The aforementioned smile

or as close as we can get to it on film.



Also, crazy hair.

Nine Months

I have been sadly remiss as a blogger lately, but on the occasion of Jasper's nine month birthday, I give you a portrait:



as well as a snapshot of our boy.

He loves pears and banging on things. His favorite toy* is a xylophone which he strikes with a plastic block.

*Remote controls are the most fun, but strictly speaking are not toys. Last week I gave him the Tivo remote to distract him while I getting ready to go out. He recorded an episode of In the Heat of the Night.

He's become such a boy. If he must be held, he wants to be facing out so he can see or grab at everything. However, he very sweetly cuddled with me on both BART commutes today. I consider it his birthday present to me.

He's mobile! He hasn't quite mastered an actual crawl, but he can push himself up onto his hands and knees and he can worm his way across a room on his belly. He's also started pulling himself up to a standing position using stationary objects for support.

He's a side sleeper.

Spinning in circles and being tossed in the air are guaranteed to put a smile on his face. He has the sweetest little grin; his eyes crinkle up adorably. This is very hard to catch in film.

I could go on, but my boy is sacked out in my lap and I think I'll just watch him sleep for a while.

Happy nine months, peanutty. You were worth the wait.

Action shot

because that's the only way to get a shot of our wonder boy's teeth.



Yes, teeth. The second one came in less than a week after the first one. They're huge. And sharp!

Something tells me its all happening at the zoo

Yesterday, Morgan and I took an impromptu vacation day, just to hang out with Jasper. I've been trying to figure out how old Jasper would need to be to enjoy the zoo since before he was born. A friend told me recently that she took her daughter at 3.5 months, so I figured we'd try it since Jasper just hit 8 months(!). If nothing else, Morgan and I would enjoy it.

The Oakland Zoo is all of ten minutes from our house and is really just a gem. Its pretty small, but so well maintained, with huge enclosures for the most part.

Jasper was a little dubious about the lions (and I'm a dork):



The elephants were pretty cool though:



This giant rabbit head was a little too Donnie Darko for us (but the actual rabbits were fun):



But these climbing frogs were a hit:



No surprise there.

After 2.5 hours of walking around, we'd seen the entire zoo and had one sleepy kid on our hands:



All around a successful day, although we're pretty sure Jasper enjoyed watching the other kids more than any of the animals. But we enjoyed imaging Jasper growing up with the same sort of love and respect for critters that we have so much that we went ahead and bought a family membership. Lots more lazy days at the zoo for us.

Yes, I'm a slacker

but it turns out working, commuting and being a mom take a lot out of you.

However, I am thrilled (I think) to break my blogging silence with this very important announcement: We have a tooth!

I'd been so busy watching the little bumps on Jasper's bottom gums that I wasn't paying close attention to the top. Aren't they supposed to pop out on the bottom first? Not our boy: The tip of one shiny white tooth popped through his top gum last night or this morning. Maybe that's why he didn't wake me up yelling at 4am as he has for the last several night?

Anyway, go Jasper!

Sporty boy

Jasper's rooting for the Saints today.



Or, he would be if he cared about football as anything other than something to chew on...

Today's Fortunes

Mine: This year your highest priority will be your family.

Jasper's*: A bold and dashing adventure is in your future within the year.

Until his adventure begins, Jasper's going to make due with grabbing my hair with both hands, shrieking, and trying to eat my face.

* Jasper didn't actually eat his fortune cookie. He had pears for the first last night (yum) but we haven't moved on to multi-ingredient foods just yet.