Late Father's Day Post and Jasper is 3 Months Old

I have been meaning to post about Father's Day, but I have not quite had the chance. Jasper and I went and had professional photos taken for Jack's gift. I'll include a few at the end of this post. Jack had wanted to see the filmed production of Stephen Sondheim's Company. It was only playing for two more days once we had heard of it, so we attended the Father's Day performance. Karen and Molly we nice enough to babysit for us.

Here are a few pictures of Jasper and his dad.

We can carry him facing forward now, yay!

Jasper looks like he is doing a Mickey Mouse impression in the next picture. We had met Jack on his walk home from the bus. Jack carried Jasper home with his earphones still around his neck. 

 

And now for the professional pictures...

 

Grumpy face!

Jasper is now three months old!

 

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:

Happy First Mother's Day, Anastasia!

We've had a lot of visitors lately, so we "officially" celebrated Mother's Day a week late this year. It was Anastasia's first Mother's Day, so I tried to make it interesting by wrapping her gift in paper I printed with images of Jasper all over it.

Best misuse of company resources ever!

Now for some more photos of our favorite little monster...

Having a staring contest with Daddy...

Jasper loves Mama...                                                                    Pass the remote, yo!

Cuddle time with Dad...

Visitors and Donuts!

We had a week of visitors followed by a few days of appointments. Mother's Day was celebrated twice in there too. Oh and, as of May 14th, Jack and I have been married for six years! I am too tired to go over everything tonight, but I must say that the visits and both of my Mother's Day celebrations were wonderful. Tomorrow Jack and I will celebrate our anniversary. Here are some pictures from the week of visitors:

Jack's Dad and step mom met Jasper in early May. Molly and Rick joined them to babysit for our first date night since we became parents. We went to our favorite Mexican restaurant for dinner. It was nice to get away for a little bit and have some Jack and Stasia time.

  My brother and his girlfriend visited as well. Here they are holding little Jasper.

We spent Mother's Day visiting with my parents and grandma over google video-chat, then heading to a bookstore, grabbing a bite to eat, and finally walking through Cal Anderson Park. Here we are at the park.

Jasper and I met Bryan and Katie at Top Pot Doughnuts a few hours before they departed. I love the 5th Ave location almost as much as I love their doughnuts. For the record, I prefer the spelling, "donuts".

Jasper is One Month Old!

Yesterday we were a little surprised to realize that we have been parents for one month. I took a few pictures of Jasper with this cute sticker on his shirt. I couldn't decide between two pictures, so I'll post both.

 

He has a funny look on his face here, maybe he is a little surprised at turning a month old too. Or is it apprehension? Being one moth old does come with a lot of responsibility you know.

Here is Jasper with dad. He is starting to look a little chunky, hooray!

Happy Easter and the Many Faces of Jasper

Our Laundry is Cuter

 
We received a baby shower card that told us our laundry would get cuter and I must say, it was right.

Jasper will be three weeks old on Saturday. Here are some highlights from the past two weeks:

• His bellybutton has been revealed, I'm thinking it's an innie.
• Jasper has been smiling more and more. This may be a result of gas, but when he smiles after you smile, it's hard to know for sure.
• Some newborn sized clothes have had to be retired. They are too short in the legs - that is a trait from dad for sure.
• We have moved up to the next size in diapers. What can I say, this kid eats a LOT some days.
• Jasper is getting better at holding his head up. This really pleases mom.

And now for some more pictures, check out the bellybutton:

This picture doesn't illustrate it very well, but Jasper loves to stare at the black and white patterns you see at the top. It's said that babies are drawn to high contrast. I bought this Crib Gallery at Barnes and Noble and recommend it. Jasper is often (but not always), distracted by it during changing time. It has a more complicated backside for the older baby.

I have also been showing him the book "Look, Look!" with black and white pictures. He seems to enjoy that too.

One more picture:

Dad Goes Back to Work

Well, after two and a half weeks of hanging out at home with my wife and new little boy, tomorrow is the day--back to work.

This will be difficult.

On one hand, there is a part of me looking forward to getting back to my job and back to seeing the people I work with. And yeah, it'll be nice to get out of the house (though, I feel kind of guilty saying that, what with Anastasia staying home).

Mostly, however, it will be hard for me. It's been so great being at home, helping Anastasia and spending lots of time with Jasper.

I'm really going to miss my boy during the day.

Jasper's First Bath at Home

Our little man had his first bath time at home a couple of nights ago.We had to give him a sponge bath because his little cord jerky hasn't fallen off yet.

He was not very happy about it.

Little Milestones

This photo is a little dark, but I just had to share it. 

Here are the boys watching the Seattle Sounders beat the Chicago Fire on Saturday. Clearly, Jasper needs to build up his soccer watching endurance.

Saturday marked Jasper's first week! Highlights include: 

Being born.

Meeting friends and family.

Coming home. 

Mom and dad each getting peed on in consecutive diaper changings.

Mom and dad implementing "Operation Weenie Shield".

Using the stroller for the first time to take a family walk around the neighborhood.

Family nap time!

A few more pictures, starting with Grandma and Grandpa:

And a wonderful picture our friends took. I love the name tag.

And one last picture to assure you that Jasper does open his eyes. 

Going Home

We went home on the 4th.

 

Jasper Fell asleep during his first car ride. 

The pets appear to be adjusting well. Jack and I like to think we are adjusting well too.

Jasper isn't old enough to smile, but if you catch a rooting reflex at just the right moment, you get a very cute picture.

On April 2nd, 2011...

Jasper James was born!

He weighed 8 lbs 7 oz and measured 20 inches.

"Hello babies. Welcome to Earth. It's hot in the summer and cold in the winter. It's round and wet and crowded. On the outside, babies, you've got a hundred years here. There's only one rule that I know of, babies--'God damn it, you've got to be kind.'" — Kurt Vonnegut