A ticklish neck

We've discovered something about Jasper: He has a ticklish neck. Of course, what we perceive to be "Hey, cut that out, I'm ticklish!" could actually be "I recognize you are interacting with me in a playful way, and therefore I am laughing!" But we're going with ticklish.

Too soon for carrots?

So, our success with rice cereal got us ambitious. At Jasper's six-month checkup, the pediatrician told us we could start feeding him pureed vegetables. Carrots were first up to bat. Jasper wasn't so sure about carrots.



Okay, so he hasn't yet developed a love of carrots. But he still needs those calories, and he can still make a good mess with the rice cereal.

A master class on sucking

As in, Jasper could teach one!

He hasn't really figured out the pacifier thing, but he loves the two-finger method. Here's one little show starring Jasper, his index finger and his middle finger. The ring finger makes guest appearances.

Further experiments in solid foods

So we've been feeding Jasper rice cereal for over a week now, steadily thickening it so it's more like "food" than "drink." The results have been mixed. A couple times he's taken to it, including tonight, when he lunged forward at the spoon with a chomping gesture that made both Mummy and Daddy laugh out loud. Other times, after one bite, he clamps his fingers in his mouth, and we have to push the spoon through whatever opening we can find.

One thing for certain is that he really likes holding things. It's almost as though it's not eating the food that he objects to -- it's that he wants to use the spoon to feed himself, which he is so far from being capable of doing. At least whatever he doesn't eat, we mix with some milk, and he can drink it down at the end. And in this part he actually can do some holding.

Happy 6 months, Jasper! Now, eat up!

Jasper turns six months old today!

But he actually got a week's head start on "solid" foods last weekend: his first taste of rice cereal. We put "solid" in quotes because it is barely any thicker than milk. As you can see from it dribbling down his chin.

Weekend away!

It was Mummy's birthday last weekend, which meant a trip out to the desert to celebrate! Here's where we stayed. The video gives you pretty much everything you need to know ...

Jasper at the wheel

When Mummy and Daddy got tired of driving on the way out to Joshua Tree on Friday, Jasper was only too happy to take a shift.