Six Months Old!

Dear Dorothy,

You are six months old, now!

I swear you read my last birthday letter, where I talked about how you need your routines, and took it as constructive criticism, because this month, you changed all your routines. One day you fell asleep in my arms watching TV, without having your diaper changed, without being swaddled, and without nursing. So I just stuck you in bed, and you stayed asleep. I didn't trust it at first, and kept trying to swaddle you for a while, then one day it hit me: You don't need this anymore. You still nurse to sleep about half the time, but your swaddle blankets have officially been demoted to spit-up cloths.



And we have needed those giant spit-up cloths, because you are fighting another cold again, and there have been quite a few times where you will nurse vigorously, then gag, and throw up the entire feeding. You haven't done this in a couple of days, though, so I hope that means you are on the mend.

I feel really bad that you have been sick so much in your short life. This has just been the winter of doom in the Wakeman household, and we've all just had one bug after another. I hope we have a better spring. And maybe you will have an immune system of steel when you get older because of all the exercise it got when you were a baby.



Speaking of exercise, that is your new favorite thing to do. You still like to snuggle, especially if you're sleepy, but when you start to squirm and arch your back, I know you want to get down on the ground and play. You are trying so hard to crawl, and you can squirm your way across the room to get to the toy (or power cord) you want to chew on. And you do these impressive push-ups over and over again that makes me think you will be fully mobile before I can say "look at all those choking hazards Valerie left on the floor".



I'm finding it hard to believe that you are already six months old. They say it seems to go faster the second time around, and that has definitely been true for me. I keep realizing that things I thought happened a few days ago really happened last month. As I sit here nursing you, it hits me, once again, that your body was built, grown, and sustained entirely by mine for the past 15 months. That is such an amazing thing. I'm excited to start giving you solid foods soon, but at the same time, I'm a little sad to give up that exclusive claim. I do hope that nursing will remain an important part of your physical and emotional development for a good while longer, though.



You were dedicated this past Sunday, and I wrote more about that here. You are very blessed to have been born into a church that is busily having babies. Come July, there will be eight kids aged 3 and under. That might not seem like much, but in a church of about 50, it's a pretty awesome percentage. The nursery is a pretty happening place, and I can see how eager you are to get up and join the fun. I think that might be part of your intense desire to get mobile. That, or maybe you just don't want to get stepped on.



You continue to be an extremely happy baby, and you let us pass you around church or family gatherings, sharing your giggles and smiles generously. Everyone always tells me that you are such a happy baby, and I never feel the need to correct them, because you really are. You're only unhappy when you are tired, hungry, or in pain, and that is thankfully a very small portion of the time. Thank you for bringing so much joy into our lives.

Love,
Mama.

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