Photo Centric Post

I've been lax about posting again, so here are some photos to make up for it.

My birthday was this week, and Morgan got me a gorgeous pair of shoes as a present. Jasper isn't sure what to make of them.



Jasper got a couple packages this week. When the first Amazon box arrived addressed to him, I asked him who's credit card he'd been using. Turns out they were actually presents from Jasper's great aunt Diana.



Diana and family have effectively quadrupled Jasper's library - thank you!

In other baby related news, Jasper has started drooling. A lot. So I broke out some of the bibs he's received from various people, then decided he was so cute I had to take a picture.



I think this bib was from Mardie. Oh, and what a smile, eh?

And one last picture from Tahoe. People seem to like this one, so I thought I'd share.

In praise of cloth diapers

For Jasper's first month, we used disposable diapers, first because of icky meconium poops and then because he was a little too skinny for the cloth diapers we had. But for the last several weeks, he's been rocking the one-size pocket diapers. We made the switch after he had two blowout in two days on things that are a pain in the butt to wash (his carseat and his papasan chair). Since the switch, we've had a few leaks, particularly if Jasper's slept through the night or if the insert wasn't stuffed quite right. But we have not had a single poopsplosion requiring large items to be washed.

We decided to use disposables while we were up in Fallen Leaf because we didn't want to deal with carrying around and washing the cloth diapers. It worked fine, there were no big messes, but Jasper's little tush was starting to look a bit red by time we headed home. It was a relief to get him back into his soft, comfy looking diapers again.

A week away

Or, Jasper's first family vacation.

We spent the last five days at Fallen Leaf Lake, near South Lake Tahoe. The family of a good friend of Mom's owns a cabin there, and she's being going up there for about fifteen years, but this the first time we made it a family vacation. We had quite the houseful, with Morgan, Jasper, Pace and me, Mom and her two dachshunds, Jill and Christian and their chihuahua and their Jack Russell terrier/doxie mix, Oh, and their lovebird, Voltaire. It was exhausting keeping track of all those critters, but it was a lot of fun.

Jasper got to spend some quality time with his grandma and his aunt, which meant I got to relax some (and read! I actually finished a whole book!). He also got to go on his first hike.



Okay, he slept through his first hike.

Morgan also got to spend some non fussy time with Jasper, who normally is pretty mellow during the day, and then starts getting crabby around four pm, just in time for Morgan to come home from work. But on vacation, Morg got to see the whole range of daily Jasper emotions, which was pretty cool.



Pace also had a blast running around with the little dogs and getting some quality off-leash time. Apparently my dog is exceptionally fond of climbing hills. At the cabin, he seemed like an entirely different dog, eager to take treats when the other dogs were getting them and apparently undisturbed by power tools being used down the road. We confirmed that he has no interest in going swimming (despite his webbed retriever toes), but he did let us take a few pictures of him.



And of course, when we got home, the cats were exceptionally glad to see us.

Videos are fun.

There's a gem at the end of this one... wait for it.

Swinger

The aforementioned swing rapture:

Silly Parental Realizations

For some reason, it took me six weeks to realize that I could set Jasper down while he is awake and not have him melt down.

I think earlier on, this wasn't true, so if he was awake, he needed to be held. If he fell asleep in arms, I could gently place him in his nest or in his little papasan chair and hopefully he would stay asleep. For the last few weeks, when he wakes up, I've been letting him stay where he is for a while. He'll generally spend a few minutes opening and closing his eyes and looking around. Its amazing seeing him become more aware of - and interested in - his surroundings. If he starts fussing, I'll sit and talk to him, play with his hands and feet. And then, if he stays fussy, I'll pick him up and figure out what he needs. Usually its a diaper change or a meal, but sometimes he just needs to be held or rocked or walked around.

But the whole thing about being able to set him down when he's awake? Liberating. Last night I hung laundry while he snuggled in his nest. This afternoon, I set him in his little travel swing while I made cookies. Of course, generally this only lasts a few minutes, but, hey, its a start. The seats that keeps him occupied the longest are the ones with moving parts; he loves sitting and watching the mobile on his full size swing. I'm not sure if its the moving stuffed animals that keep him mesmerized or the mirror on the bottom of the mobile where he can see his own reflection. Regardless, the result is a very rapt baby.

I had another realization today after the travel swing grew boring. I really wanted to finish making cookies, so I grabbed my beautiful sling, which I have been terrified of using. Jasper's just felt too little, too fragile the couple times I've put it on. But today, somehow, it worked. He watched me and watched the kitchen as we moved around scooping cookie dough and pulling things in and out of the oven. He even (!!!) fell asleep. I am now in love with the sling. Jasper didn't seem to mind it too much either.

And of course, since I was so amazed that he fell asleep, I had to take a picture:



(This also represents to the blog debut of my new Mommy haircut - yes, I'm a cliche. Its actually much cuter when I'm not a sweaty mess.)

And since we're doing pictures, this is what I came home to after walking the dog this other night. (Sorry the picture is so dark - I didn't want to wake them with a flash.)

Some firsts

Jasper and I had a couple firsts this week.

He had his first Costco trip, accompanied by his Grandma Janet and Aunt Harriett. As much fun as we had, I think Jasper was entirely unimpressed by the big box warehouse experience.

He and his dad also had their first bottle feeding experiences this week. (We won't talk about the trauma involved in my first breast pumping experience.) Once they got the hang of it, it went very well, and I got to take Pace on a couple nice long walks. However, when I returned last night, I was advised that I needed to pump more. Sigh.

I've taken Jasper on a couple solo trips this week. It sounds silly, but little things like leaving the house during the day have been overwhelming for me. But after last week's BART adventure, my confidence has been way up. Yesterday, we headed up to Berkeley to pick up a used travel swing, and today we went to talk to the nice people at Kaiser's member services about my disability claim (I love Kaiser, incidentally). These have just been little outings, but with each one, I'm more comfortable juggling the car seat and stroller and diaper bag (Jasper even wore cloth diapers out of the house today - a first!).

Tomorrow: another nice long walk and Jasper's first trip to a hair salon. (Yes, he has a lot of hair. No, scissors are not going anywhere near it.)

General Observations

One of my favorite things about Jasper is that when he's hungry, he will throw back his head and shape his mouth into a perfect little "O." I call it his baby bird look. I promise I do not drop worms into my baby's mouth.

I also love the way he sometimes wrings his hands together while he's nursing. He looks like the most anxious baby ever.

At one month of age Jasper has mastered the ultimate pout. His lower lip juts out and his eyes are just the saddest thing ever. If I were a better mother, it would break my heart. But I'm clearly heartless because it makes me laugh.

Which leads us to the many cries of Jasper. There's the general "I'm hungry, I'm fussy" cry. There's the in pain cry, thus far really only witnessed when Jasper does "The Becca" - he grabs a fist full of his own hair and pulls. The harder he pulls, the tighter his grip gets. The tighter the grip, the more he screams. Fun cycle. And then there's the pissed off cry. This generally follows a failed pout and is most frequently heard on the changing table, in a stationary car, and when his food source is not presented in a timely enough manner.

In addition to all the other features that Jasper and Morgan share, they have the same shape hands. And the same shape thumbnail.

Yesterday, we took Jasper on his first four mile stroll in Walnut Creek. He did wonderfully - meaning he slept through the whole thing. He woke up at Starbucks afterward, which led to our first public breastfeeding effort. Which went very well, I'm happy to say.