6 Months

Dear Emma,

On Wednesday, you turned 6 months old. Congratulations! You have survived HALF of an entire YEAR in this crazy world with these crazy parents! I don’t want to give away our big secret…but we are basically making this up as we go along. Fortunately for us, you seem perfectly happy with this little arrangement.

For the first time in your short life so far, I’m late writing your monthly letter. I wish I had a better excuse, but the truth is that I just didn’t get to it until today. January was a rough month for me, and I’ve been struggling a bit to keep myself afloat in the sea of chaos that life sometimes feels like. Going back to work in November was an adjustment, but work itself was slow and I was able to ease back into things. December didn’t really count, since we got to spend almost half of the month on vacation. But January? Oof. I’m still looking for the license plate of the bus that hit me.

But enough about me; let’s talk about you! It’s hard to believe that only a few months ago, I oohed and aahed at the slightest lift of your head. These days, you love to roll over onto your tummy but you still haven’t figured out how to go the other way. This isn’t a problem at night since you prefer to sleep on your stomach, but during the day you often remind me of a turtle stuck on its back, just wiggling its legs helplessly. You lift all of your limbs into the air and wiggle adorably. It looks like you’re trying to fly!

You have also made fantastic progress in the “sitting up” department. I sat you down on the floor a few weeks ago just to see what would happen, and although you were wobbly, you sat there for a good long while before finally toppling over. This is a theme with you, Emma — whenever I start to wonder if you’re ready to do something, you surprise me by doing exactly that. You sat up on your own as soon as I gave you the opportunity. And about three weeks ago, when some instinct made me stick a finger into your mouth one morning just to see if there was anything there, I discovered that you had popped out two little teeth all by yourself. No fussing — just pow! Teeth!

In the last two weeks alone, your two new teeth have risen farther and farther from your gums and your core has gotten so much stronger. You love to sit on the floor, in my lap, in your booster seat…basically anywhere! The swing and the bouncy seat that were both so essential for your first few months have sat untouched in a corner for weeks, since you’d much rather play in your exersaucer. And you don’t like to be confined to the reclined position of your car seat anymore when we go out to eat. Instead, you’d rather be sitting straight up in my lap so you can see everything that’s going on around you.

You’ve been “sleeping through the night” according to the standard definition (6+ hours) for months, but this month you gave new meaning to the phrase. After several days of gradually reducing the amount, we cut out your 11:00 p.m. bottle cold turkey one Friday night. And just as with sitting and teeth-growing, you were ready. Your dad and I woke up the next morning and immediately turned to each other with incredulous expressions on our faces, because you had slept straight from 8 p.m. to 7 a.m. with nary a peep. You’ve basically been sleeping 11 hours straight at night ever since. Last week there were a couple nights where you woke up at 10:30 or 11 p.m., but went right back to sleep after a few reassuring pats on the back. I’m so thankful that you are such a good little sleeper.

After a slow start with solid food and several weeks of a “meh” reaction, you’re making steady progress now. We’ve started using your booster seat, since you can sit on your own so well, and watching you lean forward with your mouth wide open for the next spoonful is pretty adorable. Dad and I have made most of your food so far with the help of the food processor, and we just got the Baby Bullet blender, which is of much excitement to your dad. We’ve given you several fruits and vegetables now and while you don’t seem to be a fan of peas or green beans, you like sweet potatoes, carrots, and bananas and you LOVE peaches.

Grandma R came to visit you for a whole week, which meant you got a mini-vacation from daycare. Every day when I got home from work I would ask how you were, and Grandma’s report was always the same: you were wonderful and adorable and beautiful and happy. I think Grandma might be exaggerating JUST a bit, but I know you enjoyed hanging out with her and soaking up all that attention!

Grandma also loves to fix up your hair, and one morning when I had to leave for work early, your dad texted me the photos above. It was all I could do to keep from laughing out loud when I saw your little tuft of hair. Your hairstyle is what I like to call “baby mullet” these days — you still have a bald-ish spot on the back of your head but a nice thick ring of hair along the nape of your neck. It gets pretty scraggly back there and it’s probably time to cut it…but I’m biased, and I haven’t been able to bring myself to get out the scissors just yet.

The various colds and coughs that plagued you basically from Thanksgiving onward culminated in the first half of the month, and we ended up taking you to the doctor again after a particularly bad night. We put your bouncy chair in your crib and you ended up sleeping in that just to keep your congested head somewhat elevated. But for the last week or so, you’ve finally been healthy — no cough, no runny nose! Staying home with Grandma for a week instead of being at daycare surely helped you out.

Emma, at 6 months old, you are such a happy little girl. Most mornings, I wake up to the baby monitor as it broadcasts the sound of you “talking” to yourself in your crib. I hurry across the house to your room, quietly open the door, and greet you with “Good morning Emma!” You’re always on your tummy, and at the sound of my voice, you start wiggling like crazy and snap your head up to look for me with a HUGE smile on your face. I always look forward to seeing you in the morning, no matter what other struggles I might be dealing with. It’s one of the very best parts of my day and I know it will be for years to come.

Love,
Mama