Six Months!!

Wow - I can't believe it's been six months already. SIX MONTHS!! A whole half of a year! (Okay - it isn't exactly six months - we're still a few days shy - but close enough!)

He's gotten so big; so grown up. Sometimes I look at him and just wonder where my little baby went. It's mostly when he laughs. He throws his head back and laughs with his "big boy" laugh. Oh, melt my heart!

He's so close to crawling. I know, as his mother, I should be encouraging his development and all of that, but here's my confession: I really, really, really want him to wait just a *little* while longer before taking this next big step. Sitting up was okay. Drinking from a sippy cup? Way to go! But crawling? Today it's crawling, tomorrow he's going to get married and move to Guam.

Okay, maybe that's a tiny bit overdramatic, but you get the idea!

But seriously, he is so, so close to crawling. He can move in a circle. He can move backward. He can get onto his hands and knees from almost any position, including from laying down or sitting (come to think of it, those are the only positions in his repertoire at the moment!). He gets up on his hands and knees/feet (whichever suits him at the time) and rocks back and forth. He can even move forward, but it's mostly by accident, and still very slow. My only saving grace is that he gets frustrated so quickly, and that gives me an excuse to pick him up. Am I a bad mom or what?

Two weeks ago he was playing with a toy and I picked him up and he actually wanted to get back down to play. Again, just break my heart... What do you mean you want to play with a toy instead of being cuddled by your mom? What a cruel, sad world it is! I guess I just have to kiss him and cuddle him and rock him and tickle him as much as I can now, before he can really tell me what he thinks of it!

He truly is the most delightful person I've ever met. I'm not just making that up, either! His little sense of humor is maturing too - you used to have to tickle him or kiss him or throw him up into the air to make him smile and laugh - now you just have to make faces at him from the other side of the room. Or, in my case, dance like a white girl. He laughs and laughs, like it's the funniest thing he's ever seen (AJ says he's right).

His favorite toys now: A little red shiny gift bag from the dollar store. It crinkles, and has handles, and is now all torn up and wrinkled from hours and hours of use. He also has this big plastic contraption thing with different blocks and mirrors and beads and such that spin around on it - a baby toy that babies actually play with, imagine that!

We've started settling into a routine, too. We eat breakfast (veggies or fruit/rice cereal) before our morning nap. And for bed, we eat dinner (again, veggies or fruit/rice cereal), take a bath, get into our pajamas (you've never seen anything so cute as this kid's fat rolls sticking out between his pajama shirt and shorts!), and go to sleep. No more bouncing and rocking and such to get him to sleep - he's way too heavy now! We just lay down (still in mommy and daddy's bed) and nurse a little and go to sleep. He does so good with it all, I seriously have no complaints.

Wait - I take that back. My one complaint is this: my nipples are sore. He nurses ALL NIGHT LONG. Two days ago I decided that it was enough - the kid is going on a diet. I now wear a shirt to bed, and he has to ask permission before I let him have the boob. This ritual basically consists of him waking up enough to root around in the dark against my T-shirt and making a sound that is half way between a mewing cat and a grunting pig. Again, melt my heart. He can have whatever he wants. God help me when he gets old enough to realize that this is me, wrapped around his little finger.

I'm going to be strong, though. That's what I keep telling myself. One of these days, I'll stop giving in. One of these days...

No wonder happy babies turn into spoiled kids. They're just too sweet when they're happy, and you get into the habit of trying to keep them that way!

I'm trying to think of all the other wonderful things about him, but I would seriously be up all night writing. You'll have to settle for the summary: He's perfect. Wonderful. Amazing. Incredible. Absolutely, and without question, one of the loves of my life (after AJ, of course!). I still, to this day, look at him and just marvel: he's here. He's actually here. I spent my whole life waiting, and now I have him. I'm a mom! I never knew that life could be so wonderful, or that love could feel so complete!