coloring!

Jasper and I had such a sweet day today, just playing around the house and.... wait for it... COLORING!!!

I'm SO SO SO thrilled that Jasper is starting to show an interest in things such as reading and coloring! We had so much fun this morning, coloring for 45 minutes.

One of the (many) things I've learned from parenting a toddler is that I need new coloring "tools" since all we have are sharpies, highlighters, and pens; I've walked into the kitchen on several occasions to find Jasper "coloring" our kitchen floor with sharpies. They are now out of reach. :o) So until I can get some crayons and/or washable markers, we color with highlighters and pens, which Jasper really seems to love.

Jasper's favorite part of coloring seemed to be coloring in all the of the "corners"; he concentrated very, very hard on that part. And in true Jasper fashion, he also liked switching seats a lot. :o)

feeding the bugs

One of my friends just recently asked me what I do all day with Jasper. As I pondered the answer to that question, one thing kept coming to mind. We feed his bugs. All day, every day, Jasper is adamant that these 2 bugs have a healthy serving of Rice Chex Cereal and we spend much of our day lovingly putting little piles of Rice Chex on each bug.

Bug #1

Bug #2 (this book- published 1983)

For some unbeknownst reason to me, these 2 bugs have captured Jasper's whole-hearted love and devotion. He drags these bugs around with us everywhere, feeds them, hugs them, kisses them, talks about them, and gets them his binky whenever he thinks they're tired. Gives them his froggy, gets them clean diapers when he thinks they've pooped, etc. If Jasper had to choose between me or the bugs, I'm not sure I would win. :o) They're currently his bff and it's so darn cute. :o)

This is Our Life Project update

I wanted to update my photos from the different weeks of the "this is our life project". The idea is to take photos each week pertaining to that week's theme and then choose the 1 photo that you like best. At the end of the year, I'll hopefully have 52 photos that accurately display what my life looks like, day-to-day.

Week 1- "evening routine". we always feed Jasper yogurt every night after he gets his pj's on. In this photo, he's making his beloved "motorboat" sounds as Andrew "flies" the yogurt to Jasper. It's a precious routine that we've done every night for over a year.

Week 2- "this makes me want to freeze time". I love watching Andrew and Jasper interact and sometimes I feel as though my heart can't hold all the love I have for these 2 guys. If I remember nothing else from this stage of my life, I always want to remember Andrew's tender love for his son.

Week 3- "this makes me laugh". Jasper goes crazy, absolutely bonkers, in the tub. He gets so excited, he acts like he's on crack. It's absolutely hilarious. He mainly just joyfully shrieks at the top of his lungs and splashes like a crazy boy. If you look closely, you can see that the wall behind him is covered in water due to all his splashing.

Week 4- "a different perspective". Jasper longs, yearns, and begs to do the dishes. He acts like it's the world's greatest activity and I'm not about to correct him. In fact, I use "dishes" as a reward for him (IE Jasper, if you eat all your ham, you can do the dishes!!! And it actually works!!). A typical day here in the Meade house includes approximately 3 different times in which Jasper has done the dishes. Anyway, we have lots of pics of him doing the dishes, but this is the first time we've taken a picture of him doing the dishes while looking down at him.

Week 5- "capture the light". Here, I was just trying to use some natural sunlight to get a creative shot of Jasper looking for helicopters, another of his favorite activities.

Week 6- "a good morning". My bible is the most precious possession I own; I cherish my time in the bible more than life itself and I must spend time with the Lord each morning before Jasper wakes up. If ever I have to miss my bible time in the morning, I feel as though my whole day is off kilter and I just feel so grumpy and crabby. In order for me to truly have a "good morning", I must have read my Bible and centered my thoughts on my precious Lord.

Week 7- "negative light- it's a positive!". The whole idea behind this week's theme as that it's sometimes a good thing to have "empty" space in a photo because it puts the viewer's focus on the primary object. So I intentionally took photos of Andrew and Jasper with some empty space in them.

I really love this photography project and am looking forward to snapping more pictures to capture Meade life. :o)

bed head

With hair this crazy, you know it was a good nap. :o)

All boy, oh boy!

Jasper is ALL boy.
Let me stress this again: he. is. all. boy.
He is a pure, authentic, 100% boy wrapped up in a huge, hyperactive bundle of energy.
Today, his toddler boy energy kinda exploded all over the place and has left me reeling and feeling dazed and confused.

For example, today:
- Jasper lit 2 matches in the span of 15 seconds and caught the kitchen table on fire (which I quickly blew out before any real damage was done).
- Jasper locked himself in our closet upstairs closet while eating cough drops and talking about poop.
- While I was distracted, Jasper climbed on top of the dining room table with a random straw (still wondering where he got that straw from) and was sipping my lukewarm coffee through a rainbow straw before I had time to blink (which could explain why he's so hyper right now).
- Jasper is currently trying to throw his vroom-vroom duck in the toilet as Andrew tries desperately to stop him. Jasper keeps saying the duck has to go pee-pees (creativity is good, right???).
- Despite constant discipline, Jasper threw his cups (yes, plural) high in the air during dinner tonight, spraying us all with scrambled eggs and other fluids (yes, he had put the eggs in his cups).
- Before naps today, Jasper had to go give his 2 bugs (BUGS!) hugs and kisses goodnight (he won't give me hugs or kisses, but he gives these ancient, old, 2-dimensional, sickly-looking bugs hugs and kisses).
- Right before nap time, i was rocking Jasper, he was all snuggly in my arms, I was softly singing "Jesus Loves the Little Jasper's", I thought he was asleep, when all of a sudden, he bellows at the top of his lungs, "BIG POOP!!!!" Completely randomly. No mention of poop had been made in hours.

and my personal favorite:
- Jasper thought the door frame in the basement was chocolate and stood there for a good 12-15 minutes, licking and chewing it (yes, it's solid wood). It was the most peaceful 12-15 minutes of my day today.

I know I'm going to, but someone, anyone, please tell me I'm going to miss these days!

Cooking

Jasper really wanted to "cook" this morning, so I happily let him! :o)

Reading

We just walked in the door.

Jasper raced to his room, disappeared for a while, then raced to the couch, flopped down, and started reading one of his favorite books.

I'm in love. With the boy AND the fact that our little boy is showing an interest in reading.

After months of intentional "book time" training, I think books are finally starting to be interesting to our energetic little guy.

Here's hoping that this is just the beginning of a lifetime love of reading!!