thoughts and pictures from month 3

This has been an especially fun month with Bennett. He's smiling up a storm, we've heard a few first giggles, he's found his hands and his feet, and he's started to roll onto his side. These days he loves nothing more than to sit up straight and to stand. Ben continues to be a pretty easy kid - I think! - and has fallen into a more predictable nursing and sleeping schedule, which has been great.

It's my last week of maternity leave, the reality of which is starting to set in. I have mixed feelings - some sadness about giving up time with Bennett; some apprehension about managing the balance between a nearly full-time job and time with my family; some excitement about getting back to the projects and colleagues I enjoy; and some nervousness about starting work again and finding my place after 4 months away. I'm eased a bit by our great childcare situation, where Bennett will never be more than a house away and watched half the time by his two grandmothers.

Here are the latest pictures from the last month of Bennett's life! And here's the slideshow link, for full-screen pictures.

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