Reasoning with Jasper

The last few months, Keith and I have been trying to adjust to disciplining Jasper. Jasper is a very curious toddler, which most are. However, Jasper has a knack for going for the one thing in the room that you DON'T want him to play with. Struggling with the frustrated screams Jasper lets out from being told NO consistently every where we go has forced Keith and I to try new approaches to parenting. Instead of saying no all the time, I have been working on reasoning with Jasper and redirecting him. For instance when Jasper is caught coloring on the walls with his crayons (don't worry washable crayons were the best invention EVER-they wipe right off the wall) we try to redirect him to coloring on paper versus saying no to crayons all together. It truly is amazing to see Jasper accepting his redirection and is a virtual avoidance of a temper tantrum (sometimes). Now mind you this redirection has occurred several times already, but the more we do it the better he gets at understanding that we don't color on walls. I do find it a bit odd to be reasoning with a toddler, but hey it is so much better than dealing with an all out scream fest (something Jasper has become quite good at). I am sure that Keith and I are going to be getting a good education with reasoning with Jasper more and more as he gets older. I love it though, it truly shows the development of Jasper becoming a full fledged person. Despite his scream fests I love him all the same and wouldn't trade one temper tantrum in for anything :)!

Is he talking yet? Well, that depends on what you mean by talking???

Yes, in my opinion Jasper is talking and he seems to know exactly what he is saying. He spends a lot of time walking and talking with his hands, gesturing and pointing. The only catch is, he doesn't speak English, hehe. It really is some sort of lost baby language I think! I have sat watching and listening to him to try and understand more of this strange language. I guess that is the anthropologist in me coming out in trying to understand Jasper. What is absolutely fascinating is that he will repeat the same sounds (or words to him) with the same gestures and inflections. His tonations are consistent throughout his speech, which leads me to believe that he really does understand what he is trying to communicate. It really is amazing.

Jasper is also counting, again just not in English. One of his favorite things to do is count objects and line them up on tables. He will take matchbox cars or other toys that have similar qualities (size, color, etc.) and line them up on a table then point to each and say a sound. Again, he says the same sounds in the same order every time...AMAZING! You really have to pay attention to him in order to pick up on the genius behind the jibber-jabber, but it is there. Now I don;t want to make it sound as if Jasper is saying no words, he does say things like "Daddy", "Mommy", "Cookie", and "Dog", but they are all single words. His jibber-jabber comes in long strings of consciousness, not even 2 and he is already trying to talk to the world in complete paragraphs...only my kid right???