Six months

December 12, 2014

Dear child of mine,

Your daddy informed me last night that we are halfway through with having a baby because you will officially be a toddler in six more months. I refuse to accept that because you need to be my baby for much longer than the conventional year. You're six months old, and the last month has included some huge milestones.

You started consistently eating solid foods: rice cereal, bananas, avocados, and sweet potatoes. You travelled to West Texas and North Texas for events and holidays. You started pushing up and rocking on your knees like you can't wait to crawl, and you can sit up as long as your hands are supporting you. Oh, and you relearned how to sleep, which makes us all very happy.

You like to talk, which sometimes consists of shrieks of joy and/or consternation, but we like your earnest quiet babbles the best. You can say "ma-ma" but since you're sleeping better, I don't hear it as often. You love to explore people's faces with your deliciously chubby hands and have given me a few scratches in your enthusiasm. Everything you do is done with exuberance and joy that makes me excited to see how passionately you will love people and be zealous for God.

Part of relearning to sleep included putting you on a predictable schedule, so our days are much more routine now. You usually wake up between 7 and 7:30, eat, play, and then take your first nap around 9. After you wake up, we play some more and do some housework until you act sleepy again, usually between 12 and 1. Most naps are about an hour long, but sometimes you sleep for up to 2.5 hours. In the afternoons, we run an errand or two or just hang out at home and finish up mundane house stuff until Daddy gets home. If we're home, you take a third nap between 4 and 5. And then it's dinner time with solid food at 6, bath time, and bedtime by 7. You wake up once or twice to eat most nights, but last night you slept 12 hours solid.

If we get you off your schedule, you let us know about it. Once you miss a nap, all bets are off for the rest of the day and night. Oh, my darling girl, I wish I could take a picture of how much I love you because even thousands of words can't do it justice. You are a delight to be around most of the time, and you're starting to give intentional snuggles and reach your arms toward us. Feeding you gets me lots of uninterrupted cuddles because you love to eat, and it will be bittersweet when you're weaned. Stillness is rare, and it seems like you are either on the go or asleep. Your little arms are constantly reaching, and my prayer is that you will always be seeking good things. When you try to eat the DVD player or fling yourself off the changing table, my reactions sometimes scare you, but it's just because I don't want you to get hurt. You've already helped God teach me all sorts of good lessons, and I'm already trying to apologize to you when I overreact because that's a good habit, and I can see lots of parenting mistakes in my future.

You are my sunshine, sweet girl. Keep growing and learning and be gracious to your imperfect parents, ok?

So much love,

Momma