Holding His Own

This photo is 2 wks old, but we like it b/c it shows how well Jasper can hold his head and what a big boy he's getting to be. We're sure he's over 15lbs at this point, but we're not sure how much bigger he is.

Birthday Surprise

On my birthday, Jasper surprised us by sleeping for 3 hours in his car seat. This is a feat unmatched by others. Unlike other kids, he doesn't like his car seat and generally is unhappy in it. Unless we can distract him to fall asleep in the car, he'll often cry the entire trip. However, just for mommy, he slept from the time we left church on the 18th, through our leisurely lunch at Panera, through a circuitous route to USA Baby (we had a hard time finding it w/o the map - it's in an odd spot in town) and all the way home. It was heavenly. We continue to pray that he'll be less "high maintenance" when we go out so he and I can be less home-bound.

That afternoon, after his nap, the three of us headed out into the neighborhood for a walk. It was a lovely afternoon, and Jasper did well in his sling with daddy.

Video before his Bath

Here is a video clip of Jasper before his bath.

Valentine's Day

Here is Jasper's Valentine's day gift from Auntie Lindsay and Uncle Chris: the I love Mommy onesie. He's pretty cute! He was doing a great job playing with his monkey and giraffe yesterday. When he was looking at the toy, he could grab for it and hold on to it quite deliberately. I was proud of him.



Starting last Friday, Jasper's been sleeping 8 hours (+/-) each night with a long morning and usually at least one long afternoon nap. It's been a total treat, and we're trying not to get too attached to it since it'll probably disappear again and he'll be back to middle of the night feedings.

Yesterday (Valentine's day) he got on a completely different schedule. After his morning nap, he didn't sleep more than 30 or 40 minutes at a time, and he was eating every 2 hours. This is completely abnormal for him. Not even when he was new born did he eat that frequently. Thank goodness, b/c by the end of the day I was exhausted! I don't know how some moms are able to feed that frequently. Drew's standard comment "he's growing!" is probably applicable here - in that he's probably trying to boost my milk supply for his next growth spurt. Or maybe he was just a little off kilter yesterday. Who knows! Today he is back to his more normal schedule of longer naps. It's always a guessing game as to what the day will hold .... I just hang out and wait to see what happens. Since he doesn't like going out on errands, I don't want to force it if I can't predict when he'll be hungry again. Maybe we'll head out again tomorrow.

Salon Services

Jasper's cradle cap is finally getting a lot better. We're still massaging him with baby oil and using a toothbrush to "comb" his scalp almost every night. But twice a week we have to be a little more aggressive. We use Selsun blue after the baby oil treatment. He doesn't mind it actually and really likes getting rinsed with the kitchen faucet. (Tonight's a Selsun blue night, by the way.)

Hanging out with Mommy and Daddy

Last weekend we went to Panera for lunch. (Surprise, surprise.) Drew whipped out his Axim (on loan from his boss) to check out the free wi-fi. Jasper was content to just hang out with his daddy. He was great for us during lunch. I had just nursed him in the car, so he was docile and a little sleepy. He fell asleep a short while after we left Panera.

On Sunday I told Jasper about Sunday afternoon naps, and he agreed we should take one. After he was done nursing, he crashed with me on the couch.

Blue Eyes

Drew's been trying for weeks to get photos of Jasper's eyes to show what color they are. The funny thing about blue eyes is that they turn red when photographed ... and yes, if we had time we'd make the digital correction and get them all pretty. But I don't have time for that. However, he's taken a couple lately that don't make Jasper (or me) look possessed.

Big Boy

Time flies when you're having fun, and Jasper certainly is a fun little - or rather big - boy. He's getting big and heavy, and he continues to surprise us with what he likes and doesn't like. Turns out, he's a homebody and doesn't really like going out in his car seat or sometimes even on walks in his stroller. We've been taking him on many errands lately to try to get him used to being out and about before we head to Utah (March 2-5). So far, he still doesn't like it.

Jasper at 9weeks.

Here is his outfit for his first trip to church. We just went to the worship service on Feb 3rd, but he was a trooper and did well even though he was awake the whole time. This past Sunday we went to both the worship service and Sunday school. He was awake for the service and slept right through Sunday school. He was a good boy!

Jasper is big. His belly is round, and he loves to kick his legs. He wakes up in the morning in his crib and hangs out for a while just kicking his legs like crazy. :)

Jasper at 10weeks. This is Jasper's favorite position when he gets on his changing table. I don't know why ... but it makes it easy for us to do bicycles, which he also enjoys.

Out and About

Yesterday, fresh off his first round of vaccinations, we took Jasper to M3 to meet Drew's coworkers. They've been wondering when he'd make an appearance, and they gave him a warm welcome. Debbie, the office manager and receptionist, was the first person we met, and she just about ate him up. She loves kids and is the resident baby caretaker when there are business functions to which family members are invited. It's good if the little kids can be comfortable with her, since they'll be spending guaranteed time with her. :) Jasper got to meet Terry & Joan, Rob, Casey, Melissa, Paul and Jen Kramer, Paul Parks, Ron, Russel, Walt, Kim, Steve, David and of course Mike Hankins. He had a good time and even stayed awake through it all. Considering he was still recovering from his shots, he did really well! Here he is sitting at daddy's desk.

This morning, Drew took Jasper and headed to the kitchen to make breakfast so I could get a little more sleep. Just when it was time for me to pull myself out of bed, Drew got a text message to meet some guys at Rudy's and I encouraged him to go. I ate the super waffles he had made, and Jasper slept in his bouncy seat. I don't know how he's comfortable in this position, but somehow he was ... for about 10-15min.

We love to read Big Red Barn. It isn't always a sure bet to calm him down, but I think the lyrical text is really appealing to him. It's one of my favorites to read. Perhaps my mother's love of farms imprinted itself on my DNA too. :)

Giggleman

Jasper is starting to smile and coo more and more. We can't quite seem to catch his vocalization on a video very much. I suppose it's because most of the time it happens during the day when I am home alone with him and not always johnny on the spot with the camera. However .... here are some photos of him smiling that are pretty cute. Enjoy.

2 months!

Jasper is growing strong and big. We've had to move the straps up on his car seat, and this allowed for more room for strap covers and new friends Gio Giraffe and Larry Lion. (Gio is short for Giovanni.)

We took this photo (above) after our visit to the doctor's office this morning. As indicated previously, we thought his weight was around 14lbs. Our home scale as an accuracy of +/- 0.5lbs, but today we got the official weigh-in at his 2-month appointment.

Jasper now:

• weighs 14lbs, 10oz ... 97th percentile.


• is 23.5" long ... 75th percentile. (his girth outstrips his height - but that's ok for now.)


• has a head circumference of 42.4cm ... 95th percentile.

If you recall photos of him sitting in the corner of the couch from the beginning of January (with the football), we took a photo of him tonight (teddy bear outfit) ... Look how he's changed.

For one, he is much more alert these days. He has more control over his arm and leg movements, too. The teddy bear outfit he has on tonight is actually a 6mo outfit. He's fitting into it now with little room to spare. His torso especially is quite long. We don't really have any clothes that are baggy on him anymore. He's keeping me guessing with what still fits him. :)

We rounded out the doctor visit this morning with three vaccine shots. He really didn't like them, but he recovered faster than I expected. Daddy held him tightly and calmed him down pretty quickly. He hasn't shown any signs of fever since the shots, so that's good news! Our next round of shots will be in 2 more months. For now, we'll start heading out into public a little more and hope he doesn't get sick.

Future Cyclist

Here is Jaspet getting an early start to his cycling career!

Random Shots, 6-8wks

We haven't taken as many photos over the last couple weeks. We're not sure why. But here are a few random ones.

Here's a good smile from our little guy. I think he looks like a someone from biblical times when he has the towel over his head like that. I think of baby Moses when I see him like this actually. He generally loves bathtime each night, but he doesn't like hanging out for the massage afterward. Lately he's gotten pretty fussy if we don't dry him off right away and get him dressed for bed so he can eat and hit the sack. Of course, he doesn't settle down for bed right away ... In fact, last night was the first night in about a week that he didn't fuss after his late night feeding. We're hoping that keeps up, but tonight things don't look real positive.

Drew LOVES this hat, and Jasper doesn't mind it. We're getting him ready for the snow of Utah. :)

Jasper and Drew have some quality time reading the Big Red Barn.

He wasn't jumping for joy to be in this seat (last night), but look at how well he's holding up his head.

Last night Drew also suffered through the worst diaper blow-out to date. It soaked through two onesies and Jasper's pants to mess up Drew's shirt and pants (and the cover of his bouncy seat). Drew was seriously close to cutting off the onesie before he figured out how to get it off Jasper without messing up his face, etc. It was a tense episode while I was out at Target, but they both made it through. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, but listening to Jasper cry through that episode is something Drew wishes he didn't have to live through.

Overalls in the house!

We dressed Jasper in his overalls today, and it produced some fun images. A big thank you goes out to the Kyle family who gave Jasper the overalls as a gift. We think you will agree that Jasper is getting pretty big!

Erica and Jasper enjoying some quality time.

He is getting stronger all the time!

I love this picture, but don't miss the hair!

Erica is looking fabulous as usual!

That is all for now. The next update will include a video of our future cyclist!

Smiling Jasper Video

Jasper is smiling more often, and we wanted to share this with you.

Weigh-In

Tonight I bought a scale to see how big our little guy is getting. Drew and I both stepped on the scale with and without Jasper, and the consistent difference in weight was ..... 14.5lbs! Good grief! I knew he was feeling heavy, but this was beyond what I imagined. Of course, I also just bought a mega pack of size 1 diapers for babies 10-14lbs. What are the odds! He doesn't look too big for the diapers, amazing, so we'll see these through - but I anticipate we'll be moving on to size 2 with our next purchase.

Play Date

I'm a little behind in posting ... on Sunday night Jasper had his first play date. The three of us were invited to Azalea's (and Ame and Ryan's) house for dinner. The two got along great. Actually, Jasper wasn't really very alert, but Azalea was wide-eyed and smitten with both Jasper and Drew. :) She is a beautiful little girl and will be a hot mama prom date, should all of us still be in Austin some 17-18yrs from now.

Video of Snow in Austin with Jasper

Jasper's First View of Snow!

We thought our trip to Utah would be Jasper's first view of snow, but it turns out he experienced some snow in our own front yard!






I've been working from home due to the traffic hazards traveling in Austin. They don't have the equipment to deal with this type of storm. I'll send more pictures later as the snow continues to fall here. It is a crazy day!

So Big

Jasper continues to grow ... and grow out of his clothes. For the most part we've moved on to 3-6 month clothing, and even some of those are too small. I couldn't tell you how much he weighs right now, but we'd guess somewhere around 12 lbs.

Here he is in the outfit from Auntie Brittany and cousins Linnea and Karin. It has a little extra room in it, so we'll get repeat wear out of it - but I don't think it will last until he's 6 months, not at this rate of growth. :)

This outfit was from Auntie Lindsay. It has some extra room for Jasper to keep on growing! This outfit Drew & I bought on a whim as we raced through Target one afternoon between Christmas and New Years. It's super cute with a dump truck on the front. It's a 3M outfit (since he was growing out of & running out of newborn sleep & play outfits), but it's already too short! Jasper's feet are squished into the enclosed legs, so we opened up the legs and gave him a little room to stretch out. We put socks on him since it's chilly today (around 30 degrees - not that we've been outside). So ... this sleep & play outfit is being retired already.

I've been reading about developmental milestones today, checking off the ones he can do already. He's started smiling at us, as of the end of last week. It's a trip! He even gets out little partial laughs. They are the beginning of what will become full laughs later. I can't wait for that day. In addition, his neck is growing stronger each day. He can hold his head better, so we tried the wonder seat tonight. I don't know what it's called generically, but these nifty seats (a gift from Drew's Aunt Shelley, Uncle Pat and cousins Patrick & Lance) allow kids to sit upright before they're able to on their own. He just has to develop full neck control before he can use it. We're not quite there yet.