Six months

Dear Jack,

Six months ago today, you came into our lives.

Since that time, everything has changed. But I can't remember what it was like before you.



This last month you have changed so much. Your little mohawk has become a thing of the past. Your hair grew just enough on top that it lies flat and it's really filling in on the sides now too. You have grown longer and heavier, but you're still such a skinny man. That means the six-month shirts you have all fit you fine, but the six-month shorts still fall off your little butt.

This is especially problematic when you roll. Over and over and over again. This is your primary mode of transportation. It used to be, many moons ago, you hated tummy time. Now, you will willingly roll onto your stomach to have a better view of a toy you want.

A few times, we have put you down and turned away for a few minutes and come back to find you six feet from where you started. You frequently get stuck under the coffee table and express your displeasure with a high-pitched screech until we come to the rescue. I occasionally find you hanging out on the hardwood, having rolled yourself right off the blanket and the rug.



But the biggest milestone you achieved this month was the ability to sit up on your own. One day you were all wobbly and couldn't even balance yourself in a tripod position, the next you sat all by yourself for 30 seconds.



Just last week you started scooting across the floor. You kind of stretch your body out, then push your face into the floor and bring your knees up under your butt. Then you shove yourself forward, keeping your face in the rug. It's not graceful, but it gets you closer to your beloved crinkly lion so you can stick it in your mouth.

The lion is only one of the many things you put in your mouth these days. Any item you can get your hands on -- toys, blankets, Mommy's hair, Daddy's hand, plastic shovels, cigarettes, beer bottles, you know, the usual suspects -- goes right into the mouth.

And don't think size is a problem. You have been known to grab items bigger than your entire body and bring them to your mouth in the hopes you can just fit it in if you play your cards right.

While you rarely deem us worthy of looking in your mouth, we can sneak a peek every few days. Those teeth are still not poking through, but we can only assume it will be any time now as you drool incessantly and gnaw your fingers nonstop throughout the day.



When you're not trying to eat your hands, you are using them to bang things. You bring your arm above your head and you get this look in your eye like "Watch out Mommy, I am going to really let loose" and then you wave your arm violently up and down. You can get some pretty good velocity worked up there so we have to watch that you don't give yourself a concussion with whatever toy you are holding.

You also mastered the skill of passing a toy from one hand to the other. One of your favorite things to do is to take the pacifier out of your mouth with one hand, turn it around and inspect it, transfer it to the other hand and then try to put it back in -- backwards. This results in much frustration on both your part and mine, since I am trying to get you to sleep when you start this little trick.



You faked us out earlier this month by sleeping through the night several times. But HA! Hahahahaha. That was just to give us a taste of what we might have someday. Because last week you decided to wake up three times a night. Just to eat. You would not be satisfied with rocking or the pacifier, nope, it had to be the milk.

Let me tell you, you can really scream at 3 a.m. You can also really belt it out at 5 a.m., 7 p.m. and pretty much any other time we try to make you do something you do not want to do.

That would include napping in your crib. I tried to fight the good fight, but I gave up three weeks ago and we're all a lot happier now. I lie down with you on the bed and nurse you until you fall asleep. Then you just nap on our bed surrounded by a forcefield of pillows.

We're gone from 30-minute naps in your crib to one- and two-hour naps on the bed. Perhaps you like a nice down featherbed. Whatever it is, it's helping everyone have a little more sanity in this house. And we're all about the sanity.

You still sleep in your crib at night, and there doesn't seem to be an issue with that. So hopefully we can work on the length of your naps now and the place you nap in a few weeks.

We've found that you love to sing and dance. When you cry in the car, Daddy can stop you cold in your tracks with a rousing rendition of "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot." (Yes, he was a poor black slave in a previous life apparently. I asked him how he knew all the words and he said "I dunno. Doesn't everyone?")

This month you started eating solids. We've given you oatmeal, sweet potatoes, peas, carrots, peaches and squash. You've enjoyed them all and seem to like dinnertime. You tolerate the oatmeal and get upset when we don't shovel the veggies in fast enough. You wear about as much as you eat, and you'd think we were causing you bodily harm when we have to wipe your face off after you're done.



Other than the solids at dinner, you're still exclusively breastfed. I am so proud that we made it to the six-month mark. There were some dark days last week when I thought my supply was taking a nosedive after we left you with Grandma and Grandpa overnight so we could go away for our anniversary. I didn't pump as much as I should have and you seemed so frustrated when you were eating the next few days. I briefly considered formula when the fussing and crying didn't seem to end. But we worked through it and things got back to normal within a day or two.

I can't believe how far we've come in this half year.

Six months ago I met you for the first time. I look back at the pictures from the day you were born and I can't believe that teeny-tiny baby is you. You have changed so much. I have changed so much.



You smile and laugh and sit. You insist on standing with our assistance and you love to practice walking with Daddy helping you. You are in perpetual motion and if there's no sound coming out of your mouth, it's only because you're sleeping. Your eyes pop open when you wake up and don't shut until you've fought sleep with the last ounce of your being. But when you do sleep, you look so peaceful.

I sneak into your room every night before I go to bed and watch you sleep for a moment or two. These have become my favorite times -- these stolen moments -- because I can see you completely relaxed. Your little mouth sucks on some unseen thing every few seconds and I watch your chest as it rises and falls.



In the darkness I realize you are my entire life. I would do anything to keep you safe and happy. I would go to the ends of the earth to make things easy for you. I love you more than life itself. Someday, you will understand what I mean. You might think you love a car, or a pet, or a girl when you grow up. But someday, when you have a child of your own, you'll stand and watch that baby sleep and you'll know what I am talking about.

Love,
Mommy