Roll Over, Beethoven

Ben turned 3 months old on Sunday, July 2. Holy cow, the time does fly! He celebrated by rolling over on Friday morning (July 7th) for the first time from belly to back. He has since done this nearly every day, and usually seems surprised and annoyed, of all things. We both got to see him do this on Sunday while we were outside at a picnic, so we were pretty excited. He can't roll the other way yet, but I'm sure he'll eventually get the hang of it. He's sleeping well through the night, getting up at the earliest at 6:30 a.m, but usually between 7:00 and 9:30 a.m.

He's making more sounds and looks like he's really trying to talk. We talk back to him, mimicing the sounds he makes, talking and singing to him all the time. He hasn't laughed out loud yet (just in his sleep), although when he smiles, he opens his mouth all the way like a soundless laugh. He gurgles and makes bubbles, hasn't quite gotten the hang of swallowing his saliva. He's grasping things with his hands and putting them to his mouth (toys and rattles), and loves sucking on his fingers and thumbs. I don't think he's teething yet. He drools, and is usually content munching on his fingers, sometimes seems irritable, but I don't feel any bumps on his lower gum. Ben fell asleep durning tummy time this Saturday and found his fingers...
He's always so chipper in the morning, smiling and talking. He's gaining weight well, although our next appointment with the pediatrician isn't until July 25th. Then we're off to Boston for the annual AMI meeting (Association of Medical Illustrators). Ron and I need to take courses there to keep our Certification current, and we're bringing Ben with us. Thankfully, Opa will be joining us to look after Ben while we attend lectures like "Craniofacial Surgery" and "Anatomy of a Contract". Ron and his friend Rob are presenting the film they worked on, "Wired to Win", discussing what was involved in the storyboarding process for the medical animations used in the film. We'll also see the Body Worlds 2 exhibit, which Ron and I have attended before, but it will be Ben's first time (at least, on the outside). More updates to come, but enjoy the pictures (the shots below are from this morning while Opa was changing him) and leave some comments!