Jasper 15-Months/First Haircut

I'm woefully behind on this blog, so in a minor attempt to catch up, here is a post to make that Jasper turned 15 months. First, his stats:

Birth: 7lbs 12 oz, 21 inches
6 days: 7lbs 5oz (31%)
2 weeks: 8lbs 2oz (37%), 20.5 inches (48%)
1 month: 11lbs 3oz (71%), 21.25 inches (27%)
2 months: 12lbs 15oz (70%), 22.25 inches (18%)
4 months: 16lbs 3oz (63%), 25 inches (38%), 18 inches-head (99%)
6 months: 18lbs 8oz (71%), 26.5 inches (45%), 18 inches-head (97%)
12 months: 26lbs 3oz (97%), 31.25 inches (93%), 19.75 inches (99%)
15 months: 27lbs 12oz (97%), 32.25 inches (86%), 20 inches (99%)

Jasper is more toddler and less baby every day. Still not walking but he's allllmmmooosssttt there. He's climbing on everything, nearly giving us a heart attack daily, and starting to talk more and more. So far his words include Mama, Dadda, Baa, Quack, No, More, Hello, Bottle, and this weird rumbling noise that means Elephant. 

To really bring him into toddlerhood, he got his first haircut a few weeks ago. This picture of him in the chair just kills me. 

And here is the after, on Easter, playing with his new toys from the Easter bunny.

Overall, Jasper is a snuggle bear, full of smiles and babbles, with the occasional whine and baby tantrum thrown in. His favorite person is still Piper, followed closely by Elmo. :) Best of all, Jasper is now sleeping through the night. It was a long, long year of sleepless nights, but we finally bit the bullet and made him cry it out. And, what do you know--he only cried for about 15 minutes for a few nights, and that was that--sleeping through the night. Yay for 15 months!

Jasper: 12 Months

It's hard to believe but Jasper turned a year old about 2 weeks ago. It seems like just yesterday, I was pregnant with him, but also like we've always had four kids and there wasn't a time before him. So strange.

Being the fourth kid, the poor guy didn't get a big birthday party, but Eric's parents did come over for cake, which Jasper refused to eat but the rest of us enjoyed. The other kids were also really sweet about wanting him to have presents, and Deke even wrapped up an old toy for him.

Other than that, we didn't do too much to celebrate. But, we are so proud of and love our little baby boy so much. He's crawling and cruising all the time now (making for a much happier baby now that he has some freedom), loves having his teeth brushed, hanging out with his big sister and brothers, and getting snuggles from mommy and daddy. He is also seeming like more of a toddler and less like a baby each day, as he starts to get into reading books, pretend talking on the phone, and babbling all types of crazy words that only he can understand.

Jasper is also a big kid, just like his siblings. Here are his latest stats:

Birth: 7lbs 12 oz, 21 inches
6 days: 7lbs 5oz (31%)
2 weeks: 8lbs 2oz (37%), 20.5 inches (48%)
1 month: 11lbs 3oz (71%), 21.25 inches (27%)
2 months: 12lbs 15oz (70%), 22.25 inches (18%)
4 months: 16lbs 3oz (63%), 25 inches (38%), 18 inches-head (99%)
6 months: 18lbs 8oz (71%), 26.5 inches (45%), 18 inches-head (97%)
12 months: 26lbs 3oz (97%), 31.25 inches (93%), 19.75 inches (99%)

He's actually taller and bigger than Fletch was at this age, so lord knows how tall he's going to be in a few years, given that Fletch is like a giant these days.

Happy Birthday, my sweet Jasper! I can't wait to see what the next year has in store for you.

Christmas 2018

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2018!

December has been busy, but we saw Santa (with only 50% of kids getting a stomach bug that same day), celebrated Christmas Eve (where the kids were overtired, over-sugared demon children), and then had a wonderful Christmas Day. The kids loved their gifts, played nicely all day, and generally made the holiday wonderful (and I say that as a mostly Grinch-like person). Hope everyone else had a good day too.

Girls on the Run

My life today would look very different if it wasn't for running. If I hadn't gotten involved with Team in Training back in 2001 when I got to DC, I wouldn't have run my first marathon. If I hadn't run that marathon, I wouldn't have found DCFit in 2002. If I hadn't found DCFit, I wouldn't have met Eric and started dating in 2003. If I hadn't met Eric, life wouldn't be nearly as full and amazing as it is today.

This morning was sort of the culmination of all that. A few months ago, Piper joined the Girls on the Run team at her school, and we ran the GOTR 5K together this morning. It was such a wonderful thing to do with her although while she had fun, I'm not sure she's caught the running bug quiet yet. I had to literally pull her through a lot of it, we walked much of the course, etc. But, in the end, she finished, and I was so proud of her for persevering.

Here we are before the run.

It was pretty cold out this morning, so we were bundled up. The course for the race was pretty flat and it was cool seeing so many girls out there. Because our only goal was to finish, I have no idea how long it took us. But, here we are with our new, shiny medals at the finish line.

The funny part was that at the finish line, I saw my coach from Team in Training handing out medals. Weird. 

Anyway, I'm hoping Piper will sign up again in the spring. While she may not have liked the actual running part, I know she was proud of herself, loved our time together today, and keeps talking about how she'll get to be on the school news on Monday, so hopefully that will inspire her to become a runnergirl too.

2018 School Pictures

School pics are in. Here are my handsome boys and beautiful girl in kindergarten and third grade.

Columbus Day and Halloween 2019

We did our Columbus Day pumpkin tradition again this year and Halloween a few weeks later. I'm holding a fussy baby right now and I'm desperate to catch up on this blog so here are the pics. That's all you get.

Piper and Fletch: 8 Years Old

Okay this is terribly late, but I at least have to acknowledge that Piper and Fletch turned 8 years old over 2 months ago. I don't have time to go into details but I'll just say this: they are two of the most awesome people I've ever met. Piper is my ride or die--as the other girl in the house, we're a team. I just love hanging out with her. Fletch is just so authentic and uniquely terrific and so smart, and constantly amazes me. I just love hearing all of the ideas he comes up with and the thoughts he has in his head.

Maybe next year, I'll have it more together to post this closer to their birthday. At least I'm still keeping their height and weight info (when do I stop having to do this?! Maybe they're getting too old for this. Oh well):

Fletcher: 

6 months: 27 inches (66%), 18lbs 12oz (68%)
9 months: 28.5 inches (59.9%), 22lbs 7.7oz (79.4%)
12 months: 30.5 inches (74%), 24 lbs 10 oz (76%)
15 months: 31.5 inches (64%), 27 lbs 8.5 oz (86%)
18 months: 34 inches (93%), 29 lbs (95%)
21 months: 34 inches (although measured at home so maybe not accurate), 32 lbs (93%)
24 months: 35.75 inches (71%), 33.4 lbs (97%)
30 months: 37 inches (85%), 37 lbs (97%)

36 months: 40 inches (95%), 40 lbs (97%)

48 months: 43.5 inches (97%), 46.3 lbs (97%)

60 months: 46.5 inches (97%), 54lbs (97%)

72 months: 49.6 inches (98%), 58.9lbs (94%)

84 months: 52 inches (97%), 60lbs (84%)

8 years old: 54.5 inches (96%), 70.2lbs (89%)

Piper: 
6 months: 25 inches (19%), 15lbs 11oz (39%)
9 months: 27.75 inches (57.9%), 17lbs 13.7oz (32.5%)
12 months: 30 inches (79%), 20 lbs 1.9 oz (34%)
15 months: 31.25 (76%), 23 lbs 1 oz (55%) 
18 months: 32.5 inches (73%), 24 lbs (87%)
21 months: 32.5 inches (again, measured at home), 26.4 lbs (63%)
24 months: 34.75 inches (71%), 27.6 lbs (75%)
30 months: 37 inches (85%), 30 lbs (66%)

36 months: 38 inches (74%), 33.5 lbs (76%)

48 months: 41.5 inches (85%), 38.4 lbs (75%)

60 months:  45 inches (92%), 43lbs (71%)

72 months:  48.03 inches (91%), 49.6lbs (74%)

84 months: 51.25 inches (93%), 58lbs (79%)

8 years old: 54.5 inches (96%), 73lbs (90%)