Jaspy Halloween!

Mummy and baby

Love this new pic of Jasper and his mum!

Local family

In between visits from out-of-town family -- Lucy Frost arrives next week! -- we shouldn't forget about another recent visit from family that actually lives in town. A couple weekends ago, Jasper met his first cousin once removed (checked wikipedia to be sure about that one!), Robin, and her husband Adam, who live only a couple miles away. Robin is Clea's cousin, so I think the once removed designation is correct ... right?

Adam gets credit with a special achievement -- extracting from Jasper what we informally consider to be his first real smile! Here are Robin, Adam and Jasper, moments after returning from a lovely brunch a couple weekends ago.

Two months old!

(These photos actually from a card Jasper made for his daddy last week, with possibly assistance from his mummy.)

At his two-month checkup today, we discovered that Jasper has grown three inches and gained four pounds in the last five weeks! That's right, he's now weighing in double digits, at exactly 10 pounds. No wonder we're starting to notice some changes in him!

A couple more

Before we say goodbye to the visit from the Armstrongs, here are a couple more cute photos that just had to find their way onto the blog:

Photo shoot

Jasper's paparazzo grandfather takes some shots while Jasper strikes a pose. Then again, he doesn't really have that many poses, and striking them occurs somewhat passively.




Thanks for a great visit, "Grandpa" (for now) and Didi!

Placid Jasper

We've had nothing but rain since the elder Armstrongs arrived in town, so most of our photography and video has taken place indoors. But that doesn't mean we haven't gotten some good stuff. Here's Jasper under the spell of his grandfather:

More grandparents to meet!

Jasper meets [Grandfather name to be determined] and Didi. They arrived Friday night and spent the day with us yesterday, here until Thursday!

Sleepy puppet

We've found that however fussy Jasper is, he tends to calm down if you grab him under the armpits. And sometimes, you can even turn him into a little marionette. See Exhibit A:




Of course, the ultimate goal is the reclined position:




But in an ideal world, somewhere other than Daddy's legs -- at least in the long term. :-)

Baby tunes

Mummy and Jasper having a little fun.

The shoulder days are here

Early on, we were very worried about not being able to see his little mouth, and wondering if he'd be able to keep his airways clear with his head on our shoulders.

At nearly seven weeks, we think it's time.

So here's Mummy giving our man a little burp, as he relaxes and gives her a cuddle.

Any port in a storm

What a good stretch of a couple days from little Jasper! He's been generally very well-behaved. But that doesn't mean there aren't some times that he still seems inconsolable. Take Friday afternoon. He seemed to have been fully fed, but he was still fussy, as seen here:




However, you never know where temporary satisfaction will rear its head. Jasper doesn't seem that interested in a pacifier, which is just as well, because we aren't that interested in giving him one. But thumb-sucking ... that's another story. Even if it's not his own thumb.




Note: No thumbs were harmed in the making of this video.

The arm crook of submission!

What a great discovery! Mummy suggested the perfect position for Daddy to hold Jasper during Mummy's nap. Not only did Jasper sleep there for an entire 105-minute movie without fussing, but Daddy even got in a nap of his own. (Don't worry, Jasper was on the inside of the couch and safe.) I think we'll be trying this more often ...

The two Jaspers

So, on Monday, we called him a "fussy little monster." He's actually more mercurial than that. One minute, he's absolutely fine; the next minute, he's screeching like a banshee; and then the next minute, quiet as a church mouse again.

Without further ado, evidence from today's walk. Here's the good Jasper:




And the fussy one:




Then again, we could also just be describing every six-week-old baby who's ever lived!

Fussy little monster!

Sorry for another delay in blog updating, but our little man has been fussing relentlessly! Not only has this consumed a lot of the free time in which we usually update the blog, but it has also made us feel considerably less excited about doing so!

So, to recognize the fussy condition that has occupied him the last few days, here are a couple photos of Jasper on the verge of a good cranky session.


The good news: The storm broke today on the day the storms arrived (we had rain today), and Jasper was delightful as can be to his mummy. Here's hoping the five-day forecast is just as good!