Dear sweet Eden,
I can barely believe its been half a year. It went by so
quickly. The saying rings true- the days are long but the years are short.
Because you are such a good baby, sometimes I also feel like the days are short
too. Especially on days I have to work- I can barely squeeze in enough time to
be with you and the boys. I know you are
in good hands though, as Candy, your nanny truly adores you like you are her
own grandchild.
Six months means you are getting more and more excited about
interacting with us and you are more intentional about what makes you happy and
not so happy. You are so very sweet and smile all the time. I recently read
something that says babies at 6 months cry up to 2 hours a day. I imagine in a
day you cry for a total of 15 minutes maybe?
Our days start around 7:30. You’ve been throwing us for a
loop with your sleep schedule and this month, we celebrated Thanksgiving, with
15 family members in our house Wednesday to Sunday. You did not find that
exactly appealing as while they were here you were not up to sleeping through
the night. We figured it was something to do with your noticing the extra folks
in your space and hoped for improvement. It came for a week or so- you were
back on schedule, but then became unsteady again. Oh, the fickle ways of your
sleep schedule.
Naps though continue to work out super well. You usually take
two, 2-hr naps and sometimes a third that is about 30 to 40 minutes. You can
sleep in your crib well for these naps, but admittedly, we often hold you and
take a nap of our own. We are not supposed to- we are aware. But I honestly
can’t get enough of rocking you so long as I am not exhausted. You are such a
sweet baby.
After we are up, we head to get dressed, and the moment the
boys hear us out of bed they are there to greet you. They continue to adore
you, and as I write this I can hear Collin’s voice saying “Hi Eden!” both boys’
warmest characteristics shine around you- they are kind and gentle, loving and
quiet. I love seeing it surface in their usual rough-and-tumble routine of 2
boys 18 months apart.
Then we head down to breakfast. You usually sit in your
swing, but you are certainly getting too big for it. You can hear the battery
struggle to move it as you sit there. You look up at the mobile and catch the
stars as they move around. You are content as we get the day started and we
narrate breakfast to you. The boys move quickly to get ready for school, and
you are gleefully entertained. They always make sure to spend time making you
belly laugh, or to hold you and offer you some of the toys you prefer.
At six months you aren’t eating breakfast yet, but you would like to. Anytime I am holding you and I am taking a bite of a bagel or
English muffin, you are leaning in, mouth open, anxious to get a taste too. We
are holding off to introduce breakfast until 7 months or so, but right before
Thanksgiving we did introduce your first food, which as you might expect, you
loved. This month at your check up you weighed in at over 17 pounds, in the 64th percentile and you are in the 95th for height.
Your first taste was of sweet potatoes, a fitting first for
the Thanksgiving season. At first you weren’t entirely sure about the texture,
but once you figured it out you wanted more. You cried the first time I emptied
a jar. And since then, there was no
looking back. You have entered the realm of flavors with reckless abandon-
enjoying all of them. Sweet potatoes, pears, kale, cucumbers, garbanzo beans,
strawberry, carrot, oatmeal, banana, you name a first food- you’ve probably
tried the pureed version.
But dinner is a long way away from breakfast, and in our
usual routine you seem to know it. You stare longingly at the boys and my
breakfasts, daydreaming of the days ahead when you will get your own. After a
few songs and breakfast finishes we head upstairs to make beds and get dressed.
You nearly always lay on their beds while I orchestrate the routine of getting
dressed. You are fascinated with what they are doing all the time.
They get dressed, eventually, and play with you on your play
mat while I take a turn at getting ready for the day. In these 15 minutes they
dote on you- adoring your smile and coos. You chatter with them, telling them
all about your expectations for the day and they play along, narrating all of
your sounds with words. Collin always reads you two or three books and when
they can, they both try to engage you in play. Lately it has been with the
Elephant ball popper, which they find hilarious and you laugh intensely at
their wide smiles.
All too soon, I’m ready for work and the boys are ready for
school and its time for our day to part- you get lots of one on one attention
from Candy, playing again often on your playmat or on cold days in front of the
warm fireplace. She talks to you and carries you around in a whirlwind of
activity as she does laundry and dishes and floors, and all the other things we
are so thankful for. Mostly though, she loves being with you, so we feel
especially blessed to have her in our lives.
In this window you take two naps- the first right when we
leave, going down around 9:15 and usually it’s a 1.5 to 2 hour nap, and then
about 2 hours from when you wake, you take another, waking up to your dad, who
also adores you. And the feeling is mutual. Whenever you see him your little
face lights up. He’s especially good at talking to you and playing with you and
I think he really enjoys that time from 2:30 until 3:45 when you both go to pick
up the boys because I haven’t returned from work yet.
At 4 the boys re-enter the scene, and you are always glad to
see their faces, as they are yours. Then the chaos of many chores, activities,
homework and reading begins, with you at the center. I come home usually around
4:30/5 to join the mix and we figure out dinner. Then at 5:30 you enjoy your
dinner and always end up in the bath each night afterward. You enjoy it so much
that you find ways to push the spoon across your face and on your arms, and in
your hair until you are wearing much of the leftover food.
Baths are still a favorite for you. You love the warm water
and you like to watch us pour it from high up as it lands on your hands and
wrists. We moved you to a bigger tub last month and you seem to be enjoying the
new found freedom to sit up and play while you are in the warm water.
After bath we start to wind down for bed, jammies, stories,
snuggles with Lamby-kins. At 6:15 I usually feed you one last time and begin
the process of rocking you to sleep. I adore holding your sweet face as you
drift off to sleep, as every night I am reminded how lucky we are to have you
in our lives, and how privileged our family is to be safe, warm, well fed and
nearly worry free when so many other parts of the world are suffering so much.
Every night I stare into your little eyes and give thanks that you live in a
part of the world that I don’t have to question your wellbeing and safety
everyday and that your development is so well protected with all of the fantastic
adults who care about you in your life. Then you drift off, and I snuggle you
into your crib where you sleep until we hear from you around midnight because
you spit out your Nuk. We pop it back in your mouth and cross our fingers
you’ll sleep until 4 or so.
This month, aside from our routine, you mastered more
milestones. You are able to sit up unassisted now and you can roll to and from
something that you desire. You love to chew on your fist, or our knuckles or
try to bite our faces in the most innocent way. You love to get your hands on
my hair and pull and you would chew Sophie’s face off if you could, I think.
You celebrated your first Thanksgiving, where 15 family members came over the
river and through the woods to see you and you’ve increased your social
interactions so much, you love to watch and try to interact with the other
babies at ECFE.
In short, you are a sweet miracle. We love you and we can’t
wait to see what 7 months will hold.
Off we go to another month ahead.
All our love
Momma and Daddy
Off we go to another month ahead.
All our love
Momma and Daddy
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