Dear Connor,
Today, you are 6 months old, which translates into 184 days outside my womb. It’s been quite a ride – and though there have ups and downs for both of us, I think it’s been a good one so far. The metro area celebrated your birthday by being blanketed in snow, which is somewhat unique for us. Daddy enjoyed the morning shoveling snow off the driveway. I had to peek out the door and remind him to uncover the satellite dish so that we could watch the Olympics later that day.
For 6 months now, we have started and ended all of our days together. Sometimes, I think about letting your dad give you a bottle before you go to sleep, but then I think about how nice it is to hold you in my arms as you drift near sleep. And hey, I like reading the books too. After all, when else do I get an excuse to say “1 dog Woof; 2 dogs Woof, Yap Yap; 3 dogs Woof, Yap Yap, nnn nnn nnn; 4 dogs …” Special thanks to author Sandra Boynton for this ritual.
You are now eating all sorts of things. Your total repertoire includes pears (your favorite), sweet potatoes, plums, peaches, banana, avocado, acorn squash, butternut squash, and cereal. You generally only gag yourself a few times when you wrestle the spoon away from me at night – and wow are you surprised every time. You have a cute little cup with two green handles that you can bring to your mouth, though I can’t say there’s been a successful unassisted water transfer at this point. You can drink if someone else steadies the cup for you. A couple of days ago, you whacked yourself in the head really hard with your cup and you really cried. Sorry about that, but you’re really fast and sometimes those jerky arms of yours get away from you.
NOTHING is off limits to your mouth. With expert skill you bring anything near your hands quickly to your mouth and turn on the drool fountain to test how sturdy the object at hand is. So far, those feet of your seem to hold up the best under this fairly intense water pressure. You no longer suck on Daddy’s finger, but you will quickly bring it to your mouth if you catch hold of it. And your grip is stunning. Other notables that have been in your mouth include cordless phone, the mail, my fingers (and you would probably enjoy my toes but I haven't let you get them close enough to your mouth to test them out because unlike your toes which are super yummy, mine are sort of icky).
Your pappy came to visit for the weekend and at times you were the best of friends. Most of those times were when I was peering at your from a distance because you are nothing if not a mama's boy. But I love that. Someday, you won't want to hang out with me all the time and I will try and remind you of how you had eyes only for me for quite some time, but you will probably be too cool. I, however, am sure I will always look forward to seeing you. I must say though, you even LAUGHED - with sound - for your pappy which is something you normally only do for daddy.
And Connor, I know everyone always says this about kids, but wow have you grown. When you came into this world, it was all you could do to reach your arms around my breast while you ate. Your fingertips could barely touch each other and you looked up at me as if you were holding on for dear life. Now, you can sling one arm around and use the other one to either give my boob a whack - as in “giddya up milk, it’s time to come out” – or whack yourself in the head. Not sure what this last move is about.
You love to play a game Daddy made up which we call “tent”. He puts you beneath a sheet and waves it around. You wave your arms and legs wildly and laugh from your belly at this – unless I’m doing it, in which case you smile the hugest, toothless smile ever – but your laughter is silent. You also like “1,2,3” which is a game I made up. Here, I put my hands where you can see them, count to three as I bring them closer, and then land on a piece of your body and name it. Feet are always funny.
You’re starting to be more tolerant of tummy time, almost seeming to catch the value of it. You even make little swimming motions that are allegedly the precursor to crawling, though I don’t expect that to happen any time soon. This month, you spent some time learning to roll over - but I have to say, you are one lazy little man. You will humor us by rolling from front to back when we play "over" with you, but you do not roll on your own initiative, and have yet to repeat the feat from two months ago of rolling from your back to your tummy. My friend, I will have to fess all of this up to the pediatrician on Thursday if you don't get crackin'.
You are quite an expressive guy these days. Sometimes, you talk on for quite some time. I sit back and am truly amazed at the thought of what must be going on inside that big head of yours. Someday, I hope you will tell me.
Your sleep is, well…not your strong suit. But, as I tell anyone who asks, what you lack in sleep you make up for in cuteness – and you’re ONE CUTE BABY!
Love,
Mom
