Daniel is 4 months old/ Baby's 1st Thanksgiving

Whew, lots to report on this time.  Since my last post we've had several new developmental milestones, a checkup, and a holiday:

This is how we roll
Daniel rolled tummy to back for the first time on Halloween, then a little more than a week later he learned how to roll from his back to his tummy.  We haven't captured that on video yet but he loves to show his new skills off on his activity mat, in his crib, and even when we're trying to change his diaper.  We always put him to bed on his back, and sometimes he stays there, but we'll often come in to get him and find him on his tummy.  Our pediatrician says not to worry, now that he's strong enough to roll over he's not at risk of suffocating if he sleeps on his tummy.  And as she points out, now that he can roll over if he wants to sleep on his tummy, short of going in and turning him over again every time there's not much we can do about it.

In a less exciting but equally happy development, Daniel, who has always been a good night sleeper, can now add champion napper to his resume.  Before he would nap unpredictably and too little, but the last few weeks he's generally good for an hourlong morning nap and 90 minute-2 hour afternoon nap.  Two big changes helped us get there: him learning to fall asleep unassisted, and the installation of light-blocking shades in his bedroom.  Not sure how much credit should go to each one, but the combined effect is that we can put him down drowsy and even if he cries a little first, he'll get himself to sleep.  I think that keeping the room dark enables him to fall asleep more quickly  and also to fall back asleep more easily when he wakes.

Here are the shades:

And here is his 4 month picture:

Checkup
Daniel had his 4-month checkup on the 19th.  He's developing quite well and really growing.  He's up to 13 lb 10 oz, 25.5" long, 16.25" head circumference.  He got 2 shots, his first DTaP and his second Hib.  He cried during the shots but was quickly calm and didn't seem to have any trouble afterwards.  Our next checkup is in January, when he'll be 6 months old.

Our first Thanksgiving
For Daniel's first Thanksgiving we visited my side of the family at the ranch in south Texas.  Daniel handled the long drive and sleeping away from home surprisingly well.  He was able to stay more or less on his normal sleep schedule-in fact, last night he slept 11 hours straight.  Which was great, except we were counting on getting on the road as soon as he was up to miss the traffic.  Fortunately we all get a little more rest and still missed most of the traffic!  He loved spending time with my parents, aka Mimi and Grandpa, as well as my brother, his great-grandparents, and some other famil members.

Here's a picture of him with his great-grandfather and namesake.  I'm so glad he and my grandmother got to see and hold him.  He's their first great-grandbaby!

We also enjoyed a visit from my cousin Chris, his wife Lisa, their daughter Caitlin, who's exactly one month older than Daniel, and Chris's mom my cousin Robin.  Here's a picture of Daniel and his cute cousin: