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.

Bath Time

Bath time is a nightly ritual in our house. Drew loves giving Jasper a bath, and Jasper loves taking a bath. Nice, huh? We'll take a video sometime to show you how content he is, but for right now you can check out his big belly and his baby rolls. ~~ One thing I think is totally impressive is that he has found this toy with his foot and plays with it while he's in the tub.

After his bath Jasper goes down for the night, and for the last four nights he's slept at least 6 hours. Last night he slept from 10:30pm til 6:45am. Wow! We're not expecting this to keep up as his normal pattern henceforth, but it sure would be nice!

Yes, believe it or not - Jasper is comfortable in this position.

Football!

I'm ready for the game tonight. Go Buckeyes!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tummy Time

Here is a video of Jasper during tummy time. Enjoy!

An Afternoon Walk and Panera in Austin!

While my parents were in town, we had one very nice day on Friday. I was able to take the day off from work, and we went for a walk with Jasper on the Town Lake Hike and Bike trail in downtown Austin. It was almost 80 degrees and the setting sun was beautiful.

We started our adventure from the Whole Foods parking deck. Jasper started out in his jogging stroller, but he quickly decided that it wasn't comfortable. Eventually, Erica transitioned Jasper to the Baby Bjorn. Jasper took to that a little better, but we eventually transitioned Jasper back to his stroller.

One the way back to the car, I took a curb drop a little too hard, and Jasper started to cry from the jostling. That made the last couple of blocks a little long. Once we got back to the car, Erica fed Jasper, and we then enjoyed dinner at Whole Foods. We will keep taking Jasper out on short walks. We want to expose him to the outside world as conditions permit.

My parents left on Saturday after spending a week here with Jasper. We enjoyed having them here. On Saturday night, we confirmed that Austin has its first Panera Bread restaurant. A co-worker of mine said he saw it on the SW side of town, and Erica confirmed it on Panera's website. Of course, we went there for dinner, and even Jasper enjoyed it (he had milk courtesy of Erica).

I'm hoping to take Jasper out for walk today. The sun is shining, and the temp is in the 60's. I'll post pictures if we are able to get out.

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

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas from the Gant family! Things have been busy here, and that has kept us from updating the blog as much as we would like. We will keep trying to update as frequently as possible. For now, here are some Christmas photos.

A Beautiful Day for a Walk

Today was gorgeous in Austin. We decided to hit the pavement and introduce Jasper to our neighbors. Dean and Dell came rushing over as soon as they saw the baby stroller, and Paul Smith came from across the street to meet Jasper. As long as we were moving, Jasper liked the stroller. Once we stopped - he wasn't so happy.

First Manicure

I've read that babies really don't like having their nails clipped. I was prepared for a battle from my sometimes squirmy son, but he slept through his first nail clipping and filing! We're hoping this will cut down on the scratches on his face.

Hangin' Out

Here are some shots of Jasper just hangin' out at home. We haven't ventured outside yet, except to visit the doctor's office. He's got some pretty cute clothes. He's already at the stage of being at the tail end of wearing newborn outfits but still a little small for the 3month outfits. We're rolling sleeves up pretty good to make things not so swimmy.


Drew is pretty excited about this little "Let's Take a Ride" onesie. Anything to get Jasper pumped for cycling gets an A+ in Drew's book. :)





Yesterday afternoon, Grandma Jasper, Drew & I watched the "Happiest Baby on the Block" DVD we got as a baby shower gift. It was pretty cool, and we've all been trying since then to perfect the 5 S's to calm Jasper on the rare moments when he seems near melt-down status. Drew was immediately successful at getting Jasper to calm down with the swaddling, giggling and shushing techniques.

1-week Birthday

On Friday we celebrated Jasper's one-week birthday with all the grandparents. The grandmas made a scrumptous dinner, and we rounded out the night with birthday cake. Jasper was awake for a portion of the time, but for the most part he'll have to enjoy it through our memories and stories.

Jasper & the G-Block

Just recently all four of Jasper's GRANDPARENTS were here to see him.



Grandma Jasper has been here for one week. Grandpa Jasper got here on Wednesday night, and Grandma & Grandpa Gant arrived on Thursday afternoon. All four just fell in love with him, just like we have. They spent time holding him while he slept and taking lots of photos.


Grandma Jasper is on nighttime duty (along w/ diaper duty, meal preparation, and a host of other helpful stuff!) and generally spends a good deal of time cuddling with Jasper after our late-night or middle of the night feedings. This is particularly helpful when Drew & I are so tired we're virtually zombies.

Mom's Report

I haven't posted to this blog since we left for the hospital last week. I can't believe where the days have gone! My days are filled with feeding Jasper, changing his diapers, eating and maybe (maybe) taking a shower. After two doctor appts at the beginning of this week, for the last two days my exposure to the outside world has been reduced to walking to the end of the driveway to pick up the mail. Our feeding schedule is nothing even remotely resembling a schedule. We start whenever Drew & I are good enough to respond to our alarm clocks in the morning and then space out feedings based on that throughout the day. Jasper gets very irritable after his middle of the night feeding, so we struggle to make it through that quickly and usually burn up precious sleep time (sometimes up to 3 hours) with feeding, diaper changing and consoling him. This afternoon we also gave him a sponge bath.


However ... we still think he's really cute and both can't believe he's our son. I am overwhelmed by how precious and peaceful he is. My favorite time is just after I've finished feeding him and he lies on my lap in total peace and contentment. There is no site such as lovely, in my opinion.

Eating - Activity - Sleeping

Not much to report at the Gant family home. Jasper is continuing to improve his eating habits, but he is not falling to sleep as fast as he was originally. He is still a great baby, and we love him so much. He currently is visiting with Erica's parents, and my parents are arriving later today. It will be Grandparents Central very soon!

I will keep updating the blog with pictures and stories, but the highlights are much smaller than they used to be. A personal highlight was seeing Erica and Jasper beside each other on our bed when I left this morning. I enjoy those images.

Tongue-tied no more!

Jasper had his first appointment with the Pediatric Nurse Practitioner (We liked her very much), and all the reports were positive with one exception. The positives were that he had already started gaining weight, and that his color was still looking good. The exception was his tongue. The piece of tissue (frenulum linguae) that attaches the tongue to the bottom of his mouth was too close to the tip of his tongue. This was inhibiting Jasper's ability to extend his tongue during feedings, and Erica was paying the price for that physical limitation. The NP recommended that we have his tongue "clipped" which involves cutting back that tissue under his tongue. This would be done by an ENT Dr down the hall. We scheduled that procedure for 9:15 AM on Tuesday.

We arrived at the ENT office today, and the doctor met with us and explained the procedure. Topical anesthetic would be used, and the clip would be made with some surgical scissors. There are very few nerves and blood vessels in the frenulum in a child so young, and Jasper was great the whole time. The attached picture is from shortly after we arrived home.

Tomorrow I will head back to work. I'm not looking forward to leaving Jasper during the day, but I'm confident in Erica's abilities to care for Jasper. In addition, Erica's mother Diane is here to help out for a little while. We are very excited to introduce Jasper to each of you.

Let us know if you have any requests for the blog. I've heard some very positive feedback from the short videos that I have posted. I may try to post more of those in the future. We are very pleased to have so many people interested in the growth and development of our son.

Jasper comes home

We arrived at our home with Jasper in his seat at around 4 PM on Sunday, December 3rd. Here are some photos to describe the event:

We are now heading off to Jasper's appointment with the Pediatric Nurse Practitioner. I'll update more when I get a chance.

Heading Home Very Soon! (updated with photos)

Here are some additional photos from Friday and Saturday:





I realize you probably aren't reading this blog for the text, so I will keep this brief. We have seen the pediatrician, and we had a second consult from the Lactation Consultant. Jasper is feeding well, but it is taking a toll on Erica. We have some things to work on, and we will do that at home. It is pretty cool here today (in the 40's), and we will see how Jasper responds to his first breath of free air. I'll keep trying to post more pictures as I have time. We will be heading for home in about 30 minutes!

Coming Home Today!

After talking with Erica's doctor, we expect to be coming home from the hospital today. We aren't sure what time we will be able to leave, but we are already making preparations.

Jasper continues to improve his ability to feed, and he continues to be a very content little boy. We are so blessed by his life and his attitude toward this new world he has discovered. Erica continues to be a wonderful mother and wife, and we look forward to show Jasper his home and room.

Thank you to all of you that called and offered your congratulations. I haven't been able to return every call, but we appreciate having such a large circle of friends with whom to share this time. On this Lord's day, we have much to be thankful for.

Jasper's First Video

Here is a short film of Jasper Thomas Gant shortly after he was born. I'll upload more photos tomorrow. For now, we are going to try and get some rest. Overall, things are going very well. Jasper is feeding much more easily, and for longer durations. That is very encouraging. We plan to head home tomorrow!

He is HERE!

Our son was born today! Jasper Thomas Gant was born at 2:01 PM today, December 1st. At birth he was 8 lbs. 15 oz. and 21 1/4 inches long. Both mom and baby are doing well. Jasper is having some trouble feeding, but he is improving. We think the problems he is having can be overcome in the near future.

If you wish to talk to us, the best way to do that is to call my cell phone (512-417-0522). I may not be available to answer your call. I will do what I can to return your call in short order. Here are some photos from the big day. The first picture is from the first 5 minutes after birth.

I'll add more info tomorrow. For now, we are all going to try and get some rest.