Six Months Old

Dear Nora,

Happy Half-Birthday, my little one! You are six months old today.

Time is flying. All parents say that when it comes to raising their kids, but it’s just so… true. I can’t believe it was six months ago that you were born (and I’d like you to know that my tailbone is FINALLY completely healed, thankyouverymuch).

The word of the month is ATTITUDE. You’ve got one. I have no idea where you would get that from, as your dad is a pretty mellow guy, and it’s not like I have an attitude about anything. Nope. Not me.

Anyway, I’ve always described you as a laidback and sweet baby, and it’s not that I’ve been a liar. But I guess you’ve always liked to do certain things your way, and it’s become very obvious in certain situations this month. On the weeknights, when we get home from work and daycare, you really like to be held. If we put you down, WATCH OUT. You scream your little head off. And while it’s never pleasant to hear you cry, we can’t help but laugh a little bit, because the scream is so clearly a pissed off scream. You’re not in distress. You’re not in pain. You are simply saying, “HEY! I DO NOT LIKE THIS ARRANGEMENT!! PICK ME UP!! PICK ME UP NOW!!!!” This is made even clearer because of the way you are able to turn it on and off. If we start to walk toward you, you immediately stop crying. If you become distracted by a toy, you immediately stop crying. You are such a stinker.

Overall, you’ve continued to be a good sleeper this month, but you’ve changed things up a little. Sometimes you wake up in the middle of the night or very early morning just to “talk” to yourself. Other times you cry until we come in and put your pacifier back in and help you turn back onto your stomach. If it happens, it’s usually only once a night, so still, we cannot complain one bit. When you wake up in the mornings, you’ll usually coo and “play” happily in your crib for quite some time before we come to get you.

The biggest milestone this month has been FOOD! You’ve started solids. Your pediatrician recommended that we start you on a little baby cereal sometime between five and six months old. At first, we tried to give you a little oatmeal, but you were not thrilled with it. After a few tries, I thought maybe you would enjoy something with a little more flavor, so we began to mix in some homemade baby foods—sweet potatoes, pears, or bananas. We never pushed you; we were just consistent, offering you a little food every night. Eventually, you started taking bites—sweet potatoes were your initial favorite. Bananas were OK, and with pears, you would make a hilarious “tart” face. But at your best, you would still only take maybe 5-6 bites.

Then, last weekend, it all “clicked” for you. Starting with breakfast on Saturday morning (bananas with oatmeal), you polished off the whole bowl. You’ve been a champion eater ever since. Now, you not only love sweet potatoes, but you seem to love pears, bananas, and butternut squash, too. You’ve also eaten avocado, but while you’ll finish it, you don’t seem to enjoy it as much as the others. I can’t wait to make other foods for you to try. It has been a new adventure!

These days, it is easy to see when you are excited. You wave your arms wildly, kick your legs, and coo or squeal. Quite simply, it is adorable. You have this thing you do with your right arm in particular; you lock it at the elbow so it is perfectly straight, and you move it up and down repeatedly. It is so funny to watch you gain control of all of your movements. You grab things with purpose. You rub your eyes when you are tired.

Daddy and I swear that you give us open-mouth kisses. You have to be in the right mood, but we’ll say, “Nora, give me a kiss!” and pucker up, and you lean in and put your mouth on our puckered lips. We LOVE this and cannot wait until you do it “for real.”

At daycare, you and your playmate, Amelia (she is your age—just a few weeks younger) have discovered each other. Mary says that you stare at each other and interact. You grab at each other, touch each other. She says it is just the cutest thing. I’m so glad that you’ll have someone to grow up with at daycare. Knowing that you’ll get to share your life with a little “friend” makes it just a tiny bit easier to leave you there every day.

We won’t know what you weigh until Monday, but I would guess you’re maybe around 13 lbs.? You are wearing 3-6 months clothes, most of which are still big on you. In fact, I just packed up your 0-3 month stuff this month, because up until a few weeks ago, you were actually still able to wear most of them. We went shopping for some spring/summer clothing for you, and it was difficult to decide which size you would be wearing. It’s hard to imagine you’ll ever even fit into the 6-9 month stuff, but I know you will.

I have a feeling you are going to sprout your first tooth this month, but it’s just a guess. It looks to me like your lower gums are getting a little bit white in color, like your teeth are starting to push to the surface. You are also chewing on things and like to put everything in your mouth, and drooling, although it’s not at the point where it’s excessive. I guess only time will tell!

Just when we think you couldn’t possibly get more fun, you do. So I guess that means that with month #7, we’re in for the best one yet!

I love you every minute of every day.

XOXO
Mommy