Where'd the name Jasper come from?

'Jasper?' Where'd that name come from?

We've had quite a few people ask us that question, so here's an explanation.

As much as I love it, and as much as he now looks like a 'Jasper,' I'm a little embarrassed to say what movie Natalie first heard it on.

Ready for this? Jasper was a character on the movie ... 'Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood,' which starred, among other chick-flick staples, Sandra Bullock. (Way past her prime, by the way, if she ever had one.)

Man ... why couldn't Jasper have been a character on 'The Godfather' or 'Rad?' You know, movies with manly men and sweet, sweet BMX bike action.

Anyway, with a common last name like Wilson we thought we needed a less-common first name, but we didn't want to choose from the growing list of 'trendy' names.

To us, Jasper has strength, and it sounds 'traditional' without sounding 'old.' We've had mixed reviews of the name, but the more people we talk to, and the older he gets, the more people seem to like it. (Or at least they tell us they do.)

According to www.thinkbabynames.com, Jasper has hovered in the 400 to 800 range of most popular names since 1930, but was up near the 200th most popular name between 1900 and 1920 and broke into the 100s around 1880.

 In 2006, Jasper was the 568th most popular name according to www.babynamesworld.com. On a rather exciting note, in 2006 Jasper was the 51st most popular boys name in Belgium!

If you're interested, Jasper can derive either from the Persian name Caspar of Casper, meaning treasurer, or the Persian word yashp, meaning spotted stone. It is the name of a semi-precious form of quartz. (But I think we'd all agree he's more than semi-precious. Yikes ... being a dad has turned me into a softy already!)

Wikipedia says; According to the Biblical tradition Casper is the name of one of the Three Kids who presented Christ gifts. Casper gave gold. Its biblical reference led to its adoption as an English name in the 17th Century.

Famous Jaspers include no one, really, that I recognize, which may say more about me as a one-time history major than it does about the name. If this list has any determination on how our Jasper turns out, it's obvious he'll at some point be British. Here's a list of the 'famous' Jaspers:

Jasper Carrott, British comedian

Jasper Conran, British fashion designer

Jasper Duncombe, film director

Jasper Ewing Brady, 18th century U.S. politician

Jasper Fforde, British novelist

Jasper Griffin, British literary academic

Jasper Grosvenor, U.S. financier

Jasper Harris, British child actor

Jasper Harvey, U.S. football player

Jasper Heywood, 16th century British theologian

Jasper Johns, U.S. artist

Jasper Mayne, 17th century English clergyman

Sir Jasper More, British politician

Jasper Morrison, British product and furniture designer

Jasper O'Farrell, U.S. surveyor

Jasper redd, U.S. comedian

Jasper Ridley, British historical biographer

Jasper Rine, U.S. biologist

Jasper Ryder, British politician and nephew of noted British antiquarian Edward Ryder

Jasper Tudor, 1st Duke of Bedford, half-brother of King Henry VI

Jasper Vinall, notoriously deceased cricketer

Jasper Wilson, U.S. Baptist preacher

Jasper Wolfe, Irish politician

and last, but certainly not least:

Jasper Beardly (pictured above alongside a 5-day-old Jasper Wilson in his footie jammies), character from The Simpsons voiced by Harry Shearer. (Thanks to uncle Jason for reminding us of this.)

- According to a list of recurring characters found on Wikipedia, Jasper Beardly is one of the elder residents of Springfield. His most distinguishing trait and the origin of his name is his very long beard. Jasper is a veteran of World War II. Jasper also tried to avoid the draft by disguising himself as a woman and staying in Springfield to play in the local women's baseball league along with his friend Abe Simpson, who was also avoiding the war. Jasper is a diabetic with a prosthetic left leg who was the minister at First Church of Springfield before Reverend Lovejoy took over (only revealed in a deleted scene from season eight.)

- In what is probably his most face time, Jasper was put in crude 'suspended animation' in the Kwik-E-Mart's freezer, and under advice from Dr. Nick Riviera (Hi, Dr. Nick!), Apu kept him frozen. When Jasper's frozen form became popular with customers, Apu started exploiting the spectacle and transformed the Kwik-E-Mart into the Freak-E-Mart, a special interest store dealing with weird items, or perfectly ordinary ones that had been made out to be abnormal. Jasper, of 'Frostillicus' as Apu renamed him, was accidentally unfrozen and stepped out into what he thought was a future world just as Apu was considering selling him to the Rich Texan.

That is all for now. Feel free to post more information on the name if you've got it. 

Adam

Jasper and cousin Sydney

Three-year-old Sydney Wilder has taken quite a liking to her new baby cousin Jasper. We were told she was hurrying her grandpa Paul on the drive to the hospital for the first visit, and she just loves to hold her newest friend.

Clockwise from top right: Syd holds 3-day-old Jasper on just his second day home; Syd shows off her new baby cousin Jasper to Payson and Zoe Gillespie while g-ma Debbie holds him and g-ma Vicki and aunt Melissa look on; Syd and g-pa Paul steal Jasper away from the crowd at Mercy; and Syd and mom Melissa get to know Jasper on his birthday night.

Thanks for being such a good big cousin Syd!

Becoming best friends

Cozmo: Just a scream away

"What else does this kid do besides sleep?" big bro Cozmo asks while keeping a close eye on his new brother, Jasper.

The answer: He also produces all sorts of 'good' smells that end up on blankets, hats and clothes galore. And Cozmo makes sure to sniff out each and every one of them.

Jasper's transition into our home has been tough on our sleep patterns, but no one has had to adjust more than Cozmo, our only 'child' for the past three-plus years. He's not getting the love and attention he's used to, but we are taking time every day to make sure we love him up and feed him lots of treats, even filling his favorite Kong ball with peanut butter once in a while. And just like us, he's had some tough nights already so he takes short 'cat' naps while Jasper is sleeping, whether that be at 3 p.m. or 3 a.m.

He's done pretty well so far, welcoming all guests with his normal amount of enthusiasm and dedicating that same energy to making sure we know if and when Jasper needs us. As soon as Jasper makes a sound Cozmo is at his side, whether he's  nursing, getting changed, just being fussy or 'sleeping' in his bassinet.

Per usual, Cozmo's tongue sometimes gets him in trouble, as does his need to be closely involved in nearly every activity around the house, but all in all he's been a good boy these first few days and we have no doubt he and Jasper will be bestest friends in no time.

Great g-pa Bob T getting to know Jasper in room 3012

Jasper, just minutes old, getting to know aunt Melissa W and uncle Jason H

You're in good hands ...

Everyone at Mercy Medical Center was great to all three of us.

Here Jasper is shown just minutes after birth, getting his vitals taken and his footprints made by Nurse Shannah.

The one and only ... Jasper!

Well ... after nine months of waiting, Jasper Paul Wilson arrived two days before his due date. Born at 12:41 p.m. Monday, March 24, Jasper weighed 7 pounds, 15 ounces and was 20 inches long.

We got to Mercy Medical Center at 5:30 a.m. Monday morning as contractions were coming more regular and becoming more painful. Natalie's water broke around 9:30 a.m. and she started pushing just before 10:30 a.m., progressing from 2-3 cm to 9 cm in a matter of hours. She was in labor most of the evening, but toughed it out at home as long as she could. (Adam slept most of that night.)

At 12:41 p.m. Dr. Ellen Roose from West Des Moines OBGYN birthed Jasper, with a little help from the handy vacuum. At 12:42 Adam had his first, but certainly not last, cry while he cut the cord and helped nurse Shannah with the footprints.

It wasn't long before room 3012 was filled with family and friends excited to meet the little guy. After a little rest and relaxation we moved to room 2025, where we stayed until we were discharged around 2 p.m. Wednesday, March 26.

A list of Jasper's hospital visitors:

* Grandma Vicki Henderson

* Grandparents Debbie and Paul Wilson

* Aunt Melissa, Uncle Ken and cousins Kyren and Sydney Wilder

* 'Uncle' Nate Westre was there for the birth, but had to leave before he could see Jasper. (Nate and his friend Rose came back to visit on Tuesday.)

* Uncle Jason Henderson and his friend Abby McFarland.

* Great aunt Sandy came Monday, then brought Junior back on Tuesday

* Great aunt Jody and cousin Macy Weller

* Cousins Tim, Allison, Payton and Pryce Smith (Allison and Pryce were at the hospital for the birth, then came back with the whole fam!)

* Great-grandparents Bob and Bev Trissel

* Friends Kyl, Ami, Payson and Zoe Gillespie

* Friends Jared and Heidi Gillespie

* Friend Amy Ziegler

* Friend Lisa Crandell

* Cousin Rhea Schirm

* Friend (and boss, who told me to get off my Blackberry!) Amy Duncan

* Friends Heidi Lauer and Crystal Peters

* Friends Melissa and Quinton Hall

and

* Pastor Wayne from Point of Grace Church (twice)

Most people think Jasper looks more like Natalie right now, but he's got some dark black hair like the Wilson side, and dark blue eyes that will go perfect with his blue and orange No. 7 John Elway jersey (when we find one baby-sized!)

Everyone has kept us fed; Vicki brought lasagna and a chicken casserole, the Altoona Chamber sent over some KinFolks BBQ and the Altoona Herald gave us a gift certificate to Applebees.

We also got various other gift certificates and flowers and stuffed animals and on ... and on ... and on ...

Our first visitors after getting home were neighbors Tom and Michelle Cavanaugh, who helped take care of Cozmo while we were at the hospital, as did G-pa Paul and G-ma Debbie. (G-ma Debbie had a GREAT two days with Jasper being born on Monday and voters in the West Central Valley school district finally passing a vote that will result in a new high school. Horray! It's about damn time!)

Then came Mallory, who played with Coz (calling him 'fat' and telling us he needs to lose 5 pounds), before snuggling with Jasper.

Coz did pretty well for the first day, crowding Jasper a couple of times but overall he's been a very good boy. It won't be long before those two are bestest friends!

The first night was a long one, with Jasper wide awake and screaming most of the night. We (Adam, mostly) didn't want to give him a pacifier, but caved around 2 a.m. after what seemed like hours of crying. It wasn't so much the crying that bothered us, we just wanted him to calm down for his own sake.

Adam got about 3 hours of sleep and Natalie got approximately 2 between feedings, changes and cries. Jasper didn't care much to be put down that first night, so we spent most of the night walking around or cuddling on the couch, trying to make it as easy on him as possible.

Most of Thursday was spent cleaning up around the house and feeding/changing the little guy. G-ma Vicki took the afternoon off and gave us some time for Adam to post this first blog and for Natalie to get a nap.

Which gets us up to date. We've got Jasper's first doctor's appointment on Friday morning and Natalie will finally get her ear fixed (so I can stop hollering at her when we talk).

We'll start to post photos and more blogs as the days pass.

Thanks to everyone for the love and support of not only Jasper but Natalie and myself. It's been a great first few days and we can't wait to have you all with us as Jasper grows up.

Thanks again!!!

Adam, Natalie, Jasper & Cozmo Wilson