1 Month Old

On Monday Jasper turned 1 month old. I cannot tell you where the last 31 days have gone, but in the blink of an eye they are gone. He is growing in leaps and bounds, outgrowing his clothes and filling out his stature every day. One day shy of three weeks old, he weighed in at 10 lbs, 4.4oz at the doctor's office. Needless to say, he is feeding well. Drew walked around the house that afternoon saying "10-4 good buddy!" We've already retired some of his new clothes, and one outfit he wore yesterday was for the first and last time.

Jasper on his 1 month birthday. This onesie was retired after one wearing.

In addition, we are making the transition to feeding him when he wants it not just every two-three hours. He can (but doesn't always) go up to 5 hours between feedings once each day, but we've only been lucky to have that one long stretch overnight once. I'm still getting up at least once each night to feed him, and sometimes I find myself up more than once and stumbling through the day on about 3 hours of sleep.

Tummy time is no match for my son. He does not dread it, and even sometimes falls asleep while we're trying to get him to be active. He has a super strong neck and back and can lift his head to look directly at your face if you're holding him up against your chest. He can also lift his legs and head at the same time during tummy time and can lift then turn his head from one side to the other. Pretty good stuff! He reminds me of his cousin Linnea who didn't like the feel of grass as a baby and would sit in the grass lifting her leg (alternately) in the air so she wouldn't feel the prickly grass blades on her leg. For being little fragile things, some babies have amazing ab muscles. :)

Right now, as I type, Drew is bonding with his son. He's asleep on the couch (lying on his back) with Jasper lying on his chest. He loves this position. They're pretty cute together.

Over the holidays we've had lots of visitors. Grandma and Grandpa Jasper were here for an unusually quiet Christmas Eve and Day. It was relaxed in anticipation of the rest of the family. Grandma Jasper has been a lifesaver this first month. She's been with us the most and has helped us get through some of the more challenging nights of fussiness. Even she was shocked to see how much Jasper had grown in the 10 days since she was last with us. Good friends Rachel & Bret Horton as well as Joel & Stacy Hock came to meet the little guy. Then on Dec 27th, my sisters arrived with ther husbands and Jasper's cousins, Linnea and Karin. Oh wow did that crew have a blast with Jasper. His aunties loved on him as much as they could, and his cousins just doted on him. They didn't like how much baby Jasper slept because they couldn't play with him as much as they wanted to - but they each got to hold him, and Linnea spent time with Grandma Jasper feeding and changing him. On Dec 31st the last of that crew departed, and Drew's parents arrived. They'll be with us until the end of this week, and they are having a great time bonding with Jasper.

Cousins Linnea and Karin Shively with baby Jasper