Plumping Up

We're happy to report that Jonas is on his way to becoming chubby. He eats like a champ (with occasional spit ups) and has begun to visibly put on weight, especially in his upper thighs and belly. I'm concerned that I'm overfeeding him. My milk supply is quite generous and flows so quickly that he often chokes. When he detaches, there will often be a spray of milk that hits him straight in the face. Poor little guy! I think it's total irony though, as he gets ME in the face when I change his diaper.

Ed and I are consumed with curiosity about how much weight Jonas is gaining. We both thought him a bit too thin at birth. So how to you measure a baby? We tried the bathroom scale, but he doesn't weigh enough to register on it. Ed then suggested a little orange kitchen scale we have that will register up to 8 pounds. Unfortunately, it has a tiny little spot to rest the item which you intend to weigh. Ed's solution was to put Jonas in our tupperware popcorn bowl, then put the bowl on the scale. He was quite thorough in his approach, and even weighed the bowl first, so as to deduct it from the total. It would have worked, but we couldn't view the digital readout because the bowl was too big. Plus, the baby didn't fit very well in the bowl, as he is more oblong rather than circular.

We then tried my solution - place the scale near the edge of the counter, then sit the baby on the scale while gently supporting him to keep him from toppling over. I'm certain this really would have worked, but the scale readout fluctuated too much. We think he weighs a bit closer to 8 pounds now, rather 7 pounds, but this is pure speculation.

Besides putting on weight (we hope to post pictures of His Royal Chubbiness later), Jonas has become quite the traveler. We are now in Columbus, Ohio where Ed is participating in a water innovation workshop. We counted the states that Jonas has been in as we traveled yesterday. Born in Kansas, living in Missouri, and just traveled through Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio. That's 5 states under his belt, and he is only 3 weeks old!

Milestones

Jonas has filled the first two weeks of his life with lots of accomplishments:

1. He has learned to eat, burp, fart, spit-up, etc. He is best at farting.

2. He has an original video posted on youtube.

3. He has received official government mail, addressed to him personally (social security card).

4. He has his own gmail account: vogtjd@gmail.com. Feel free to send him an email.

5. He has read 3 books: 1) Are You My Mother? 2) Mike Mulligan and the Steam Shovel 3) Mother Goose Nursery Rhymes.

6. He has written his first "thank you" email (with Ed's help).

7. He has shopped at Target (twice), Bed, Bath & Beyond, and Babies R 'Us.

8. While on his tummy, he can lift and turn his head.

9. He has mesmerized his Nonnie (maternal grandmother)

10. He has been to the doctor twice and the blood lab 3 times, and conquered jaundice on his own.

Where are the pictures and videos?

Follow the link to see pictures and videos of Jonas. The sets are on the right hand side.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/vogted/

Meet Jonas

Our little JD was born on May 7th at 19.5 inches and 7 lbs. Nurse Sarah and Dr. Stone delivered him after only 1 hour of pushing. He's had many adventures in the short 10 days since his birth, many of which we want to share with you. This blog is intended to chronicle his childhood, so that our many relatives and friends who are scattered around the country can be a part of his life.

This blog also serves as a sequel of sorts to our journey through infertility, "Practicing Patience." After we post a final entry at PP, we will retire the blog, hopefully for good. We want more children, and hope we won't need to revisit that same path to parenthood called IVF.

Much more to come in the following days about the life and adventures of JD, including photos and links to videos.