Jase Update: 17- 20 Months

Oh my goodness!! What a FUN whirlwind these last few months have been with Jase! I haven’t updated since 16 months (mostly because I have felt like garbage at night & that’s usually when I blog), but SOOOOO much has changed since then. We are so thankful for our happy, healthy boy who has filled our hearts with more LOVE & JOY than we ever thought possible. I cannot even express how much I love being a mom.

Jase, here’s what you have been up to buddy. (These are not in chronological order.)

• You are obsessed with playing in this car at Grammy’s house. But, you only like to drive it if you have Granddaddy’s keys to put in the ignition. You love cars & keys! Every time you are around Granddaddy or Papa you run to them & ask for their keys. You even know which pocket they keep it in.

• We spend as much time outside with you as possible. We love taking you on walks & you’re content to ride in your stroller as long as you have a snack and your water.

• You have the FUNNIEST little personality and make us laugh EVERY day! I’m pretty sure you’re going to be funny like your dad. You have a hilarious fake laugh you do sometimes too that cracks us up. And you still LOVE that train the Goodwin’s passed along.

I mean REALLLLY love that train!

• You are definitely a HANDSOME boy just like your daddy!!

• I am so thankful you two get to spend so much time together. Y’all love to “race” (you start at the front door and race to the couch after I say “Ready, Set, Go!”), wrestle, be chased, & jump on the bed. Daddy wakes you up every single morning (you holler for him when you wake up- “Daddddddddddd!”), handles bath duties, helps me get you dressed most days, helps feed you, has changed as many diapers as I have, teaches you tons of new words, let’s you “help” him around the house, always fastens you in your car seat and gets you out when we’re going somewhere, & prays for you every night before bed. He is SUCH a great, hands-on dad (probably THE MOST involved I have personally ever been around) and you are super, super blessed to have him. He LIGHTS up around you and you LIGHT UP around him. I love watching you two together. Melts my heart! (And I promise y’all wear clothes. Hahah!)

• We got your FIRST haircut!! Our friend Renee told us about a place up the street that had a car, so we thought that might entertain you. WRONG. Turns out you did NOT like the cape because you are like your Mama & hate anything touching your neck. We ended up taking turns holding you & praying you wouldn’t lose an ear. You did pretty decent once you laid your head on my shoulder.

You looked like SUCH a big boy right after!! I am not personally a fan of a fresh haircut, so I knew it would take some time & getting used to for me.

You also got your first sucker (this was your first piece of candy) and acted like a total crazy wild man after we let you have it. Hellllllllo, first sugar rush.

• We had Christmas card pictures in November so we could announce your new brother or sister. Thankfully Brittany rocked it out, but you were NOT cooperating. You wanted to run around & did not want to sit still.

• You think you are grown & are so independent. You REALLY like to be treated like a big boy. You would rather sit in a regular chair than your booster seat at the table. You like to drink out of a regular cup and use utensils. You like to help me push the buggy but don’t want to ride in it.

• You still fuss almost every time we put you in the car seat but are fine once we get you in there.
• You are doing great letting us brush your teeth and we are still working on “spitting.”

• You know when you go to the bathroom & tell us after you’ve gone. You also go get a diaper and wipes and bring it to the spot where we change you. I thought about maybe starting to potty train but decided it was too early.

• I was a little worried about your verbal development for a little while and even talked to the pediatrician about it, but right after your 18 month checkup (you were saying about 15-20 words at the time) your vocabulary EXPLODED. I can’t even begin to count how many words, phrases, and even short sentences you can say now. There are some words you definitely say more clearly than others, but you will repeat pretty much anything we ask.
• One day I was changing your diaper and started asking you to point to body parts (nose, eyes, etc.) and you randomly (for the first time- I’d been practicing with you forever and you never would do it) pointed to everything I called out. Eyes, eyebrows, nose, mouth, teeth, tongue, chin, cheek, ear, hair, belly, hands, feet. I was like “Whaaaaaaa?? Where did that come from?” You’d been holding out on us all along.
• You are super smart & blow us away with the connections you make. You have great problem solving skills & motor skills especially.
• We went to a ton of festivals this year and had a blast!

• Sometimes Daddy picks out your PJs. It’s always interesting.

• You LOVE art & music!

• You like to dance and have some pretttty sweeeeet moves. Mostly head bobbing. Sometimes  beat comes on and it’s like you just can’t HELP but dance. Hahha!
• We are starting to see you use your imagination and it is SO much fun to watch! You pretend your sponge (that is orange and in the shape of cheese) is cheese…you walk around the house holding your hand to your ear and “talk on the phone”…you pretend to feed Mac and tell him to “sit.” It is so cute!
• You LOVEEEE Veggie Tales. That is pretty much all you watch.
• You really like to help. We let you “vaccuum,” sweep, throw things away, put boiled eggs back in the carton, put away your cups, and put clothes in the washer or dryer.
• You would play outside or “drive the truck” all day long if we’d let you.

• We are working on your eating because you are developing more of a taste for carbs than veggies. You won’t eat broccoli anymore, for example. You still really love bread though, & one of your recent faves was pita bread with black bean hummus.

• You had your first bubble bath. Dad was so excited, but you hated it. You don’t like anything on your hands & couldn’t get the bubbles off, so that wasn’t your fave.

• We started a bad habit of letting you carry your snacks (cereal, etc.) around the house and you started throwing fits if we didn’t let you. You went through a little phase where you would cry before breakfast because you only wanted to carry around cereal. Or because we peeled your banana too far. Or not enough. Or we gave you your milk in a sippy cup. Or because we didn’t give you your milk. We tried to ignore it and it has pretty much stopped now- thankfully! It was driving Daddy crazy.

• You are FAST!!! And you can open doors, unlock the deadbolt, etc.
• You like to drink water before bed.
• You are still sleeping great. Right now you go to bed between 8 and 8:30 and wake up around 9 am. You take a 2 1/2-3 1/2 hour nap around 11:30.
• Did I mention you think you are grown? Such a big boy.

• We are learning not to leave you unattended for even 30 seconds. WHOA!!

• Grammy won 2 free tickets to Medieval Times and let us have them. You were scared to death for the first 10 minutes (& clung to your daddy’s neck) because it was so loud, but ended up loving it. You would clap so hard when everyone else clapped and liked watching the horses especially.

• You are super friendly and love to wave at everyone and give fist bumps when we go out.
• If you’re tired or hungry (which thankfully doesn’t happen too often) then watch out!
• You did AWESOME at your 18 month appointment. You do NOT like to be weighed or measured, but did great with everything else. You were 65% weight & 97%+ on height. Healthy boy, thank you Lord!
• We got to visit some friends’ precious babies!! You didn’t really know what to think, but didn’t seem to care too much either way.

• You have started kicking when you are getting your diaper changed and think it’s funny. You get in trouble for that because I’m afraid you’re going to kick me in the belly.
• You are finally breaking the habit (most of the time) of throwing food on the floor. Whew! That was a long few months breaking that one.
• You like to sleep with Mac in the crib with you now.
• You had a pretty rough cold right before Christmas that required LOTS of snuggles with mom and meant a rough few nights of sleep for both of us.

• You LOVE to play on our bed when I am making it up every morning. You think it’s so funny to roll around, hide under the pillows, and fake like you are sleeping.
• We watched Children of the World perform at church & you sat still through the whole service. You were mesmerized.
• You like to run around the house and be chased. You only sit still when you are eating, and even then sometimes you like to sit in our lap after about 15 minutes or so. (You eat really slowly and eat a LOT at breakfast especially.)
• Your skin is super sensitive and will get red really easily if something is on your face, etc.
• You share pretty well. Everything except for your train & the car at Grammy’s. You don’t really like to share those.

• You will not wear a hat other than this one. Hahaha!

• You also had your first tummy bug during this time & got a pretty bad diaper rash. You threw up once (it was BRUTAL and alllll over the car seat- daddy cleaned it all out for us), but the rest of the time it was bad diarrhea diapers. We kept you on the BRAT diet & when I called the Pedi’s office, they told us to keep you really hydrated and watch for a fever. It lasted for about 4-5 days. When I was bathing you to clean up the throw up the one time you got sick in the car, you slipped & hit your eye on the toy bucket in the tub and got your first shiner. Needless to say it was a rough few days, but I think I cried more than you did. You are such a little trooper!! (You would NOT let me ice your eye. It looked worse the second day than the first but cleared up really quickly. I try to remind myself you are a boy and things like this are going to happen, but it breaks my heart when they do. I pray a hedge of protection around you physically every day.)

• You LOVE your family & totally have their hearts.

Jase- When I think of you, the word JOY comes to my mind. You are pure JOY. You are SO very loved by so many & already such a light!! I’m sure every parent thinks this way (well I hope they do anyway), but we think you are seriously the COOLEST kid we have ever been around. You have the best little personality, are so smart, and bring more JOY than you could imagine to everyone who knows you- but especially to mommy & daddy and all of your grandparents. (And Aunt Jade.) Your daddy & I look at each other at least once every single day and talk about how we cannot believe that we made you & that God chose US to be your parents. Wow! What an awesome responsibility and one that we take very, very seriously. I’m sure some people think we are over the top in our parenting choices, but we could care less what anyone else thinks or says about that. We are very strong in our convictions because we know that we answer to HIM alone for how we raise you. That’s why we pray for wisdom in raising you and cover you in prayer daily. We know the Lord has BIG plans for your life, and we cannot wait to watch it unfold. Your first 20 months have flown by, but we are doing our best to soak up all of these sweet moments and memories with you. We are so, so thankful the Lord put AdvoCare in our life because it has allowed time freedom with you that we could have only dreamed of. Our home is definitely filled with lots of laughter every day, and you get more hugs and kisses than I can count. You are going to be such an AWESOME big brother too. We love watching your personality unfold & seeing all the unique “Jase” qualities God has given you. You and I will always, always have  special bond because gave me the greatest gift I can imagine- you made me a MOM. I love looking around our house and seeing sweet reminders of YOU everywhere. Your handprints on the windows, a block or ball under the couch, a piece of your cereal on the floor, a spoon in the trash. Your daddy & I are definitely clean freaks, but those sweet reminders make my heart so happy.

We love you so, so much sweet Jase. More than I could ever express in words on this little blog. You give meaning to the Scipture in Psalm that says “Children are a blessing from the Lord” and in James 1:17 that says “Every good and perfect gift is from above.”