Exciting Developments! (well, at least for us new parents)

I'm trying to grab a few moments to do a quick post while I suspect the sleeping babe in the sling I'm wearing is waking up. Or just grunting in his sleep. :)
We are feeling very loved and lucky... lots of family time this month. My Mom and sister Robin flew down from MA last weekend, and Sean got to spend lots of quality time with the Dodsons and the Farbers-- Brian, his brother Evan + family and his mother, also in town for the weekend. It was fun to see "the moms" hang out, especially since they have lots in common (widowed at a young age, impressive children, and two children who are moving into a new 2-bedroom apartment in Columbia Heights this weekend). This makes the Dodson daughters 3/3 for cohabitation, a statistic I leave you to evaluate.
Sean enjoyed lots of time with his maternal family, including lots of time with them while I presented at an unfortunately scheduled (I had the weekend wrong when my family booked their flights), but fun and inspiring student conference at the University of Maryland. And we had wonderful warm weather, which I think the New England delegation appreciated in particular. We are lucky that MA is close enough to get regular visits with my family. I aspire to post pics from this weekend and other March adventures (Sean's first meeting with Brenda and Kevin, and Alexis and Searle, last week).
And, Sean soon gets to see his paternal grandparents! Pat and Jeff are flying to DC a week from today, and will get to see their grandson who is now probably 2-2.5 times heavier than during their November visit. They've seen him grow, of course, via videoconferencing and the many (too many?) pictures we post (lots of FL pictures in our February album) online, but he's a professional snuggler and we're excited for them to get some of that quality time. They will be on the East Coast for about a week and we are lucky they have the time to spend with us. Chris' Aunt Kathleen will also be in town that week from St. Louis and meet her grand nephew for the first time. Yeah for lots of visitors!
This week Sean has had a few very exciting developments:

1. He has only woken up once per night in most of the past week (typically around 3 am or so). I feel so much more well-rested with one 30 minute or so period of being awake, well into my slumber, rather than 2 or 3. We start his bedtime routine around 9 pm which means he's typically asleep for 5-6 hours that first chunk, and then usually sleeps to 7:30 am or so in that second chunk. I confess I think I'd rather he wake up at 3:30 after 6 hours than 5:30 after the theoretically better 8 hours, since I have no problem going back to sleep at 3:30 but often do after 5 am. I am keeping my fingers crossed this will be a trend that goes into the future.
2. Secondly, he's rolled himself over from his tummy to back a few times now, surprising himself and us. It's not something he can do regularly (didn't last night, for example) but we are very proud of him. Maneuvering around that belly is not easy!
3. Thirdly, we has a new type of laughter that is probably the sweetest sound I've ever heard. He already has squealed in delight for months, but he had the most delightful giggles this week while cuddling and being tickled. Pretty amazing!

I still find juggling work (my new part-time schedule is MWF in the office, plus another 8-12 hours working from home) and parenthood to be challenging, but I think everyone does. A few giggles, though, erase stress quickly!
Okay, he's waking up and therefore this post comes to an end. Love to all of our friends and family out there!