Six Months - Half a Year!
I am a bit melancholy today. The first half year of your life has come and passed in a rush. In a blur, even. I remember how I tried to imagine this day half a year ago, how it seemed so far away, like an eternity. I tried to imagine how you'd look like as a 6 month old baby, and failed miserably, looking down onto the helpless tiny bundly of baby sleeping in my arms. 6 months always was some kind of magical marker in my head, some kind of imaginary milestone, some kind of borderline between wee little baby and... well... not-so-wee-anymore. Yet time has never gone by faster, and here I sit, having given birth practically last week, with a happy and always-friendly baby sleeping in her room in the back of the apartment, having just woken up with a shriek, because her teeth are bothering her!
Yes, you are teething now, and have been for a good couple of weeks, which makes for some restless nights, some grumpy days, and a clueless Mommy, who doesn't know how to comfort you, when all your teething aids aren't doing much to help you. You are needing a lot more physical contact now, and need either your Daddy or me to sit beside you until you fall asleep, or even want to be carried around until sleep finally overpowers you. You have even fallen asleep on my chest a week ago, while I was sitting in a café with Git, and you were too exhausted from crying in pain. I was floating on a cloud when you did - you rarely ever do that with me, and I was relishing the feeling of your warm small body snuggling into me for comfort. In fact, you fell asleep so deeply, that Git was able to wrap you into our carrying cloth around me, without you noticing a thing.
And your teeth? I can see them already shining through your bottom gums, but they don't seem inclined to cut through anytime soon. I hope for you and me both that I am wrong with this assessment, though.
Maybe the biggest and greatest news of last month is the beginning of you eating solids!!! We have started with a few spoons of carrots - and have since worked our way through potatoes, white carrots and pumpkins, and it seems that whatever vegetable I serve you next, it's your ABSOLUTE! NEW! FAVORITE! You are a passionate eater, have been from day one. It was so much fun to feed you for the first time, to watch your facial expressions, the surprise, the way you worked out how to deal with this spoon-thingy, and your eagerness to get more of this interesting new substance into your mouth. I was happy to see you liking it so much, and the fact that you seemed to know exactly what to do with your food and didn't push it out with your tongue reassured me, that I chose the right time to get you started, even though I didn't wait for you to be a whole six months old, as initially planned. By now you are eating one half glass every day at noon, and we even already bought you a high chair so you can sit at the table with us. You are holding yourself pretty well, but we are still stabilizing you with a blanket stuffed around you - just in case. And now it truly is the highlight of our day when we have dinner together with you on your high chair and a piece of dried bread inbetween us, a true family dinner for the first time. :)
In the mobility department I can say that you are progressing rapidly. What was not too long ago a true work out for you is now no effort to you anymore at all: you roll over from back to tummy and tummy to back like it's nothing, and in fact, as soon as we put you on your play mat onto your back we find you rolled around onto your tummy not a minute later. You are enjoying tummy-time a lot now, and I am most delighted to see you trying to work your knees beneath your butt now, in an effort to push yourself forwards to reach your toys. You haven't quite figured out the small technicality of having to move your front end as well in order to progress, you just push and shove with your feet and don't advance a millimeter for all your determination. Your chest and arms stay glued to the ground, and it's so much fun to watch you trying to get the hang of this crawling thing, endlessly patient with yourself.
You have, however, figured out that you can cover ground by rolling yourself over steadily into the same direction. Tummy - back - tummy - back, and before we realized what was going on you were far from your play mat, grinning widely! I am sure soon I will have to pry you out from underneath the couch, if you work on this new skill of yours some more!
In other news, I have signed you up for the kindergarten downstairs, in our apartment complex. It's the same kindergarten that Liz is signed up for, and I have settled your entry date for November 2009, shortly after your second birthday. The place is big and bright and friendly, and I got a very nice impression from the little tour that Git and I took through it. I am curious to see what our circumstances will be in 11/2009, to see if I am really going to go through with this, or wait just a little longer. It will really depend on whether I will be going back to work, or will be able to work from home, or if maybe even your sibling is already on the way by then.
Imagine, we have also finally managed to set up a meeting with the ceremonial master who is supposed to lead us through your "Life Celebration", as we like to call it. Life Celebration? Well, it'll basically be a baptism without you being baptized, or made part of a sect, or without any kind of religious mumbo-jumbo at all. It will be a celebration of you having joined us in this life, a celebration of life in general, and an official bringing-together of you with your "godmother" (for the lack of a better word), Auntie#K. We will celebrate in the "life tree circle" high above the city, in a large clearing of the forest, around your "life tree", the walnut. The ceremonial master used to be a Catholic Monk who has left the Catholic church because his personal beliefs were too free-spirited in order to fit into the rigid structure and dogmata of the Catholic curch, and he now calls himself a "spirtitual guardian". I was sceptical at first: with me being an atheist, your father being highly spiritual and your Auntie#K being a Catholic, how would we ever manage to find a common ground that our "spiritual guardian" could agree with, too? However, we were all very positively surprised after our meeting, and I am sure that it will be a memorable event. And today, as a matter of fact, I have started to work on the invitations! Things are coming together - slowly, but finally.
Baby Girl - this past half year has been the most beautiful of my life so far, despite the sleepless nights and the loss of my so-called "independence" of my life before you. I am happiest when I am with you, I am melting to a puddle on the floor whenever you smile or giggle or give an all-out belly laugh, and every day brings on a new excitement when we see what you have in store for us now. You are becoming more and more of a personality, you have a wide range of facial expressions available to us now, and the way you use them and practise more, and push further every day, make you cuter and more adorable by the day. So even if I am a bit melancholy that now you are TRULY no longer our wee little BABY, I can see that the next half year will be even more exciting than the last one, with all those leaps and bounds you are going through in your development. I can hardly wait to see what's going to happen next.
You are the best thing that ever happened to your Daddy and me, you truly are. We love you 'till eternity and back, you are the world to us.
Thank you for being you.
Love, endlessly,
Mama.
Yes, you are teething now, and have been for a good couple of weeks, which makes for some restless nights, some grumpy days, and a clueless Mommy, who doesn't know how to comfort you, when all your teething aids aren't doing much to help you. You are needing a lot more physical contact now, and need either your Daddy or me to sit beside you until you fall asleep, or even want to be carried around until sleep finally overpowers you. You have even fallen asleep on my chest a week ago, while I was sitting in a café with Git, and you were too exhausted from crying in pain. I was floating on a cloud when you did - you rarely ever do that with me, and I was relishing the feeling of your warm small body snuggling into me for comfort. In fact, you fell asleep so deeply, that Git was able to wrap you into our carrying cloth around me, without you noticing a thing.
And your teeth? I can see them already shining through your bottom gums, but they don't seem inclined to cut through anytime soon. I hope for you and me both that I am wrong with this assessment, though.
Maybe the biggest and greatest news of last month is the beginning of you eating solids!!! We have started with a few spoons of carrots - and have since worked our way through potatoes, white carrots and pumpkins, and it seems that whatever vegetable I serve you next, it's your ABSOLUTE! NEW! FAVORITE! You are a passionate eater, have been from day one. It was so much fun to feed you for the first time, to watch your facial expressions, the surprise, the way you worked out how to deal with this spoon-thingy, and your eagerness to get more of this interesting new substance into your mouth. I was happy to see you liking it so much, and the fact that you seemed to know exactly what to do with your food and didn't push it out with your tongue reassured me, that I chose the right time to get you started, even though I didn't wait for you to be a whole six months old, as initially planned. By now you are eating one half glass every day at noon, and we even already bought you a high chair so you can sit at the table with us. You are holding yourself pretty well, but we are still stabilizing you with a blanket stuffed around you - just in case. And now it truly is the highlight of our day when we have dinner together with you on your high chair and a piece of dried bread inbetween us, a true family dinner for the first time. :)
In the mobility department I can say that you are progressing rapidly. What was not too long ago a true work out for you is now no effort to you anymore at all: you roll over from back to tummy and tummy to back like it's nothing, and in fact, as soon as we put you on your play mat onto your back we find you rolled around onto your tummy not a minute later. You are enjoying tummy-time a lot now, and I am most delighted to see you trying to work your knees beneath your butt now, in an effort to push yourself forwards to reach your toys. You haven't quite figured out the small technicality of having to move your front end as well in order to progress, you just push and shove with your feet and don't advance a millimeter for all your determination. Your chest and arms stay glued to the ground, and it's so much fun to watch you trying to get the hang of this crawling thing, endlessly patient with yourself.
You have, however, figured out that you can cover ground by rolling yourself over steadily into the same direction. Tummy - back - tummy - back, and before we realized what was going on you were far from your play mat, grinning widely! I am sure soon I will have to pry you out from underneath the couch, if you work on this new skill of yours some more!
In other news, I have signed you up for the kindergarten downstairs, in our apartment complex. It's the same kindergarten that Liz is signed up for, and I have settled your entry date for November 2009, shortly after your second birthday. The place is big and bright and friendly, and I got a very nice impression from the little tour that Git and I took through it. I am curious to see what our circumstances will be in 11/2009, to see if I am really going to go through with this, or wait just a little longer. It will really depend on whether I will be going back to work, or will be able to work from home, or if maybe even your sibling is already on the way by then.
Imagine, we have also finally managed to set up a meeting with the ceremonial master who is supposed to lead us through your "Life Celebration", as we like to call it. Life Celebration? Well, it'll basically be a baptism without you being baptized, or made part of a sect, or without any kind of religious mumbo-jumbo at all. It will be a celebration of you having joined us in this life, a celebration of life in general, and an official bringing-together of you with your "godmother" (for the lack of a better word), Auntie#K. We will celebrate in the "life tree circle" high above the city, in a large clearing of the forest, around your "life tree", the walnut. The ceremonial master used to be a Catholic Monk who has left the Catholic church because his personal beliefs were too free-spirited in order to fit into the rigid structure and dogmata of the Catholic curch, and he now calls himself a "spirtitual guardian". I was sceptical at first: with me being an atheist, your father being highly spiritual and your Auntie#K being a Catholic, how would we ever manage to find a common ground that our "spiritual guardian" could agree with, too? However, we were all very positively surprised after our meeting, and I am sure that it will be a memorable event. And today, as a matter of fact, I have started to work on the invitations! Things are coming together - slowly, but finally.
Baby Girl - this past half year has been the most beautiful of my life so far, despite the sleepless nights and the loss of my so-called "independence" of my life before you. I am happiest when I am with you, I am melting to a puddle on the floor whenever you smile or giggle or give an all-out belly laugh, and every day brings on a new excitement when we see what you have in store for us now. You are becoming more and more of a personality, you have a wide range of facial expressions available to us now, and the way you use them and practise more, and push further every day, make you cuter and more adorable by the day. So even if I am a bit melancholy that now you are TRULY no longer our wee little BABY, I can see that the next half year will be even more exciting than the last one, with all those leaps and bounds you are going through in your development. I can hardly wait to see what's going to happen next.
You are the best thing that ever happened to your Daddy and me, you truly are. We love you 'till eternity and back, you are the world to us.
Thank you for being you.
Love, endlessly,
Mama.
posted by spreadyourwings at 9:53 PM
3 comments
