Hanging with the Great Grandparents!

Our time in Ohio has been wonderful, but a true highlight occurred today. Jasper spent some time with great grandpa and great grandma Bailey. It was so much fun to see all of their faces light up when they were together. Here are some photos that share what I mean. Today is another memory that I want to hold onto for as long as possible.

More from Akron

Before Uncle Jon left to attend a wedding on Saturday, Erica was kind enough to take a picture of Jasper, my parents, Jon and me. It was great to be together, but the time was too short.

My dad and Jasper had some quality time together today. Here are some photo highlights:

After church on Sunday, Jasper got the chance to meet Lou and Kathleen, and he really enjoyed showing them the cool shirt they bought for him. The shirt says "duck, duck, Moose" and "Camden". We hope to take Jasper to Camden, Maine in the future.

After a nice walk through a beautiful evening, Grandma Gant gave Jasper a bath while Grandpa took some photos. Here is our favorite.

The new bathroom downstairs is wonderful, and Jasper is really enjoying his time here. Trips to Grandpa and Grandma's house are supposed to be fun, right? We look forward to more stories being created tomorrow.

Surprising Grandma

On Friday we three left Austin for Cleveland to take part in the scheduled surprise 60th birthday party for Grandma Gant. We first had to endure a 1hr 15min ground delay on our flight. As we pulled away from the gate and headed toward the runway, the pilot turned left instead of right, and I said to Drew, "It looks like we're heading for a airplane parking lot." Which of course is exactly where we were headed. All the storms in the region were messing up the air traffic and leaving no room for planes like us to take off. So we waited. Jasper was really great. He got fussy when he was hungry, and he has unfortunately stopped being willing to fall asleep in our arms - so consequently he didn't sleep more than a couple short cat naps on the flight. That made the normally 3 hr, turned 4 hour flight more taxing on us - but we all made it through well.

Our delay also left us short on "freshening up" time. We worked as fast as we could, but we still headed out to the party (from Lou & Kathleen's house) fully assuming we'd miss the actual surprise. If you can believe it, as we pulled off the highway in Louann's Tahoe and sat at the bottom of the exit ramp just yards away from the party site, Drew all of a sudden said "Don't look. Don't look. Don't look." Heck if I knew what he was talking about, but moments later as a dark green Saab passed us in the nearest lane he turned to me and said, "There are my parents right there in that car!" He hadn't made eye contact with them, but he was pretty sure they had seen him. So we drove down the road past the party site just to make sure we didn't spoil the surprise completely. We walked in to greet the birthday girl, and she said "I knew I saw you!"

Jasper was unfortunately really sleepy (without his naps) and didn't do so well seeing all the strangers, but he hung in there. It was a fabulous turn out to celebrate Pam's life and her wonderful influence on the many people she has met and touched through church, preschool and work.

Greeting grandma at the party.

A rare photo of mom and dad together. :)

Uncle Jon and Kathleen

Jasper found a little corner to play at the party. He was a big boy and looks like a big boy in his collared shirt and cargo pants.

Rolling Video

Here is the promised video of Jasper rolling over on Sunday. My counting may be off, but I think it is roll #4.

Busy Week

It's been a week, and I think it's about time we post an update. Here's a list of all the things Jasper's been doing:)

He's been spending time outside.

He's working on his piano lessons.

He's learning the lyrics to Billy Joel's "Piano Man."

He's working on his hand-eye coordination and his pincer grasp by picking up his toys.

He's had another date with Azalea.

He's been jumping like a wild man. (Think frog legs, but vertical.)

and the major highlights:

He's been napping in his crib.

and

He's learned to roll over!

Oh yeah, we're pretty proud. We're biased, but we think he's a rock star kid.

Rolling over just started today. Drew worked with Jasper while I was out running errands. He taught him to use his already super strong legs to thrust himself over, and Jasper latched on to it and ever since he just flips over without much of a care. This evening, he had his hand in his mouth, and still got himself rolled over. :)

Drew was traveling for work this week, and I still decided it was time to go "cold turkey no swing" for naps. Monday was tough. He cried. I almost cried. But I was still thinking he was going to get it. We made it through Monday, and wouldn't you know - on Tuesday he went down for both naps without a peep! He still cried when he woke up, and that's remained common throughout the week. But he's been a total champ. He's even sleeping for up to 2.5hrs sometimes. The length of time he naps each time isn't consistent, but we're not complaining. 25lbs is around the corner (the weight limit for the swing), and it was time to be a big boy ... and he is (sort of)!

I didn't mention it before, but we're also pretty sure he's teething. The drool faucet has been overflowing, and rubbing our fingers on his bottom gum reveals two little bumps. They haven't broken the surface yet, and we're just waiting for it to happen. Hopefully it won't happen on any of our travel days coming up.

This chair looks like it is just the right size for Jasper.

Jasper is really improving in his ability to sit up and stay up. Specifically he can lean over pretty far, reaching for toys, and still pull himself back up.

Jumping in his suspended seat is a real work out for Jasper, but he LOVES it! He jumps, bumps into the wall and twirls around. It's so funny to watch him.

Drew changed Jasper into this "I love daddy" outfit after he changed a particularly poopy diaper. It was his reward.

Jasper still loves his toes.

This photo is pre-roll. Our camera isn't fast enough to catch him in the act. But you can see what he has on his mind. He's rar-rar-raring to go!

(A video of Jasper rolling will be posted later.)

Jasper in a REAL Swing!

There are moments that I hope to hold onto forever. Memories that I hope will never fade. I have many of those memories from Erica's first Mother's Day after the birth of Jasper. We attended church, and I took the pictures from the previous post when we returned home. After Jasper fed and napped, we went to one of our favorite neighborhoods to go for a walk on the beautiful, hilly roads. When we returned to our car parked near a small city park, Erica saw a kids swing with a fully encompassed seat. Jasper enjoyed the seat, and these videos attempt to capture a moment that I hope to hold onto forever.

Happy Mother's Day

Pictures of my favorite two people on this very special Mother's Day in the Gant home.


In case you are wondering, Erica's sunglasses are a gift for Mother's Day. I think they are fabulous! Jasper gets compliments from EVERYONE about his sunglasses. We love them!

Piano Man

This photo sort of shows of the alfalfa sprout I have for hair today.

While practicing sitting up today, Jasper also started piano lessons. He got this instrument from his cousins, Linnea and Karin, and he loves it. I think we'll move on to percussion instruments next. His wild batting at the keys makes me think he'd like a drum. :)

Jumping Jasper

Today I introduced the jumping seat to Jasper. He loves his ultrasaucer, so this is the next step. Man, did he ever love it! He was waiting for Drew in it when his daddy got home from work, and Drew sat on the floor with Jasper for a while watching him jump and laugh.

drooly smiles for daddy

and he's airborne!

here's a short video of Jasper showing off for his daddy.

Another Manicure

Jasper's nails grow quickly, and then they become dangerous weapons. Drew's not up for giving him a manicure, so that task falls to me.

"Mom's at it again."

"Get me outta here, daddy."

Sitting Up!

Jasper went from not being able to hold up his big belly to sitting up quite well in no time flat. Last Thursday I sat him up and told him he had a month to be able to sit up in order to impress the pediatrician (since he's still not rolling over), and what do you know! he just sat there. Sure, he wavers and wobbles and keels over at times. However, we are really impressed with how well he's doing. He can even lean over his belly, reach for a toy and sit back up again. Here are some photos of him in the act, and there is a long-ish video below of him playing and reaching for toys.

We try so often to get cute faces or pretty smiles from Jasper, and sometimes we get funny looks instead. I love 'em! I wonder what he might be thinking at this moment.

Here's the cute smile we were looking for!

"Come to me, Mr. Froggie"

"Oh ... you're there, mommy. I'll just give Mr. Froggie a kiss."

5 months old!

(update)

I'm actually not a fan of the photo we posted for 5 months. I don't know what it is, but he looks abnormally long and something else I can't quite put my finger on (definitely not as cute). So I took another picture the following day. Here it is ... slightly better.

Yesterday Jasper was 5 months old (just over 21 weeks). I don't think he's putting on the poundage like he was before, but I do think he's lengthening out. The photo from last month doesn't look very different in comparison to yesterday. However, he certainly is getting more active. Getting him to sit in that spot was harder yesterday than it has been in the past. Whenever he has the chance, he wants to lunge for his toes.

Jasper, 5 months old.

Jasper, 4 months old.

Reaching for his toes, of course.

Clapping in excitement. ... there's a camera!

Mr. Bubble Machine

After the photo extravaganza, we propped him up against the ottoman to see if he could stand on his own. His legs are quite strong, and when he stands on our laps he certainly doesn't need us to hold him up any. I thought he'd be able to do it. After some initial missteps and definite listing to the right, he got the knack of it and stood for a little while, even taking a few steps while holding onto the ottoman. It was a trip!

listing

look ma, one hand!

Erica and Jasper

Erica does a great job taking care of Jasper while I work, and she puts a great deal of effort into the blog. Unfortunately, that leaves her out of many of the photos posted here. I've been wanting to put some photos up of Erica and Jasper, and here are some good ones from tonight.





Yes, those are his pants on his head. Yes, that was Erica's idea. No, Jasper did not mind.