Half a Year

Six Months Ago Today

Are you kidding me??? I can't even believe how the time is flying by. I'm still trying to take it all in, and am learning every day about what it means to mother Charlie. For some reason I used to think all babies were pretty much alike. Maybe some cried more, but they didn't really have personalities yet, or if they did, it was just based on how you treated them. Like if you are attentive and loving parents, they will be a certain way, and vice versa. Wow, was I ever wrong.

Certainly I still believe that parenting styles affect a child's behavior/personality somewhat, but this little boy was born with a mind of his own! God created Charlie to be the little person that he is and I can't even believe how blessed I am to be his mother and get to know him more and more each day. I think back to those early days when Paul and I had this tiny little bundle in the hospital that just basically slept and ate. Then we came home and he went from sleeping and eating to crying and eating. And then gradually, we began to get to know his rhythms, his likes and dislikes, his desire to look out and see all around, his curiosity, his voice, what (many of) his cries meant.

And here we are six months later, with this little boy who is a morning person and coos at us from his crib, who is rolling over, sitting up, reaching, grabbing, who loves to eat anything, thrives with routine, needs naps but fusses every time I lay him down, loves his bed, smiles every time he sees his daddy, is super ticklish, loves going for walks and looking around outside, can sit up straight when I hold him with one hand on my hip (I'm getting a really strong left arm!), wakes up for the paci at night but doesn't need to eat, lets you know immediately when he doesn't like something or when he is tired/hungry/bored/needs to be held, gets red-cheeked when he's hot, gets really serious around new people or places, can cover a clean shirt in drool within 10 seconds of putting it on him, loves taking a bath, doesn't mind a diaper change or change of clothes, loves music, and has this great belly-laugh chuckle that makes me wanna bottle it up and keep forever.

I've learned (and am still learning) that book smarts are nothing compared to experience, the time flies by too fast to spend it discouraged and wondering if I'm doing things right, sleep is overrated and not as necessary as I once thought, and my life will never be the same.

Thank you Charlie, for making us parents. We're sorry to say we don't always know what we're doing. Actually, who are we kidding? We rarely know what we're doing, ha! We place you in the Lord's hands every night when we pray over you and ask that He guide us and you on this path. These past six months have been the hardest but best of our lives and we love you so much!!