Confessions and Dancing and Singing

I plan to write my own "confessions" and musings on fatherhood from time to time, especially once Jasper nears one year old. For now, this was a really enjoyable read:

8 Confessions of a New Dad.

I especially connected with the part about time alone with the baby being "surprisingly profound." There are moments when I am playing with Jasper and he is staring up at me, smiling, cooing, letting out little laughs and squeals, that I am completely charmed and captivated by him.

Last night Anastasia had a hair appointment so I had some time alone with Jasper. He had been napping when she left, but (naturally) woke up two minutes after she drove off. He was in a good mood at first, but then got very fussy. I threw on the Baby Bjorn, strapped him in facing outward, and queued up some music on our laptop computer.

In little circles around the kitchen, we danced while I sang along to tunes by The Head and the Heart and The Drive-By Truckers. I fought back tears while singing along to DBT's "Two Daughters and a Beautiful Wife." That song chokes me up every time. I almost can't listen to it anymore now that we have a child.

And he held each of my index fingers in a tight grip and seemed to be having a good time. Speaking for myself, it was the highlight of my day.

A Walk Around Greenlake

The weather is getting better here in Seattle. Jack, Jasper, Annabelle, and I took a walk around Greenlake. I think all of us were glad to get out of the house. Annabelle is always ready to go.

Jack caught sight of some turtles and grabbed his camera.
PHOTO BOMB! 

"Young males in the early summer may be quite small and easily overlooked..."

...Sounds like my early teens.

After some intense research (two and a half minutes on Google), I found out that the spider in the post below is called misumena vatia, a kind of crab spider, otherwise known as a flower crab spider or a goldenrod crab spider, because it can change its color from white to yellow to hunt in the sprays of yellow goldenrod flowers common in North America in the autumn.

Neat!

Jasper is Two Months Old!

At friends Andrew & Cortney's BBQ.

This makes me smile so much.

Feeding the little guy a bottle.

Belly button!

And here's an awesome spider that was hanging out in our backyard the other day: