Spring has sprung

It's spring in Portland? Like really finally spring. Spring in Portland means we have a few days of sunshine and blue skies sandwiched in between a few more days of clouds and occasional rain. It also means you see people more. I mean, people don't really hibernate in the winter in Portland. They still get out and do stuff, but, of course, not as much. Spring in Portland also means Eliot and I go on walks every day. He mostly stays awake now during them, but not always. When he's 'done' with a walk while in the stroller, he cries and makes us hold him the rest of the way (I bring the sling in case this happens). When he's in the Baby Bjorn or other carrier and he's 'done' with the walk, he just falls asleep on my chest. Aww.

Spring in Portland also means that now we have to worry about sunburns. So, we wear a hat, we have a little sun-brella for the stroller, and we wear and bring sunblock.

And spring in Portland means our neighborhood is busy busy. The neighbors behind us had a dead tree removed yesterday. The neighbors to the south are re-roofing their house. Our neighbors across the street are building a new garage. And there are lots of people getting their yards all fixed up, which is something we really really need to do, mostly in the front. It's a jungle.

Eliot is a little over three months old now, and super fun. He smiles a lot now. He laughs (it sort of sounds like he's gasping). He's ticklish. He is kind of maybe sort of starting to reach for things, just a little bit. He knows his binky, and knows the difference between the binky and the breast for sure. He doesn't mind being bottle fed (most times), but he still prefers the breast. He likes to read with Daddy the new rainforest book that grandma bought him. He still loves naked time. He still has gas, and the gas still hurts a lot of the time, but maybe not as much as it used to. He still likes his swing. He likes tummy time if it's on one of us, either our legs or our tummies. He can hold his own head up most of the time. One new thing he started doing a few days ago was if you hold his hands, and kind of gently tug on them, he will engage his core muscles and neck and let you pull him up to sitting. That takes a lot of strength and understanding. He still loves bath time. He still hates the car seat, most of the time. He still loves being outside. He is much more tolerant of doggy kisses now -- I think he tolerates them but hasn't decided yet whether he likes them or not. Like most of us, he probably thinks the first two are fine, but each subsequent one becomes increasingly annoying. He likes music. And he is still sleeping pretty well at night, but nap times are still difficult.