A few details....

Jonas is now over 7 weeks old. He is able to lift his head and hold it up. When placed on his stomach, he can move his head from side to side. From this position, he also lifts both legs up at the same time. When he lifts his head and legs at the same time, it looks like he is body surfing. It’s fun to watch him do this while on Ed’s stomach.

His repertoire of gurgles is growing. He makes an “arh” sound. His Nonnie says that’s his way of talking; I think it’s her favorite sound.

Physically, he is really fattening up. At the new mom’s group that we attended yesterday, he weighed in at 11 pounds, 12 ounces, with clothes and a diaper on. He looked like a giant next to newborn twins. However, the 7 month old girls could have beaten him up with one hand tied behind their backs. He’s a healthy eater, and burps quite loudly. The air he expels from his “other end” is quite loud as well, and sounds like it was produced by an adult!

He still struggles with gas, and generally only cries when he has pain from gas, or is overtired. We are trying to start a nightly ritual with 9:00 p.m. diaper and clothing change, gripe water (bicarbonate, ginger, and fennel), and pacifier. It takes him about 90 minutes to find a calm, lasting sleep. He wakes about every 3 hours to eat, but goes right back to sleep. Our pediatrician cautioned us to keep him in his bassinet on his back, rather than let him sleep in our bed, or on our stomachs. Even though he greatly prefers to sleep with us, we had managed to wean him to the bassinet. This week, however, he seems much fussier, and will only sleep with us. We are still trying to reinforce the bassinet, though, as our queen sized bed just isn’t big enough!

When he yawns, he makes a small “O” with his mouth which then grows to a full sized yawn. When I go to change his diaper, he stretches both arms and legs as full as he can. He is fascinated by the slats in his crib.

Some of Jonas’ new tricks

He grabbed a burp towel and brought it to his mouth. This may have been an accident, but I got excited.

He’s beginning to smile, but these moments are handed to us sporadically, and are still rare. When he’s entering REM sleep, he smiles often and even laughs. On Father’s Day, Jonas gifted Ed with a full blown smile that was not sleep-induced.

He has a small red birthmark on the back of his head. His eyes are true blue, and we hope they’ll stay that way. His eyelashes and eyebrows are blond, but his hair is a light brown, with some blond mixed in. It’s as soft as corn silk.

Family Walk + Photos

Please forgive the totally unoriginal title. All of my energy now goes into making milk and changing diapers.

Tonight we took Jonas and the dog out for a stroll. The walking trail near our home was busy, but the dog got all of the attention from the various people we encountered along the way. We walked quite a long route, and Jonas, who had been asleep since we left the house, woke up cranky about 5 blocks from home. A stop at a nearby park bench calmed everyone, and the dog even got to wade in the fountain. The weather here is muggy but just cool enough for comfort so we were able to hang out for awhile.

While at the park, Jonas really seemed to take in the world. The sky was still blue, and he gazed at it in wonder. Ed held him, facing out, upright against his chest. In trying to take it all in, Jonas' weeble-wobble head went back so far that he ended up looking at Ed with a surprised expression. Then, he didn't have the strength to move his head back. It was hilarious!

We also spent time trying out the floor play-gym. Jonas seems to prefer to be on his back, and is starting to notice the toys hanging down. When on his tummy, he lifts his head and bottom, sometimes at the same time. He manages to lift his legs and bottom totally off the floor, in an arch, usually fueled by irritation at being unable to move very much. He seems quite strong. Because he's not fond of his car seat, he will resist being placed in it by making his body rigid and bowed out so it feels impossible to force him in it without hurting him. Generally, I try to tire him out rather than force him, but he's a persistent little guy.

Earlier today, I tried to take some photos of Jonas for his birth announcement. Here's a sampling of how things went....

Initially, there were some distrustful looks:


And gurgles of concern:



Followed by general crankiness:




Then outrage: (maybe related to the wardrobe change?)


Outrage evolved to a sneeze:




And then there was the post-sneeze miserable look:



I finally took pity on the boy, and gave up. Well, until he fell asleep:


And for all his pain and suffering, NONE of these images were selected for his birth announcement. Poor fellow. He's only been here for about a month, can't sleep for longer than 3 hours, is constantly hungry, and has terrible gas. Does he really need a mother who keeps taking pictures with a flash?

Everybody Poops (and other developmental milestones)

Jonas is changing before our eyes. He has become a tad cranky, seems to be awake more, and wants to be held often. I pulled out two books and read (quickly!) last night while he and Ed spent time together.

According to the books, Jonas is probably going through the 5 week development changes. Because I'm quick to pick him up when he cries and haven't instituted a feeding or sleeping schedule yet, I felt validated by the "authorities" in those books when they said that he needs attention and touch at this point. Apparently, it will be many more months before he can become spoiled by such unlimited attention. Yeah! I love soothing him, feeding him, holding him.

This morning, Jonas showed Ed his ability to project his poop. It traveled at least a foot, landing on Ed's shirt, the crib, the mattress, and the carpet. What's truly revealing is that our first response was amazement. Then we were impressed and amused. Finally (when the dog showed interest in licking up the poop), we felt a twinge of disgust. Yes, this is poop after all.

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.