- He has few words. We attend speech therapy weekly and I'm amazed by how compressed Will's language explosion was compared to his brother's long drawn out process of communication. I told the therapist today that I took for granted how quickly Will progressed from his first word to his fiftieth word to clear expressive communication. Jasper has moved through each of these stages at a snail's pace and as an educator I've been fascinated to break it all down into long easy to follow steps but as a parent, I really look forward to the day when he can clearly express his needs! He doesn't seem to imitate much but rather, in a moment of desire he will decide to say something clearly and precisely. He will randomly use correct letters or numbers and even pronouns. Today we were at the park and we were kicking back and forth. Jasper picked up the ball and said, "Mama" to get my attention. I looked and he threw the ball in the air then lifted his hands up and down to mimic the motion of throwing. When I got the ball I kicked it and he said, "No no no Mama" and then he did the arm motion again of throwing the ball. He was wanting us to play catch! This is how much of our day goes with a lot of body language!
-He regulates us all with no's and no-no's. It is quite amazing how much you can get across with a few no-no's and uh uh's.
-He sleeps every single night with his stuffed monkey whom he calls, "Baby" and his orange mini basketball. He simply will not go to sleep without these two things which means that we are frantically searching the house and car for these things since they also accompany him most places. Baby sits on the potty next to him (he has his own tiny potty) and he shares his meals with him. Baby is often the neutral party in disputes or in communication with others when Jasper feels shy or overwhelmed. I am expected to watch and laugh at baby's antics as Jasper makes baby do tricks, dance to music, steal things and run away, kiss and cuddle, etc.
-Due to the influence of his older brother Jasper's word for all beverages is "cocoa". Often we just have to tell him that he is drinking cocoa even though he is not. He also loves bars (as in granola bars) but we give him Lara Bars instead. He is fairly certain that anything his brother is eating is much more delicious than what he has so when Will isn't looking he will switch plates or steal food from him. When Will vacates his place at the table, Jasper peeks over at me for a second to see if I'm going to disagree and then he ravenously steals the scraps or licks out the bowl he left behind.
-Jasper is very warm and friendly towards everyone and he loves to make people laugh. I remember him rubbing the therapists back the other day because she was wearing a velour shirt. He smiled a very cheesy smile at Will's guitar teacher and then proceeded to tunnel underneath Will's chair in an effort to get everyone to laugh. He always has something or several things in his hand and proudly shows anyone he meets his treasured marble or stick or animal replica.
-Jasper is not nearly as laid back as his brother was. I realize now that Will really was the most easy going kid ever. He didn't cry for vaccinations or even blood draws (!), he went along with anything you asked him to do, he sat like a sphinx when I was in a meeting or at a doctors appointment, he walked slowly and right next to me at all times just casually and calmly taking things in, he sat in restaurants like a paid professional.... Jasper is a much more busy little person! He'll go along with things for a brief amount of time and then he wants to get down and explore or run or jump or climb under chairs, etc. The fact that he almost always has a ball in his hands is a clear tip off that his plan is not going to be to sit peacefully in a chair for the next fifteen minutes.
-He is a physical powerhouse. He loves to do new things with his body and delights in doing something new. It isn't uncommon for him to spend much of his day practicing something like jumping (he could do this before a year old!) or spinning or dribbling a ball. He was intrigued the other day to see that there is such a thing as running backwards which is his newest trick. A few weeks ago he dribbled his soccerball for a mile around the track while his brother was at practice and a few days later he started dribbling the basketball and shooting it into the net.
-Almost all animals or things are described/named by the sound that they make. I know this is pretty common with young children but it is just so remarkably different than how Will learned to talk. Jasper says hoo hoo for owl, woof for dog, baa for sheep, heehaw for donkey, hiss for goose (they hiss at him!), neigh for horse, moo for cow, too too for train, oink for pig, etc.
-He is THRILLED to have friends over to his house. Even as a young just over one year old I remember that he would get out his Swiffer and sweep up the floor when his friends arrived and then he would offer them different toys to play with. Now when they come over he literally squeals with glee and flies backwards down the stairs or races frantically to the door to let them in.
-He takes a lot of his cues from his older brother but I've always loved how comfortable he is with water. I think it might be his personality and experiences with water up to this point but having an older brother who is an avid swimmer certainly has helped him feel comfortable too. He loves to pour water over his head and wash his hair over and over in the bath. He lays on his belly and floats in the bathtub and is so comfortable and serene in the pool. Was it because he was born in water? Hard to say but Jasper has never been distressed or upset about getting water in his eyes or dunking his head under. He just casually emerges and either blinks his eyes or wipes away the drips. Again, this is remarkable to me only in that Will was very fearful about getting water in his eyes and getting his hair wet was quite a hassle for those early years.
-Jasper is a thumb sucker. I forget to take note of this but he has two very distinct states of being: in motion or settled on my hip sucking his thumb. In fact, he has a HUGE callus on his thumb.
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