Dear Charlotte,
Hooray! Six months! This feels like a pretty big milestone in your short life so far — a whole half year. You are well and truly done with the infant phase and I’m really excited for what the next 6 months will bring. Crawling! Standing! Maybe even a little walking! And eating!
But wait — about that “eating” part… We’ve been offering you food for several weeks now and so far, you aren’t really a fan. We’ve tried several things in puree form — butternut squash, apples, pears — along with baby oatmeal made with your formula, but you just spit it all back out (and sometimes start crying on top of that). Earlier this week I offered you a mum-mum cracker and you didn’t love that either. But you seem interested in food! You reach of my drinks and make chewing motions with your mouth when you see me eat. I’m starting to conclude that maybe purees aren’t your thing and we need to just go straight to actual pieces.
It’s sometimes hard for me to remember that you are not your sister. I base most of my decisions on how to care for you on my past experience, focusing on what worked for Emma. The ups and downs of trying to get you started on solid food have been a good reminder to me that you are an individual. Even at 6 months, you already have your own likes and dislikes.
Your sleeping habits are different too. Emma always slept on the go when she was a baby. Daddy and I could run around town all afternoon and she would just zonk out in her carseat when she was tired. But you don’t do that. Carrying you from the car into a store or restaurant is basically guaranteed to wake you up. Maybe it stems from your general distaste for being confined to the carseat in general (which is actually improving, in the sense that you are sometimes content in the car instead of wailing) or maybe you’re simply a lighter sleeper. It’s just another way that you’re unique.
You continue to be such a happy, smiley little girl and it’s never too difficult to elicit a grin or a giggle. You’re not quite sitting up on your own yet, but I think you’ll get there within the next month. You like to babble and grunt, and can be quite loud when you really get going. On our drive to daycare each morning, Emma and I like to guess what you’re trying to say. This often leads to even louder noises from you, as if you want to play along.
Charlotte, it feels like you’ve been with us forever and I mean that in the best possible way. I sometimes forget that you are still a baby at all! I expect you to do a certain thing or behave a certain way, and inevitably have to remind myself that you are ONLY 6 months old.
I was talking to one of my friends recently, and she asked how you are doing, and how I’m doing with being a mom of two. When I told her it’s felt easier this time around, she asked whether that’s because you’re just an easier baby or because I’m a more confident mom.
I thought for a moment, because it’s hard to answer that question with certainty. I do think you are “easier”…but you’re not easy. (And for the record, Emma wasn’t a “difficult” baby.) Parenting a baby is still a lot of work, and that’s hard. And I do think I’m a more confident mom…but I still have my moments.
Becoming a mom for the first time is life-changing in the the most literal sense, and the second time doesn’t feel as momentous or as drastic. Some people might take that as negative, but in my experience so far it’s been amazingly positive. You arrived and fit right in, and my increased confidence helped me blow past most of the pitfalls that tripped me up before.
So really, it’s both, and it’s neither. You are easy and not easy. I am confident and not confident. And together we are swimming right along.
Love,
Mama
Melissa says
I cannot help but smile at the picture where Charlotte is so upset about that horrible mum-mum you gave her! 🙂
katie says
Can’t wait to meet her in person!! 🙂