Lovin' life!

I have really, really been enjoying Jasper lately. Not just me, but my husband, also. Jasper is in this incredibly  precious stage where he says new things daily and is constantly picking up new "tricks" or flooring me by performing some new task that I didn't know he could do.

For example, the other day I was talking out loud and said, "oh! I need to get you a clean diaper." and Jasper toddled out of the kitchen and came back a moment later holding out a clean diaper. Totally floored me. Now every time he has a dirty diaper, I say, "Jasper, grab a clean diaper. It's time to change you." and he really obeys me! I'm still floored because I never, ever taught him what a "clean diaper" is or where we store them.

Another example, when something is a "no touch" and i'm training Jasper not to touch it, I say (with concern in my voice), "Jasper, no no no. Don't touch the remotes." I apparently always say "no" 3 times, although I didn't realize it until Jasper started saying "no" yesterday.

I have been dreading and dreading the day that Jasper learned the word "No". I thought it would be horrible and my precious little darling would turn into a rebellious monster. I could not have been more wrong. It's utterly, completely, profoundly precious.. Whenever Jasper sees something he's not allowed to touch or something that's off-limits, he points at it and says to himself in a VERY concerned voice, "no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no...." He says it all as one word, it sounds an awfully lot like yodeling, and he says it with concern and caution filling his voice. He looks to me for approval to make sure he's getting it right, and once I affirm what he's saying, he goes back to his "no" yodeling for quite some time. It is so, so precious.

As I watch Jasper yodeling "nononononononono..." while pointing at some off-limits thing, and as my heart is completely melting within me, I often find myself thinking of the verse in Psalm 8: "What is man that You are mindful of him, the son of man that You care for him?". God heard our pleas for a child and I still can't believe God chose us to be the parents of this precious, precious boy and I'm so often filled with humble gratefulness as I thank Him for our precious blessing.

This stage of Jasper's life is the best stage ever. Hands down. Granted, I've said that about each stage so far, but this one really is the best one yet.