It's Cherry Blossom season in Washington...

The menfolk of Apartment 205 are still sleeping, so I am attempting to steal a few minutes to update our blog. I think Chris' snoring is working quite effectively as a white noise machine for Sean, who usually does not sleep this late. In other words, Sean's typical 6:30-7:30 am wake up time resembles his mother's side (though, actually, later than the typical wake up time of his maternal aunts) than his father's.
As always, there are lots of exciting (well, for us) developments to report on and, also, so little time to capture them. Sean got lots of great quality time with his father's family recently-- Jeff and Pat spent a whole week on the East Coast! They flew out and the next morning Jeff and Meghan ran a half marathon here. Very impressive-- not every kid has a grandfather who runs 13 miles and even takes a minute off his time from 1.5 years ago. The race conveniently took them right near our apartment building and Pat, Chris and Sean were able to cheer them on, and then rendezvous in Eastern Market to celebrate afterward. Sean got lots of time with his grandparents and, I think, impressed them with his size (he's probably 2.5x times as big as he was during their November visit) and interactiveness. We haven't yet uploaded pictures from the visit (most are on Meghan's camera, and she's a busy gal with work + grad school + the adventurous life of a 20-something in DC) but I promise they will be in our March 2009 (Four Months) album soon. We are lucky that Chris' family can travel from California to visit, and have schemes to return the favor with a possible West Coast trip in August.
It was great to spend time with Kathleen, who flew from St. Louis (but originally hails from Oakland as well) during her spring break to check out her newest nephew. She brought Sean a fun ball (I'll let Chris describe it officially later) from her trip to the Air and Space museum that is perfect for his little hands to grasp and, of course, bring to his mouth to explore. We are on "first tooth watch" and while it seems like he might be close to cutting his first tooth, no signs yet. I admit I lost some of my enthusiasm for his teething when I watched a fellow breastfeeding mom yelp during a new moms meetup as her teething daughter drew blood. MEEP! Hoping Sean won't do that, or will learn after the first time that it will not please his mother.
Sean perfected rolling over from his stomach to his back in time to impress his relatives. While he often objected to tummy time before (he's supposed to spend 10+ minutes on his stomach a day to help him learn to crawl and generally get around... key since he sleeps on his back, as advised by the anti-SIDS crowd), now that he can get his head up and he has an escape clause, he is often content to hang out on a blanket checking things out. No rolling yet from his back to stomach, though he definitely can roll on to his side.
It's cherry blossom season here and Sean has gotten a chance to check them out a few times. At this point, I'd guess that I've covered something like 180 miles with him in the Ergo (but, I'm pretty awkward getting him around in his car seat/stroller), including a great "urban hike" with Maura last Tuesday on the eve of her 35th birthday. This morning we are off to an ultimate frisbee game, my first since he was born (and I'm guessing that will show!). It's a glorious sunny day with temperatures expected to hit the 60s... yeah for spring!!!! The warmer weather inspired a trip to our local park for Sean's first ride in a swing, trip down a slide, and experimentation with the see saw. There are a few pictures and videos from his time in the playground in our album.
Well, I think the boys are awake, which is probably a good thing since we should get ready for the Floppy Disc's game today. Lots of love to all out there, and please feel free to come visit our remarkable little dude!