Happy Half Birthday, Luke!

Dear Luke,
Six months, half a year. Wow. Half a year has flown by so fast. I can also hardly remember what life was like without you. There are so many wonderful things that you’ve brought to our lives and I am so blissfully sappingly forever grateful. Just this weekend I was able to experience one of my favorite things – having you fall asleep in my arms. For some reason when we’re home, you don’t want to sleep in my arms – you’d much rather sprawl out in your crib with your froggy grasped against your cheek and your glow worm soothing you nearby. But we weren’t home for some of your naps and you snuggles right up to me and zonked out. After falling asleep on my shoulder I was able to reposition you in a cradle hold in my arms. You grasped my shirt in your little fist and slept that deep wonderful sleep of an infant. There were screeching children around us and you were oblivious. And I felt so content and maternal and in awe of you. Those are the little snapshot moments I want to always remember. We love the new voice sounds you’re making. Sometimes you trill and gargle and squeal and sound like anything but a baby. We’re trying to teach you how to say ba-ba, da-da and ma-ma but you haven’t had any success imitating those sounds yet. You sometimes stare at us making fools of ourselves with these new sounds and we watch you watch us…moving your tiny lips and mouth to make the right sound – but no sound comes out yet. I feel like I can see that baby brain working though.

You’re eating so much and you clearly have food preferences as well as foods you can not stand to eat at all. Like green beans. OOooo. Not a fan of green beans. I was too stubborn to allow you to not eat them. I knew you were hungry so I kept shoveling it in. And you saved up every drop of those green beans without swallowing them and proceeded to blow raspberries at me. The spray of green bean juice was everywhere! Green beans stained your [ants, my pants, my shirt, face, the tablecloth. Argh. No. More. Green. Beans. I got the picture! But bananas and apples are your favorite. You also really like your cereal and you act like my little baby bird opening your mouth and looking for that next morsel. I try to keep you busy while you’re eating and hand you your own spoon. It’s so cute to watch the synchronized spoon movements as you move your spoon to your mouth as I’m moving my spoon to your mouth. But if I allow you full spoon control you unknowingly gag yourself so I have to wrestle it away from you.

I can’t believe how strong you are. That baby grip is nearly impossible to break – whether you have a grip on a toy, my hair, a necklace, whatever. I’m surprised I don’t have bruises.

You’re also developing your own personality and you like to make your desires known. Well, you like to make your displeasure known is more like it. You are almost always pleasant and I could not ask for a more smiley happy baby. You love playing with your toys abut if I take away one of your favorite toys, oooo, you are one angry cranky baby! The two new examples of your favorite toys are your drum and your xylophone/piano toys. I guess you’re just my little musical baby. I love it.

You went with us to some friends’ houses this weekend and you’re not afraid of strangers yet. You love our dog, Samson but don’t care for or seem interested in our cat, Deano.

I love watching you grow and change and I’m excited to watch you grow up. I have a feeling the second half of your life will be much more exciting than the first. First Halloween and first Christmas are way more exciting than first Easter and first Independence Day. :)