happy half birthday

maesey mae,

you've been with us six months now. six months! sometimes i look at you and can't quite believe you're here, a smiling, laughing, rolling, animated little soul in our midst. you have changed so much, especially in the last four weeks, and i don't just mean the little mohawk you're working on growing or the little top of a tooth that just yesterday popped through. you've always been a very alert baby, people comment on it almost every time we go out, and now you respond to everything those big eyes take in with your myriad of facial expressions. you laugh easily and often. you reach out for any and everything that is within your grasp but will inspect it now for a moment or two before shoving whatever it is in your mouth. you'll look around wildly for baxter if you hear his paws clipping along the floor. you greet me every morning with a huge smile and always have one ready to shine on your daddy.

things are so much easier lately, you're so much easier. you're taking bottles and have started eating solid food which, as well as producing the sweet little rolls in your arms and legs, has made going out with you so much more pleasant. i try to get you out of the house for a couple of hours every day, a little change of scenery and new people to smile at (or furrow your brow at, whichever). we've managed to get you used to sleeping without being swaddled up tight and you're getting some longer stretches in now, sometimes only waking me up once, more often twice a night. now if we could just get you into a regular napping pattern...



there is so much i want to say but don't know how to express, about being a mother, your mother. how even these short six months have taught me so much about myself, about patience, about trial and error and trusting my instincts. about how much a heart can hold... so, so much more than i ever imagined. i didn't really know about babies, how charming they can be. how absolutely charming you are. my maesey, munchy woo, little ganoush.

love,
mom
xox