Sarah and Adam: The Next Generation

Stories, videos

Today he sat on a pile of pillows, and said: "Sit on the pillow and talk about a story." (Pause.)  "One day Garumph, he tripped." (Pause.) "Funny, funny, funny!"

(Garumph is the name of Jasper's dragon, FYI, and the subject of many stories in our house.)

Now while I type, Jasper says, "Now mommy's click and clacking. Clickety clack, clickety clack." This he learned from one of his favorite books, about the organizing cows who type.

When Jasper wanted the computer trackball mouse he demanded, "I need a turn with the ladybug mouse. Need a turn, need a turn!" When I didn't respond, he inferred my  response and begin to shout, "No! No! No!" 

For a little Gus fix, enjoy these videos:

Jasper's a wise guy, and Gus sleeps like a baby

Jasper is still trying to figure out pronouns. This morning at the end of breakfast, he said, “You’re all done.” Adam said, “Say ‘I’m all done.’ When you’re talking about another person, you say ‘you’re all done.’ When you’re talking about Jasper, you say ‘I’m all done.’ Is Jasper all done?” Jasper gave a sly grin and said “I think he is.”

Gus’s sleep training is finally starting to pay off. All week we’ve managed to get him til 6:30 or 7am before we feed him, so he’s going about 11 hours without eating. He’d still been waking up hungry and fussy at 5 for a few days, but for the last two nights, he slept til close to 7am, waking up only briefly and putting himself back to sleep. What a dramatic improvement from 2 weeks ago, when he was waking up every 2-3 hours all night long to eat! We just couldn’t be more thrilled. He turned 6 months old on Wed, and is fascinated by watching other people eat. We’ll give him his first meal of solid food tomorrow.

You need help, spiders, love and balance

Jasper is still working on mastering pronouns, and frequently gets “I” and “you” confused. For a while he referred to himself as “this one” (as in, “Anna, pick this one up!”), but now he often refers to himself as “you.” This leads to him shouting things like, “You need help! You need help!” 

Today in the yard, we saw a spider. After examining it for a while, Sarah decided it was time to move on to other activities. Jasper, once and for all demonstrating that despite looking like Sarah he has his own personality, demanded, “More spiders! More spiders!”

This afternoon Jasper and Sylvia (the little girl he has child care with) were playing at the park. Both of them being roughly 21 months old, they have a lot of enthusiasm. They chased each other across the grass, and just as they approached the sidewalk Sylvia stopped running and turned and reached out to Jasper. He slowed down, and then opened his arms to hug her. They embraced – in slow motion with butterflies flitting about and a plaintive Imogen Heap song in the background. It was astonishingly cute – all of the mothers in the area smiled. But then, as if in slow motion, the two children toppled to the ground, victims of their poor balance and affection. This would have ended well had they been on the grass, but, alas, Sylvia’s head hit the concrete with full force. Jasper cried in sympathy.

Gus has no major new tricks, but he's talking a lot more than before. Sometimes that's cooing, and sometimes that's squealing at the top of his lungs in delight. He continues to be riveted by Jasper's every move. Gus is almost old enough to start on table foods (just one more week!). He is increasingly interested in watching people eat, and he even sticks out his tongue while he watches you eat.

Sarah and Jasper

Many people have commented that Jasper looks a lot like Sarah did when she was his age. While the hair definitely leads to this conclusion, we thought we'd let you judge for yourself. It seems clear to us that Jasper's great big huge grin is from Adam, and possibly other features as well. Once we get Adam's pictures, we'll put them up too!

Click here to see the side-by-sides of Sarah & Jasper. (And, in case you were wondering, that is Sarah at right, not Jasper!)