Half of One Year

Dear Anderson,

You are six months old today, and I can hardly believe it. I feel so lucky to have you as a son. I think you are starting to know that I am your mom, and that I would do practically anything for you. I love it when you reach out both of your hands, squeeze my cheeks, draw my face toward yours, and then you kind of try to bite my nose, but I think it's more like a kiss. You get this look of elation that makes my heart overflow with joy and love for your innocence. I also love seeing you try to start crawling--you are so close. As of today your butt was really in the air and I thought there was a slight chance that you would actually gain the right coordination, but those legs just shot right out again. You do a very good job moving backward off your blanket and onto the floor where you usually find something gross to put in your mouth, and you also do a good job of eating and digesting paper--it's always interesting to see what you ate in your diaper. Your motor skills are coming right along; you are not quite ready for the ol' pen and paper yet, but you are great at passing toys from one hand to the other (very impressive). Sitting up is another resume-worthy skill of yours, you do still topple over every now and again, but it's nothing your backward-army-crawl can't get you out of.

You have eaten rice cereal, butternut squash, pears, and bananas (the last seems to be your favorite). I am reading Anne Lamott's Operating Instructions, and she says that feeding a baby is "like filling a hole with putty--you get it in and then you sort of shave off all the excess around the hole and gob it back in, like you're spackling." She has helped me feel pretty normal these days. I think the solids might be helping you sleep better, but, my son, that is still an area of improvement for you. Seriously, why can't you sleep as well at 6 months as you did at 6 weeks? This issue occasionally turns me into a crazy lady. Don't worry, I will continue being nice to you, but your dad sure gets the brunt of my sleepiness. Poor guy. You could also work on your behavior in the car. It just can't be that bad, and we'd love to drive more places.

You make these incredible grunts of intense fascination. You will grab a teething ring and grunt so your face turns red (I usually remind you to breathe in these moments), then you will smash the ring about as if it's not doing exactly what you want it to. I can't tell if you are frustrated, fascinated, or constipated, but when the episode is over you are usually quite happy (and your pants are not the least bit full). It makes me think of all these parents who say, "You know he's been like this from day one." Well, when you are at "day one" you can't really tell what these little intense grunts might mean about your personality, but I have a feeling that we might be telling this grunting story about you some day explaining your intense focus on your doctoral dissertation that you will be completing at Yale or Harvard that will surely bring about world peace, or helping starving children in the developing world, but no pressure, son.

Every day I enjoy and get to know you more and more. Being a mom is the hardest thing I have ever done, but you make it pretty worthwhile. Happy six month birthday, my sweet boy.

Love,

Your mama.