Jasper is TWO years old

Jasper's birthday celebrations consisted of a Fire Truck Birthday party on Sat March 7th at our house with lots of friends & family and great weather. Then Jasper actually turned two on Monday, March 9th. He & I stayed home all day and started our planned week of serious potty training. I still sang Happy Birthday to him on his actual birthday, we ate leftover apple pie, and he got to blow out the candles several times per his request. Below he is reading on his birthday - still one of his favorite things to do! I love it! We also played outside a lot since the weather was wonderful!

Here are LOTS of photos from the party!

Last year I made Jasper's duck shaped cake so I went for two fire truck cakes this year. Nothing too fancy but fun! I made a chocolate cake, an apple cake, and the frosting - all Betty Crocker recipes. Darrell was a big help in icing and decorating the cakes. He was much better at it than me. Darrell Sr. made two apple pies as other dessert options.We played outside for a bit and enjoyed the great weather before coming inside to open presents and eat!

The bubble-blowing lawn mower was a bit hit with the guys!

Jasper blew out the candles before we even started to sing. We re-lit them a few times throughout the song just for fun.

Jasper enjoying his new chair and DVD player! Now we can watch DVDs without having to boot up my ancient laptop - very convenient and will especially be great when baby #2 arrives.

We had a ton of fun with Jasper's birthday and he is a such a great kid! Here is information (and bragging!) on him at this age :)

At 2, he weighs about 31 lbs and is about 36 inches tall. (About the same stats as 18 months but I know he has gotten taller - just haven't gone to the dr yet and according to Darrell's mark on the wall he is 36 inches...). Jasper is a great sleeper and communicator. He goes to bed between 7:30 and 8 and wakes up between 7 and 7:30. A lot of times it is 7:20 exactly. He usually naps from 1-3 or so. He can count to 22 and say his ABCs. He recognizes about half the numbers and maybe not quite half the letters. The other day he pointed to a number on his nalgene water bottle and said, "That's the number 5. It's not the letter s." Wow! I've found I only have to mention things once and he will bring it up days later. Darrell asked the other night if I taught him the H and C on the bathtub faucet which I have not...but he knows them! He can spell his name by pointing to each letter and saying it. He is starting to get interested in what a particular word says. We were leaving a store the other day that had an OPEN sign on the front door and he pointed and said, 'P, O.' He is really into letters and words lately. I've gotten some of these things on video but it is challenging as he seems to have entered a whole new level of active! Whew!

He mostly feeds himself but I still feed him foods that tend to be messy like oatmeal and yogurt. He does good with a fork and spoon but sometimes it is just easier for me to feed him his yogurt. Pretty soon I probably won't have time to help him eat but I think he'll be fine. Jasper can reach all lightswitches to turn on lights and sometimes turns them off too. He turns on and off lights and closes doors. He loves to 'help Mama cook' and play with water in the kitchen or bathroom sink. Jasper seems to have a really good sense of direction and always points out which way to the fire station or Grandie's house or the library. He knows where Home Depot is and often recounts Daddy breaking a lightbulb there. Sometimes one of his little people mechanics (canics, he says) will make a trip to Home Depot to buy a lightbulb. He loves his little people Car Wash & garage and all his cars always need to get gas.

Jasper can finish most sentences in any of the books on his shelf - even ones we haven't read in a while, I have recently discovered. It is fun to read the first few words of a sentence on a page and have him finish the sentence word for word. It is remarkable and makes me realize how many times we have read each of those books! Jasper loves books and we still read a lot. Richard Scarry's Best Word Book Ever is still a favorite (Darrell and I are SO tired of this book at times). Also, Richard Scarry's Giant Storybook Collection is a favorite, too. He loves cars & trucks and choo choo trains. Fire trucks, really any emergency vehicles, along with construction trucks are his favorites. He loves to hug and kiss animals in books or other weird objects. Tonight in the bathtub he gave his green diving ring a hug and kiss.

Jasper is pretty much potty trained, hallelujah! I wanted him to be day trained and thought we'll work on nap & night later on, but once we started wearing big boy underwear all the time (on his birthday), he started staying dry about 50-75% of the time he sleeps. I did not expect that to happen but I guess he really wants to be dry now. At naptime I put a cloth diaper without a cover or a pull-up on him. I used the same pull-up for 3 days last week as it was dry. At night we use either a disposable diaper or a pull-up. He has asked to sleep in big boy underwear a few times but has then changed his mind. I think he'll go for it soon.

We went to Darrell's rec league soccer game on Sunday March 8th and Jasper used the little potty I have in the back of the car upon arrival to the soccer field. Then we played for 2 hours and as we walked to car to leave he said, potty, so he sat on the potty again and peed. Since then he has used the potty in the car in a parking lot twice over the past week. He will also sit on a big potty at say, Chick-fil-A, with me holding him up a little bit. I'm glad he goes between his little potty, the little little car potty, and the big potty with no problems. I'm looking for a good seat that I can leave on the big potty in his bathroom then we won't have to empty the little potty. Not that he minds - he does well emptying it himself with no spillage, put it back, then closes the potty lid, and mentions there are 'letters on the flusher', then flushes the potty. He occasionally waves bye bye to the poop or pee, as well :)

At night when I put him to bed we say the same "Now I lay me down to sleep" night night prayer. As I say it, he says, GOD, GOD, GOD. and I say, yes we are talking to God. Then he'll finish some of the sentences or say it along with me. When Darrell puts him to bed, they usually say Psalm 1 and the Winkin', Blinkin', and Nod poem. The other night Darrell called me in there to listen as I really had not listened in to this ritual. Darrell would start each phrase or sentence then Jasper would finish it. It was really sweet...Jasper saying "meditates on his law day and night" as he swirms about in bed kicking his feet in the air. The boy does not stop moving...though his attention span is definitely lengthening, finally!

Also, Jasper is pretty good at saying Yes please or No thank you. However, in response to a stern "do you understand", he always says 'Yes Sir.' Even to me - which was hilarious a few months ago but now I give up on the ma'am thing for now. Maybe later.