Saturday, May 5, 2012

Happy Half Birthday!

Dear Alex,

5/5
Today you turned 6 months. Nana, Gramma, and Papi came up and we went to a concert at the Eric Carle Museum. We came home and had cake and chocolate covered strawberries. (Well, you had Apple/Apricot baby food.)

You can sit up on your own most of the time and stand up if we help you balance.

You've just learned to roll from your back to belly but don't do it all the time.

5/25
Yesterday at the pool (at 6.5 months) you attempted to eat the toes of a 4-month-old you'd just met and pulled the hair of a 2-year-old and made him cry. (You were actually a bit of a bully.) You frequently, now, swat your hands toward other babies in either self-defense, greeting, or attack - I can't tell which.

Inquisitive is a good name for you. It best describes you all time time - you want to see everything that's going on. You're aware, alert, and observant.Right now, as I type, you're watching your Daddy stir his oatmeal and you're attempting to grab some - even though it's hot and you'll cry if you succeed. You often put the wrong end of the spoon in your mouth instead, but you think that tastes pretty good too.
You eat pretty much anything we put in front of you, whether it's edible or not. But really, you love food. (Daddy describes you as a goat because you'll eat anything). You want what WE are having. (Jarred baby food is just meh, but you see my scrambled eggs and it's all "GET IN MY MOUTH!") Your palate isn't so discerning yet. For example, you drink partially-thawed milk and ignore the chunks of ice. Everything must be touched. When we carry you around (and you loved to be carried), you reach your hand out to touch everything.

You hate having your face wiped. Your hands aren't that bad, but you cry most times we try to wash your face.

You sleep about half the night in your pack 'n' play by yourself, and then you wake up and cry, and we take you into our bed. You're still wearing your hip brace at night, which impedes your movement, but occasionally you'll flip yourself over in it but not be able to free your bottom shoulder, and cry. Once in a great while you'll sleep all night, but it's pretty rare. During the night (when you have the brace on) you sleep on your back with your hands either up near your face or straight out from your sides- you hog the bed! You like to be touching both of us, or at least me. I'm on your right, and Daddy's on your left.

You've been to your first Pride Parade, in Northampton. (Papi and Gramma came too.)

Your eyes right now are mostly hazel (light brown/ green) with hints of blue/grey around the edges. YOur hair is a sort of strawberry-blonde color.

You LOVE people. You smile at most everyone, and occasionally still do that pretend-shy thing - hide your head from them for a moment, then look back at them smiling.

You say 'mmmmmmm!' to express displeasure. You can also say 'boo boo boo' and 'mamameeeee' and are beginning to make raspberries - very softly and not very often though. When you're happy you make the cutest little cooing sound. You're also starting to shriek - it's getting louder, and it's funny. Since birth, you've sort of gotten "huffy" first before you cried, and you still do - you start breathing really hard and fast then go "heh heh heh" for awhile to fuss before you get to a full-out cry. Lately you've changed that up once in awhile like it you fall and bump your head or wake suddenly out of a sound sleep - then it's just a blaring wail. But those get turned off as soon as you're picked up, cuddled, and (if you're not okay yet) nursed.

You've been sitting up for awhile now, and you're getting better at keeping your balance. you can even sometimes balance yourself with a hand if you tip over too far to one side. (You still toppled over backwards this morning and cried until you nursed, though, so you're not an expert yet.)

This past week, when Daddy's been on vacation, we've been looking for daycare providers for you, as I'm going back to work in a few months. We found two excellent ones - one that would teach you Spanish and one that will feed you wonderfully healthy, organic food & teach you yoga & about nature. We're leaning toward the healthy one, so if you are having trouble learning Spanish, you can blame it on this decision. We figure we'd rather have you liking veggies and caring for the environment than being bilingual by age 2.

You're starting to copy people now, and you can do "high five!" with Daddy. I'll blow a raspberry to you and you'll stick out your tongue. I'll say "Mummy" or "mamamama" and you'll go "mmm!!" In a happy way.

You like to drink out of our water bottles. You'll get water out of them by sucking, and not be able to swallow it all, so it dribbles down your front.

You've gotten over your intense dislike of the carseat (again) and have started playing and/ or falling asleep in it. When we get to our destination you're either fast asleep or wide awake but silent. I don't often hear your talking to yourself back there, but when I do, I love it. You don't really converse with me yet, even though I talk to you frequently.

You are a cute baby. No really, you are. We were at our friends' house (Connor's family - at his 1st birthday). Micah doesn't hold back his opinions, and he said that most of the time you tell people that they have a cute baby just to be polite, but YOU (Alex!) really ARE a cute baby! You get that a lot, actually. Women tear up and say that you make their uterus hurt because they want kids (or more kids) now that they've seen you. You get comments that you look like a little elf. In a good way.

The early intervention specialist said that we should practice putting objects in front of you and cover them with a cloth, but that just makes you lose interest. So, we're not sure if you get the object permanence thing yet - I'm thinking that you don't, because you cry as soon as I leave a room.

You're laughing more lately. Not a LOT, but much more than before. Usually it's because we're burbling on your belly, but last week it was because I was playing peekaboo with you with a big sheet. You LOVED it, but you haven't really liked peekaboo before or since.

You're 14 lbs, 2 oz and about 25 inches long. Your head comes above Daddy's knee and you feel heavier to pick up.

We're headed off to Oma and Granddad's for Memorial Day this weekend. Packing for you gets easier every time - no need to bring a swing or a ton of extra onesies this time. No pump, either, which is going to be nice!

You're getting fussy to nurse (again), so I'm going to sign off - it's not that long till your seven-month post, anyway. I'll get you caught up then if I've missed something.

I love you!
~Mummy (& Daddy)