6 months

Dear Caleb,

You are a half a year old. How did that happen? I swear it was just yesterday I was anxiously waiting for your arrival. And yet, I don't quite remember life before you came along. I think you've always been a part of my heart, it just took 29 years before we met. This month you officially became a baby and left the newborn stage behind. You are so happy and have started interacting so much more with us! I love watching you grow every day!

6 months of growing! Look at how big you are!

At your 6 month check up you met your new pediatrician. We both love her and I'm very happy we switched to Dr. Thomason. You weighed in at 19lbs, 10oz. Techincally, you've lost weight recently. But you've suddenly become more mobile and are quite the little inch worm. Even with the weight loss you're still in the 80th percentile. What baffles me more than anything else is that you measured a staggering 28 inches long. That puts you in the 98th percentile! Where'd you get those height genes baby boy? No one in your family is tall - especially not 98% tall! We all top out at the short end of average and you're turning into one tall little man. Will you play tennis like your daddy wants or do I see a basketball in your future? (Just as long as you don't play football or wrestle. This momma's heart just might not be able to take it!)

This month we celebrated your first Christmas. It was such a wonderful, blessed time to celebrate the birth of our Savior. I can't wait to teach you more about the small Baby who came so you could truly live. You enjoyed the new toys and loved getting to see lots of family members. We spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in Waco with Gaga, PaPaw, and Aunt Megan. Luckily, Santa still found you and brought you some amazing, fun toys. After Christmas we went to visit Granny and Granddaddy. By the end of it all, you had figured out how to pull the paper off the presents and get it straight into your mouth. Amazingly, everyone around us got sick over Christmas and we managed to stay well! (Except for a nasty rash that we finally decided was allergy related.)

You love toys and love to talk to toys and love to play with toys and love to put toys in your mouth. However, your absolute favorite toy is my water bottle. If you catch a glimpse of it, you come unglued and get so excited you can hardly stand it. The bottom of all my water bottles have been crushed by your super bite! I am surprised you haven't poked a hole in them with those razor sharp teeth.

You are sitting up much better now and are even starting to fall over on purpose. When you're done, you're done. At the end of the month you started learning to hold your arms out when you wanted to be picked up. Right now, your arms just stick straight out to the sides, but I know you'll eventually stretch out towards us. In the meantime, I love watching you start to communicate...

Your giggle is, by far, the best sound on the planet. It absolutely makes my day to hear you laugh. Thankfully, those laughs are coming more and more often. You are super ticklish and love when we blow bubbles on your tummy or your arms or your legs or your... Well, it doesn't take much. You just love to laugh - a lot like your parents.

I was sure that you weren't going to make it to the 6 month mark before you started crawling. However, last week you got your first cold and it knocked you for a loop. You still have a drippy nose and cough but seem to be feeling so much better! While you were sick you didn't want to spend time on the floor learning to crawl so you lost a lot of practice time. You are amazingly close to crawling, however! You push up on all 4s and rock back and forth. A few times you've lifted one knee or the other but you haven't figured out that's where the magic is. It won't be long before you're cruising around the house. I confess, there are days I am very tempted to knock you over so you don't get too mobile too soon. Our life will never be the same once you're a man on the move. I have a feeling you will be going 90 to nothing in no time flat and you won't stop for a moment. Don't be in a rush to get there, ok?



"These fools put my cape on backwards!"

This month you started eating solid foods. I was determined not to give you anything but breast milk until you were 6 months old. But after a week of constant feeding and no sleep I finally decided you couldn't wait any longer. So far all you've had is rice cereal and bananas. You tolerated the cereal and seemed very confused with why in the world we were making you put this mess in your mouth. And then we mixed it with bananas. Holy cow! You shook all over with excitement and practically climbed out of your high chair to get more out of the bowl. You're a great eater now that we've added the bananas!

I love you a little more every day - which I never dreamed would be possible! You are my precious little Pumpking Doodle and I'm so proud to be your mommy! Every time we go somewhere people comment on just how cute and happy you are. You make others smile just by being you. I'm so blessed to call you mine! I love you sweet little man! Please stop growing so I can enjoy this time with you, OK?

Love,
Mommy