see what he'd think of my decaf tea, so I poured a bit in his "bird" cup and put a few ice cubes in. I gave it to him, he looked in the mug and said, "I no want ice." I poured out the ice. He took a sip and said, "It's not hot, warm it up, Mommy." I put it in the microwave for a few seconds. He took another sip and said, "Still not hot, warm it up again, Mommy." I warmed it up again. He took another sip and said, "I don't like it." HILARIOUS!!

I mentioned last week that Jasper told me he was drawing a cactus. I happened to catch it on video - here it is...