Happy 15 months Jasper!

This little monkey continues to entertain and amaze the rest of his family.  He picks up on things so fast that we really have to be careful of what we are doing because he is always observing and learning when we least expect it.  He can mimic sounds very easily so his vocab is expanding quickly.

He had to have two shots at his 15 month appointment (soooo not happy about those) and he weighed in at 23 lbs & 10 oz and measured 32 1/2 inches - which puts him in at 50th percentile for weight and 90th percentile for height.


It has been another tough few months sleepwise as Jasp grew his next set of 8 teeth (it's all or nothing for this little guy!) giving him a total of 16 chompers.

Just a few cutesy things he has learned since his 1st birthday:

1) When he or someone else sneezes, he then repeats "ah-ah-choo" in a very exaggerated manner.

2) Trying to keep him away from the oven and stove when they are on so we tell him it is "very hot"- well, he can now repeat "ha-ttt" (emphasis on the T) but we still don't fully trust that he understands the concept of heat because he is not afraid to stand close to the oven door when we open it.

3) We always end our Skype calls with family members with kisses to the camera so when he hears goodbyes being said, he runs up to the webcam making smooching sounds.  He sometimes even kisses the camera even if no one is on the computer.

4) Mommy and Daddy always blows on his food to cool it down first but Jasp of course observed this and decided that he can do it himself.

5) One of his favorite letters is B as many of his words begin with this letter: bird, ball, bus, boat, bye bye, baby (in which his cuddles his baby doll like how Mommy cuddles him), and his favorite cozy blanket (and middle name)...blue!

6) Not really cute but just wanted to mention so he can remember this when he is older: he is quite the bully with his brother.  I think it is partly Sam being very generous with his little brother but whenever the two have a tug-of-war over something, it is usually Jasper who wins.  I even found Jasp sitting on top of Sam one time.  Not saying that Sam doesn't give his fair share but most times it is after Jasper on purpose teases his brother.  Needless to say, Jasper is a much more rough and tumble kind of kid.  The falls that this kid takes everyday (sometimes he even does it on purpose) is enough to give Mommy a heart attack but he gets right on up and keeps on ticking.

7) He loves getting his teeth brushed and knows when Mommy is being lazy and not putting his baby toothpaste on because he won't open his mouth for the brush otherwise.  He also enjoys getting his flouride drops (unlike Canada, there is no flouride in Bermuda water), vitamin drops and when necessary baby tylenol (they must make medication too tasty for kids these days!)

8) Jasper is great at following instructions: after his diaper is changed, he will bring it to the trash can himself, he also does this when he finishes his snacks (though I did find a tupperware in the garbage and Daddy discovered a poopy diaper in his backpack at work so he does require a bit of supervision); when he goes to bed, he brings his sippy cup of water so when I ask him, "where is your water?", he looks for it with one of his hands held up in the "where?" position and heads for the stairs to his room when he finds it; when his diaper needs to be changed and we ask him to go get a diaper, he dutifully heads to the bathroom and gets a diaper from the drawer;  when it is bathtime, he heads upstairs, lays down the bathmat, tosses in his bath toys and gets a washcloth from the drawer and tosses it into the tub as well; when we say it is time to go to the car, he turns off the tv and gets his shoes.

9)  When he first discovered the trash can, we tried to keep him out by saying "dirty, blah!"  Well, it didn't keep him out of it, he just opened it and said "blah!"  He definitely understood what "blah" meant because when we changed his poopy diapers, he said "blah" too.  He also doing a half retching sound too (best way I can describe the sound) for things he perceives as dirty and gross.

10)  He not only loves playing with the toy kitchen, hiding his sippy cups, snacks and toys in the drawers and cupboards, but he unfortunately knows how to climb up onto it as well.  Luckily he has a big brother that reports his every move to Daddy and Mommy because he is a quick little fella.

11) Like Sam, he loves animals.  His favorites at the Aquarium are "fish" and "turtle".  He also loves the wandering kitty cats, ducks and roosters we have around the island.  He even makes a dinosaur sound ("rooowrr") when we put on his dinosaur shoes.
12)  Daddy's favorite part of his work day is coming home to find Jasper waiting for him at the door.  It is a door with blinds so Jasp squats down and lifts them just enough so he can see Daddy parking his bike in the driveway.  (I don't know who has the bigger smile, Daddy or Jasper)  And just like Sammy at this age, whenever he finds a phone, it is always "Dada" who gets the call.  He must be one special guy!

13)  Mommy and Jasper have started Kindermusik with Miss Suzanne. (First theme is "Feathers", all about birds, yay!) Whereas Sammy stuck to Mommy in class, Jasper is more adventurous, wanders around the classroom and participates a bit more in the activities.  Jasper seems more interested in music than his brother, he seems to keep to the beat when he bobs his head or claps his hands when he hears music.We were really surprised that there was another Jasper just a few weeks younger than our Jasper in our class!  Sammy attended a couple of classes with us when he was out of school and seemed to enjoy class more now that he is older.  Our favorite songs from the Feathers cd is "Kookaburra" and "Why Bird" (Sam's name for the song, I don't know the real name) - Sam actually sings the words in the car while Jasper does his hand movements, which is fantastic because up until now, all Sam has sung is Happy Birthday and Jingle Bells.

14) Just like Mommy, Jasp has an affinity for handbags and shoes.  Though not quite fancy as he uses any type of bag he finds around the house to store his toys and snacks and most of the shoes he loves wearing around the house belong to Daddy and Sammy, he still looks very adorable.  He always totes the handbag in the crook of his arm and says "bye-bye", waving his little hand.

15) He also loves foraging the real fridge and freezer for something appealing to his appetite. He quickly learned what "close" means as Mommy has repeated this word many times to him...and most times he obliges (re: after he grabs something to eat)

Speaking of appetite, Jasper is still on the most part a good eater.  He transitioned to a diet of solid foods quite seamlessly (mostly due to our trip to Alberta, even though Po Po made him some yummy purees just in case).  The odd little things he doesn't like are ketchup and berries (though in a milkshake or smoothie or yogurt it is okay).  Sometimes if he isn't into eating, we'll stick it on the end of a fork and he'll happily put it into his mouth - perhaps it's all about presentation for Jasp.  It is amusing to find Jasper begging for something that Mommy and Daddy are eating for which he has never had before - most times it is something sweet or chocalatey, but how does he know he'll like it???  Being a second child, he is definitely exposed to a lot more sweets at an earlier age than his brother.  Juice, freezies, chocolate, ice cream, cookies, you name it, Jasp has probably already had it. (yes, even a taste of Daddy's scotch)

It is just so much fun to play with Jasper everyday, he is such a great baby.  I still wish a tiny bit that he could sleep through the night.  Poor little guy gets night terrors a few times a week.  We suspect it happens when he is overtired so we try to get some good naps on a stricter schedule but it is tough to follow sometimes.  Hopefully it is just something he will grow out of.