Crazy how time flies

Amazing the difference a year makes. Jasper changed all the way from a dinosaur to a cow.

Roar.

Moo.

'Nuff said.

Trick-or-treat

Beggar's Night in Des Moines was tonight (Friday), so we welcomed trick-or-treaters for about 45 minutes. We only had about a half-dozen, but that didn't stop J from waiting anxiously at the window for the next one coming by. We closed up shop after a while and walked around to a few houses in the neighborhood before it got too late.

Jasper, being the outgoing child that he is, not only welcomed himself to a couple of handfuls of candy at each stop, he walked right in to each house. At our first stop they had a zombie-type character that came alive with the push of a button. His trick: he pulled his own head off. J matched his trick with a loud 'Grrrr!'

At stop No. 2, the McNeely's, J got to hang for a second with Ryan, Chuck and Terry's granddaughter who is around 6 months old. As you can see, he liked it a little more than she did.

Stop No. 3 had two Boston Terriers meet us at the door, which would've been fun enough for J as it was. But Melanie brought out bags of treats for both Jasper and Cozmo, which was very nice of her.

After trick-or-treating we still had plenty of time before bedtime so we took a couple of family pictures while he was still in costume and had a heck of a good time playing in the living room. J loves the 'airplane' now where i pick him up with my feet. His airplane always crashes, though, onto the couch - his favorite part of each ride.

Carving pumpkins

Natalie, Jasper and I spent a couple hours Thursday night carving pumpkins. Actually, Nat and I carved pumpkins while J tried to decide whether or not he liked the 'guts.'

He decided he did. And he dug right in, even though he said 'Ewwwww' most of the time we were working (or playing). As you can see, he needed a bath shortly after we finished.

Once he was clean we posed for family pictures with the jack-o-lanterns and, obviously, this WAS NOT as fun for J as carving was. (Note ANOTHER face; it was very close to bedtime, if not a bit after.)

We then stuck them outside for others to enjoy. I feel like a bad parent because we didn't even carve a 'J' or anything on his little one. Oh well, there's always next year.

Altoona trick-or-treat

Tuesday night was Altoona's safe trick-or-treat, where dozens of businesses opened their doors to trick-or-treaters. Nat, Jasper and I spent about 45 minutes at my office at the Altoona Herald, then made a few other stops before heading home.

J is a cow this year, thanks to a hand-me-down costume from our friends the Klines. It's very cute!

J doesn't eat a lot of candy so he savored the few bits he got Tuesday night. He started with a blue sucker but when it got small we took it away. I think you can tell which photo was snapped RIGHT AFTER we took it away. He wasn't very happy with us.

He still had a good time, 'roaring' at the monsters and pointing out everyone's hats (masks).

Taking care of mommy

Natalie underwent close to a 3-hour ear surgery at Mercy Hospital on Wednesday to help fix life-long problems she's had with her inner ears. It's the second mastoid surgery on her right ear and hopefully the last. She had her first when she was 14. she's 28 now. If she needs one when she's 42, we'll know something's fishy going on.

She's not in a lot of pain (or isn't showing it), but will have to follow some strict orders over the next several weeks from her doctor to make sure this surgery is as successful as it can be. Those include: not blowing her nose AT ALL for three weeks and not lifting anything over 10 pounds during that same period. (If you're wondering, Jasper P weighs approximately 25 pounds.)

Anyway, she wouldn't let me take a photo of the wrap the doctor put around her ear/head, but it just looked like a big, white eye patch over her ear. Jasper thought it was neat and, for the last two days, has been talking about mommy's 'hat.' He even went to get his own hat this morning when he woke up, so he could be more like mommy.

When we got home tonight I think J could tell Nat wasn't feeling the best. So he gathered a bunch of his books on the bed and took care of her by reading to her. (As you can see, Cozmo also wanted to help.)

I tried to joint them but J essentially kicked me out of the room, so I had to sneak these photos.

He caught me once and was none too pleased. He scolded me with his patented 'NO! ... Dah-deeee', which he's getting pretty darn good at saying.

Thanks to everyone for your well-wishes and a special thanks to Vicki for the food and watching J Wednesday, Melissa for the food, the Smiths, Swallows and Parrinos for the fruit basket and Paul and Debbie for taking Jasper Friday night.

Thanks!

Pumpkin patch

Jasper, Natalie and I met grandpa Paul and grandma Debbie on Sunday, Oct. 18 at the TimberPine pumpkin patch near Earlham.

Sure, they had pumpkins to find, playground equipment to enjoy, hay bales to climb on and much, much more. But Jasper cared about one thing. Well, really, J cared about two things: the tractors and grandpa Paul.

We took a hayrack ride out to the pumpkin patch, where Jasper lifted some pumpkins and tried to lift others. He found some that had gotten frozen overnight and were starting to rot ('Ewww,' he said). And, with a little playful help from gram and gramp, he even tried to lick a couple of them (pictured).

We got pictures of the whole day, stopping near the end of our time there for a family shot. Nat and I were into in. Jasper, even though he says 'Cheese!' now when he sees the camera, was not.

Bath ... and bubbles!

We've been having a good time taking bubble baths lately. More specifically, Jasper has been having a good time taking bubble baths. He even says both 'bath' and 'bubbles.' So I figured it was about time for a few photos.

During this bath on Tuesday we played with all the bath toys and got clean. Then it was time to play with the cup, which he likes to fill up and blow bubbles into the water. He'll dump it out, then talk loudly into the empty cup. Pretty silly dude.

You'll noticed one of these photos — the one where he's got that 'stunned' look — he got a little carried away and pretty much tried to chug the entire cup of bath water. (To be clear: this was his idea, not mine.)

Been a while ...

Sorry to all of our readers for not updating as much as we once did. We'll try to do better in the future. With that said, here's a handful of posts from the last week or two.

It's Jasper Talk!

At a little more than 18 months old, Jasper has really been starting to talk and put words together. Adam and I were saying the other day that we need to write down the new words Jasper has been learning and how he pronounces them because it's so incredibly cute! He's also getting down his animal sounds and just recently has enjoyed making a "hissing" sound for the snake he spotted in his very favorite "Wheels on the Bus" book.

Jasper Talk:

Cousin Noah - "no no"
Cousin Sydney - "sinee"
Witch - "wetch"
Mommy - "mama"
Daddy - "daddy"
Grandpa - "pampa"
Cozmo - "mozmo"
Please - "pleez" as he moves his hand along his chest, like the sign-language version. Alissa taught him that.
His blanket - "bubba"

Putting words together:

No Cozmo - "no mozmo"
Bye, Love you - "by, wubu"

Taste of Altoona

Jasper P and I manned the Altoona Herald's booth Thursday as Natalie worked one of her big events for the chamber, the 10th annual Taste of Altoona. This year I think the event drew nearly 60 vendors (various businesses and organizations from the local area) and more than 700 people.

It's a really fun event where folks mingle and every booth offers some sort of snack - everything from Rice Krispie treats (my booth) to chicken wings, mini-tacos, wine and more.

J was a great helper. He greeted everyone with a quick wave and sometimes even a high 5. He flirted with the gals who rolled by in their strollers and he enjoyed MANY treats before we headed home.

What a fun night!

Towel time!

He may be growing bigger every day but Jasper is still our little baby boy. After every bath I give him I wrap him up in a towel and get some quality cuddle time before he bursts out of the wrap. It reminds us of how much he liked being swaddled when he was a baby.

Christensen/Mason wedding shower

There was a couples wedding shower for our friends Elli Christensen and her husband-to-be Josh Mason Saturday night in Stuart. They're getting married Jan. 1, 2010.

From left in the group photo are Josh, Elli, Natalie, Adam and Erin Gibson. (Behind Elli giving her the bunny ears is her father Buzz.) The other photo is of the girls - Natalie, Elli and Erin.

As Erin said during the shower, this is a family blog so we can't go into some of the answers of the Newlywed Game that we played, other than to say it was fun. By getting a 50-point bonus question correct at the end the soon-to-be newlyweds won the game, as they should have.

Congrats guys!