All the Little Things

Dear William,

You are 6 months old now. It's hard to believe that you've been in our lives for half of a year! Even though you're still a little baby, you are growing so much and so quickly and I find myself missing your tiny newborn snuggles and sounds. I'm so afraid that I'll forget all these sweet things as you grow and change. There are so many little things that I never want to forget.

We are thinking of nicknaming you "No Nap Willie," even though we said that we never wanted anyone to call you Willie. :) But seriously, you aren't a great napper. You sleep really well at night, but even though I can tell that you are exhausted during the day you have a hard time sleeping for more than 30 minutes at a time. You usually wake up happy so I let you play and talk in your bed for awhile before getting you up. I guess I have this silly idea that you might fall back to sleep. Crazy, I know. Anyway, these days your favorite thing to do while you're waiting for me to get you up is to pull off your socks and chew on them. Almost every time I get you up from your nap I find you with a soaking wet sock in your mouth.

You love baby food, especially sweet potatoes. You get so excited when I'm feeding you that you starts shoving your bib in your mouth trying to eat it. Also, at least once during a feeding, I put the spoon full of baby food to your mouth and you blow into it. Food goes everywhere, but mostly up your nose. It makes me giggle to thing that everything probably smells like sweet potatoes (or apples, or green beans, or squash) for the rest of the day.

When I nurse you and you're not sleepy, you spend most of the time grabbing your foot with your hand and straightening and bending your leg over and over in some sort of weird, baby Pilates move. It's cute, but you sure are wiggly and distracted so nursing takes longer than it should.

My hair has become your favorite toy within the last few weeks. You play with it while you're nursing, while I'm changing your diaper, while I'm rocking you before putting you down for your nap...pretty much any time it's within arms reach for you. My favorite, though, is when you lay your head down on my shoulder and run your fingers through my hair as you fall asleep.

You started rolling over really well about a month ago. Since then, you've adopted two new sleep positions: on your right side in a perfect "L" shape or face down on your tummy. And I mean literally face down. You don't turn your head even a little, just bury your face in the mattress. It still makes me a little nervous that you do that because I think you're going to suffocate, but I figure the only thing I can do about it is sit by your bed all night long and flip you to your back over and over again. And, let's face it, I'm not going to do that. :)

Oh, how you love bath time! I think it must tickle a little bit when I scrub your legs and feet because you grin and laugh every time. You are completely fascinated when I pour water over your fingers and onto your tummy. You can't figure out why you can't grab the water like you grab everything else.

I love to hear you laugh. You have this great belly laugh when you really get going. You laugh the most when you're tired and no one can get you to laugh like your Daddy.

You are such a friendly baby! You show absolutely no fear of strangers so far. You are in heaven when you are surrounded by people who are paying attention to you and passing you around. Every once in awhile, though, you'll take a quick look around, just to make sure Daddy or I are still nearby.

You have such a bright and quick smile. You still have no teeth, so your smile is all gums. When you smile really big, you can see the outline of your front bottom teeth that will be coming in soon.

You love music and I sing to you all the time. We sing silly songs mostly, because you prefer tunes that are upbeat. If you're fussing, usually all it takes to snap you out of it is for me to start singing. "You Are My Sunshine" is probably your favorite song, though "The Wheels On the Bus" is way up there on the list, especially Daddy's special version.

Daddy and I think that you will be an early talker because you are already so verbal. Your favorite sound is "ma ma ma ma." You say it over and over again and you make the sound by tucking your bottom lip way into your mouth under your top gums. You look so funny! Even though I know you're not saying "Mama," I always try to respond when you say it so that you'll learn that that's what to call me. :)

It's bittersweet to watch you grow. It's sad knowing that, with each passing day, you're becoming less and less like that tiny little baby that was completely dependent on me and wanted to snuggle all the time. But each new accomplishment is so exciting and I can't wait to see the person you'll become. Your Daddy and I love you so much. Being your Mama is the best job I've ever had!

Mama