September came and went

Yes, it’s been a month. We are doing just fine here on Hereford St.
We had a great nine day visit from Grandma Joanne and Grandpa Dave! Ansel got in lots and lots of high quality interaction with both of them: countless stories, new toys, conversations, bottles, it was great! Ben turned 28 while they were here. We all went out to eat several times and Ansel did well.

By the time his grandparents arrived, Ansel had started consistently rolling from his back to his tummy. He first developed this skill when he was extra angry, and proceeded to apply it to all moods. Now he really seems to prefer being on his tummy and will quickly roll from his back unless you stick around to provide some good quality eye contact. His vocalization increased over the last month. Lots of noises. Some I find irresistible, while others have a more screechy quality. Ansel enjoys “tanny-uppy” quite a bit (standing up on our laps), though not for too long at one time. He has one or both of his hands at his mouth about half of the time he is awake. He prefers to stick his entire index finger in his mouth. Lots of spit. He doesn’t sleep through the night. If we are lucky, he only wakes up once or twice, but usually it is more. He only sleeps when he is swaddled (naps included), which we are hoping is not stunting his development. He doesn’t reach for things yet. He has a few toys that I have seen make him smile. He seems to tolerate sitting through board books quite well, and I have even made it all the way through The Cat in the Hat a few times. At 3 months, he weighed 18 lbs. and measured 25 inches. Most of the clothes he is wearing right now are size 9 months.

Right before Dave and Joanne came, we realized that Ansel exceeded the weight limit of the bassinet we were using by a few pounds, so once they arrived, we went out and bought a real crib from Ikea. We also got him a mobile to go with it. He slept very well the first night in his new bed.


Most of the time, we find Ansel to be irresistible. Sometimes I am overcome by this feeling and wish that I could kiss everywhere on his chubby face at once.
We recently went to St. Louis for a research conference and to visit our friends (pics etc. soon to come) and Ansel did great. Right now, Great Aunt Darla and Great Uncle Phil are in town, and it has been really nice to spend time visiting with them! The USS Constitution is on deck for tomorrow. Time to get some rest!

Oh yeah: There are MANY pictures here from September. I did a terrible job at being selective/ discriminating...