Catching Up

A lot has happened since our last post, so here is a run down of the last few weeks.  First off, we are still learning/adjusting to life with Anders.   We are developing a new definition of free time and don't have much of it, whatever the definition, right now.  We frequently go to bed between 8 and 9 pm, but sometimes stay up until 10!  Anders doesn't like to be put down.  He needs to fall asleep with somebody  holding him whether in your arms or a sling or Baby Bjorn, thus the unclear definition of free time  - is it when he is asleep, but on your body somehow or is it when he is asleep in his bassinet or the swing?  I guess there are varying degrees of free time.  He is starting to enjoy brief periods of time looking at the ceiling, his mobiles, the ceiling fans or our neighbor's house (he especially likes the color I picked out for the arch between the dining and living rooms) - those are usually at most 10 minutes long, but it is a start.  And just to give you an indication of how fleeting free moments are - it has taken me 4 days to create this post and now  Blogger isn't saving it so I don't know if this will even get posted.  

So since the last post about our ingenious way to keep Lucy off the furniture, Anders has travelled to Iowa City to meet relatives and see his dad off to a football game.  He met his oldest cousin, Henry, who did a great job of holding him.  

He met his Uncle Pete and cousin Clara, who looks smashing in her Iowa football jersey (Anders will have to get one of those, but his dad has some specifics of what it has to be like, so we will just let Will take care of getting that for him). 

He also met his Great Aunt Joyce who gave him this fun pacifier (click on the pic to make it larger), his Great Great Aunt Jean, his Aunt Carrie and Uncle Rob.  Not pictured (sadly) are his Aunt Betsy and his cousin Eleanor, both of whom he met and loves.  Eleanor wasn't sure about Anders (maybe she knows something the rest of us don't know?) - she didn't like her mom and dad holding Anders. 

I think Rob is smelling Anders.

Aunts Becky and Sarah and cousins Cameron, Zach and Drew came on my birthday and stayed through the 5th.  We had lots of fun going to the park, the rides at the Mall of America and hanging out.  The adults enjoyed my favorite chocolate cake after the boys went to bed.     Anders also got to meet Uncle Mike, who came up Friday night, but once again, we didn't get a picture!  Anders and the boys also got to go out to dinner with Great Uncle Bill and Gloria who were on their way up to northern MN to enjoy the fall colors.  We went to the Spaghetti Factory with them and Anders slept through all the noise.  Notice we have no pictures from that visit either.  We are very bad.   Here are a couple of pictures from that weekend.  Check out Sarah and Mike's blog for more details on the fun.

Grandma Jean came back for a week of cleaning the house, cuddling with Mr. Don't-Put-Me-Down and humorous bickering with Will (it is especially entertaining to have them cook together).  
Anders and I went to our first yoga class together.  Here he is all ready to go.  It turns out he was over-dressed for yoga as the babies get surprisingly warm during the work out.  He did quite well and we are looking forward to future sessions.  

Anders gets to spend the evenings with dad.  Here he is meditating in post-yoga bliss on Will's lap.    
Some random pictures from earlier - one of the few family pictures we have and a 4 generation picture with my mom and her dad, who is 95 or maybe he is 96 now.  

And finally, Anders is starting to smile.  He loves his mobiles and smiles at them frequently.  Today after his bath he was smiling at one of the raven pictures in the bathroom (I told him ravens are very cool birds and he seemed to get it).  He seems really close to smiling a real smile at us.  We are eagerly awaiting the moment.