Dear baby Nick, Month 7

Dear my sweet, sweet boy,

I cant believe on Tuesday you will be 7 months old.   I know I say that every month, but i just cant believe how quickly you are growing and changing.  You such a bundle of love, i am not sure any baby has ever been as sweet as you in this whole world.  And yet you keep getting sweeter.

This month you have really become quite good at grabbing things and throwing things with your hands. I think your dexterity is probably much more advanced than others your age. We take you out to restaurants and give you toys in a high chair to keep you entertained, but all you do it pick them up and throw them on teh ground and then watch them hoping they will miraculously float back on to the table again.  They never do.  But you keep waiting. Sometimes I just lay down on the ground and watch you play, i am constantly in awe of all the things you do . And i cant help but think about how darn cute it all is with your little hands and your way of navigating the world around you.

Although you are quite good with your hand-eye coordination you still havent figured out how to actually feed yourself. All kinds of things go into your mouth except food. For some reason when i give you little slices of apples, or bananas, or even little puffs  you just scoot them around and like everything else you touch, it ends up on the floor.  I am hoping in the next month maybe the joy of eating (and self entertaining at meal times) becomes a little more enjoyable for you.  Although we are not too worried about how much you eat because everyone says you are a little ham, your chubby cheaks and legs make you so darn cute I could just eat you whole.  You are in the 79th percentile for weight.  But I secretely think that as soon as you start crawling you are going to be everywhere.

And I do think that mobility is just around the corner. You are a 'bouncing baby' right now.  YOu sit up and just bounce like you are ready to get up and just start running away. You are good at grabbing things just within your reach but far away, sometimes you bounce up and do a belly flop because you havent quite figured out how to get up on your knees. But i think it it's just a few weeks away before you are off.

The last of your toothless smiles were seen this month as those bottom two front teeth have finally broken through the gum. They are so cute. They havent fully emerged yet but the little choppers can certainly bite.  Your teething days werent so bad, although i do think a few low grade fevers were tightly connected to those little suckers. You went through your fair share of bibs for a while there as the drool would just pour out of your your mout; since they new appearances you havent been drooling as much. So that means now you can wear cute outfits and we dont have to cover them up with bibs.

Unfortunately the last few weeks you have had a never ending cold. Some days i think it;s allergies, other days i think it's a new variation on the same cold. I dont think you have stopped sneezing on a regular basis since you were born. But your nose is constanly running. I feel so bad for you as you try to sleep since I know it must be hard to breath when you cant really use your nose all that well.  This week has been extra rough because you picked up a cough from daycare.  And the last 24 hours have been miserable (for all of us). YOu havent been sleeping and you woke up in a daze this morning with lots of tears. Poor little guy, it makes going to work so much harder because I hate leaving you.

Next month there will be more changes in all of our futures.  Hopefully our house will be on the market and you will start a new daycare- Kids R Kids. They have a webcam so i get to secretly check in on you whenever i want. I really, really hope you are happy there.  Knowing you are in good hands makes going to work a lot better, but i still miss you like crazy. So please try to be happy with your new teachers, if nothing else do it for me.

I cant wait to see what this month has in store for us. YOu are the light of my life, and through all the stuff going on in my life i know coming home to you makes everything so much better.  Watching you and listening to you only brings smiles to my face, and every day is a new adventure to see what you will do next. Your voice is changing and the things that come out are always surprises. Keep on surprising us, little man, and making your daddy and I the happiest and proudest parents in the whole world.

Love,
Mommy

Dear Nicholas Month 6

Dear my sweet baby Nicky,

You are going to be SIX months old on Sunday. Happy half birthday little man, I cant believe how old you are getting.  It seems like only yesterday I was holding you in the nook of my arm- your entire body would fit on one arm.  Now you are long and getting heavier by the day. I would guess you are over 18 lbs by now, but we go to the doctor for the your 6 month appointment next Friday so we will find out the official height and weight then. I cant wait. 

This month has been SUCH an exciting month for all of us. YOu are just getting more fun every day, and I didn't think it would be possible but you get sweeter and sweeter every day, too. . YOu such a peach- but even sweeter! YOu giggle and laugh ALL.THE.TIME.  You are ticklish when we rub and squish your chubby little thighs, when we bounce you, when we kiss you all over, when we sing and dance for you. You think my dancing is funny- but i think the rest of world would probably agree as uncoordinated as I am. But then again,  you dad doesn't hold a candle to me.  I hope you dont learn to dance from your dad or you will end up knowing just a couple moves-- his most famous being 'deal the cards.' But dont worry I will still love you just as much...  Did I mention the swing yet? YOU LOVE to be in the swing. Grandma and Grandpa got you a swing at their house and you looove it more than anything.  We have even taking you to the park by our house just to get some swing in for the day. My cheeks end up hurting from all the smiling I do when your having so much fun. 

One of the most exciting milestones you have reached in the last week is you can SIT UP ON YOUR OWN NOW! What a huge day in your life. You have been able to sit assisted for a little while but as soon as we would take our arms away you would lean like the tower in Pisa and then eventually fall over.  NOW YOU CAN STABLE yourself. I am so impressed.  I wouldn't say you have mastered it, but you you now stick your arms out to stable yourself. I had your on the floor the other day and watched you sit up and just play with the toys around you. And when you felt like you were going to fall back, you stuck your arms out in front of you and wobbled a little bit but corrected yourself.  I have never been prouder.  The world really opens up for babies who can sit up on their own so there is a lot in store for us next month; riding around in the grocery cart, sitting in high chairs at restaurants, you might even like the train in the kids land at kings island even more now. You still dont roll over that much, on your tummy you still haven't really worked out how to flip over with your arms sticking straight out like an airplane. But i know you will get there.

You have also been been introduced to the glorious world of solid food this month.  We still give you rice and oats, but now we are making you all kinds of fruits and veggies.  Besides banana's that you first tried in your cereal, the next thing we made for you were carrots (which were not nearly as tasty as the bananas, i know).  Then you tried sweet potatoes, green beans, peaches and just yesterday you tried rutabaga. You are a good eater it's been a lot of fun giving you new foods.  The down side to all this fun in the world of tastes and food is your poop has transformed from non-offensive baby poop to actual human feces.  It's even a little more solid now!  And BIGGER. Instead of just  dirtying your diaper, now you poop your pants.  But I suppose even in those times you still seem relatively unbothered because as I mentioned earlier, you are just so DARN SWEET!

We had lots of fun together this month, we got to see Jackson - who is just 3 weeks older than you for a play date, we went to multiple family events and you just laughed and played with everyone. We had a cookout and our house and everyone fell in love with you then too because you are so easy to love. We also took you in grandma and grandpa's pool, too. It's been SUPER hot so even though the water wasnt like your bath, you didnt cry. I think by the summer's end you will really love being in the water. This summer we are taking swimming lessons together so I think you will be much more comfortable.

You continue to get more and more dexterous, you can grab and play with all kinds of stuff now. Every day you get more and more coordinated.  I am just in awe of you and how much you learn and grow every day.  I even amaze myself when i realize how proud I am of you when you learn and do something new.  Watching you grow is such an adventure and it just keep get better.  You are the most amazing and special little boy and I love you so much it hurts to think about.  When I put you in bed at night and go downstairs, i look at your high chair or some of your toys and I feel sad and miss you even though you are just upstairs sleeping.   But as complicated and busy you make my life, it's all together crazy but wonderful and fulfilling and I cant imagine it any other way.

I love you more than the sun and the moon,
Mommy