Teething and Tears: 6-Months of Awesome

My sweet lady baby,

Today you are officially six months old. Today finds you to be beautiful, spectacular and engaging. You are growing and learning by leaps and bounds. You can do so much now.

Growth Stats:
15lbs 6.4oz (50th percentile)
27.5" (90th percentile)

Action:
Rolling over is your favorite activity. You roll both ways and I've noticed you start to roll intentionally, that is, you spot an item you want and roll towards it. Yesterday you got up on your hands and knees at the same time, but then a sound startled you and you fell down. Since then, you continue to push up on your hands, but I haven't seen you try getting on your knees again. You continue to dislike sitting, but are getting much better at it. Your stomach muscles are getting stronger, but you have a way to go before you'll be able to sit unsupported.


Sleep:
Sleep has been a bit tricky the last week or so, but not because you've discontinued your awesome sleep habits, but because you've had a lot of secondary issues interrupting you. You are teething, which makes you grumpy and restless. Concurrently, you are now too tall for your bassinet. Baby, my heart broke (here's where the aforementioned tears come in) when I wheeled your bassinet out of my room! I've spent the last week sleeping on your floor on an air mattress while you slept (or tried to sleep) in your crib. Finally last night I decided I'm just not ready for you to sleep in a different room, so you now are bunking in a pack and play next to my bed.

I mentioned above that rolling is your favorite activity. You love it so much you have even started doing it while sleeping! But sadly, you don't really like to roll over while asleep, because it wakes you up and you are angry. On the positive side, last night you started rolling just to your side instead of all the way over, and that seems to make you happy. I am also a side sleeper, so I completely understand this desire.


Teeth:
You have a tooth! Your first tooth broke through on June 1st. It's still pretty flush with your gums, but it's becoming more clear by the day. And I suspect your other bottom tooth is soon to arrive.


Eating:
Your favorite food is milk. You like it for all meals and snacks. You've tried rice cereal and avocado, but you don't seem convinced that food other than milk is something worth being interested in. I bought some frozen organic peas from the store today. Tomorrow morning I'm going to steam and mash them for you and we'll see if you like that better. I figure they are about as sweet as a veggie gets, so I'm hoping you enjoy them. If not, oh well. You'll eat when you're ready to.

Me:
Today I had a funny moment. I was driving back from work and it was very hot. I was wearing some ridiculous sun glasses and listening to the radio. I came across "Welcome to the Jungle" and listened to it very loud with the car windows down. Now, this may seem trivial, however it parallels a moment I had during pregnancy. I was wearing the exact same sunglasses, making the same drive back from Redmond and listening to the same song. When this happened during pregnancy, I had one of my bigger freak outs over the crushing reality that you, Cleo, were soon to join me. I wondered who I would be as a mother. Could I be funny? Could I be ironic? Could I be sarcastic? What would my identity be? I feared that as a mother, my humor would be lost in the seriousness of guiding a child into this world. That instead of someone being silly with loud music and tacky glasses, I would be a mom, sadly attempting to be hip. All humor lost.

I tell you this story Cleo because I'm happy to report that when I blasted the radio today, I felt like me. I'm different now that I have you, but only in better ways. I've become the next-gen me, now featuring advanced multi-tasking skills, one-handed eating action and awesome tiger striping. Wow, I'm a mom. And I'm doing it, humor intact.



Cleo, you make every day a pleasure and a joy. Every day I'm in a state of continual praise to God over how amazing you are. It's such a privilege to be your mommy.

I love you,
Mom