Dear Callan -6 of one, half a dozen of something

Dear Callan-
Today is your 6 month birthday (now it's yesterday -I started this on your actual birthday but didn't finish it until the day after. Oops). Do you know what that means? That means you need two hands to count the number of months old you are and that half of a year has already passed. HALF.A.YEAR -another half of a year and you'll be a whole year old (that's how math works). That is ridiculous. Do you hear me? Ridiculous!

Before I started this newsletter I did something that I don't usually do -I reread the previous letters and you know what I found out? I write every month about how fast the month has gone by, how much you've developed and how great the month has been. Well, I don't want to disappoint, so let me tell you. This month, month 6, has been crazy. It's gone by way too fast, you've developed at lightening speed and it's been an amazing month!

So much has happened I can't even wrap my mind around it and to be honest, it seems like it all happened in the past few weeks. This month also included wonder week 26, and boy was it a wonder week! On your 6 month birthday you decided to pop your first tooth. We've been able to feel it for a little while and your dad claimed he's seen it before, but today was the first day I could see it -so that means it didn't count until today. Haha, that's how it works in mama's head. Last week you figured out how to get to a sitting position from your belly, which is an amazing feat and now you do it all the time like it's nothing. Now it kind of seems like you're trying to stand/walk, although I would really prefer you learn how to crawl first. But if we're being honest, I wish you would skip the mobility thing altogether. Rolling and army crawling is all my mind can handle right now as it's already being blown on a daily basis and can't handle any more. For some reason in my head you stopped aging around 3 months, so it takes me a minute (or two) to calculate how old you really are. I wonder when you're 30 if I'll still have to do this kind of math in my head.

Your form could use a little work -maybe nana can help.

Anyway, other physical developments this month: You do this really cute downward dog pose and you move your feet/legs (it seems like you're really good at yoga -you do downward dog, cobra, pigeon and happy baby). Good thing you're kind of top heavy otherwise you'd be standing! You are really good with your hand eye coordination and we've taken advantage of this by starting you on solids. So far you've had apples, apple sauce, bananas, mango, pear, green beans, baba ganoush on pita bread, home fries, cheesy grits and kale. So far you've seemed to like everything although it is hard to judge since we only give you a few teaspoons at a time. Your dad and I are excited to introduce all sorts of foods and flavors to you and now that you can sit up in a high chair in restaurants, I think the introduction of foods is going to increase.

Having brunch in your Halloween costume -don't worry we don't normally dress you up like this.

We are still nursing and you're taking the bottle from us before bed and from Adelia during the day. A few weeks ago I thought you were starting to wean as you showed for the first time a preference for the bottle over the bewb and I was actually pretty sad about it, more so than I expected.  Thankfully it turned out just to be a bit of a nursing strike so I don't have to say good bye to that quite yet.  As we slowly introduce more solids to you, I'm sure we'll naturally start to wean and hopefully I'll be more prepared.

You are still the curious creature who loves to look, listen and touch. You touch everything and like to feel and grab different thing. You especially love touching peoples faces, but we need to work on your "gentle" touches. You still love to put everything in your mouth and you've started this new habit where you'll put a toy in your mouth and then decide not to hold it with your hands anymore and continue on your business either sitting and reaching for other toys or rocking on all fours. It's incredibly cute, but it makes me compare you to a puppy -I mean, a really cute puppy, but using your mouth to transport objects like that is kind of what dogs do!

It seemed like overnight you could sit up and then you've decided to do all these other things -it's been a crazy month. As you can imagine, you are a squirmy worm, which makes diaper changes and getting dressed really interesting as you refuse.to.sit.still.

Your sleep this month has been a little erratic. I don't know if it's because of a growth spurt, you're cutting teeth, wonder weeks or what, but you still wake up at least once in the middle of the night and lately you've been waking up a few times in the hour or two after you go down. You do this cute thing when you're getting ready to fall asleep where you roll over to your side or onto your belly and stick your butt up in the air. As much fun as I have with you when you're awake, I could watch you sleep for hours. There has been a lot of talk recently about the banning/outlawing of crib bumpers. When you're older you're going to realize we had one on your crib and might wonder why we would put you in that kind of danger. Well the thing is kid, your dad and I nicknamed you danger baby and part of that is because you enjoy slamming your body from side to side in the crib like a pinball. I don't know if you're just trying to figure out the dimensions or if you would keep rolling if you could, but I feel like the bumpers are there for your protection. Plus, you like to snuggle up next to them to sleep and a bumper is much more snugly than the wooden slats of a crib. So for now the bumpers are staying on.

This month your babbling has really increased and recently (as in, within the last week) you finally started opening your mouth when you talk. It was very cute before that you would talk/hum with your mouth shut. You've finally opened your mouth, but that also means you now talk a lot louder than you did before! We're trying to work on your "indoor voice", but (shockingly) you haven't grasped that concept. You are much more talkative and you do this really cute thing where you stick out your tongue -it's like you're rediscovering it. I'm trying to teach you how to blow raspberries, but so far you've only gotten the sticking out the tongue part down.

You still love bath time and since you can sit up, it's made it much easier for us. You love splashing and don't seem to mind too much when water hits your face. I still want to take you for swim lessons and am so excited to take you swimming when we're on vacation. We only bathe you a couple times a week because you have such dry, sensitive skin, but I think you would let us do it every day. Thankfully we've never had a problem bathing you and now that you can splash you're really having fun.

Anyway kiddo, 6 months has come and gone and each day you still continue to amaze me. Even on your grumpiest day, you're a joy to us and your dad and I are having so much fun with you. We've turned into those people who think their kid is the best/smartest/funniest/cutest and want to share their accomplishments with everyone. I guess in a way that's what this blog has turned into since you have so many people in your life who are far away and want to keep up with you. You are truly blessed and lucky to have this extended family of friends and family and I hope you realize how lucky you are.

Well if you made it this far you deserve a prize. As your dad says, this is your whole bag of tricks in one short video!

I love you bubbers and you are truly amazing.  I know everyone says that about their kids, but for you, it's true *wink*. You are a happy, smiley baby that makes us happy and smiley. I love you more than words can express and I hope I continue to tell you as much as I do now. I wouldn't trade you for anything and I'm so honored and proud to be your mama.

Happy 6 month birthday bubs.

Love,
Mama