Last Friday marked Bubba’s half birthday, AKA the six month anniversary of my labor-induced tailbone injury. Seriously, I had no idea that it was a) possible to injure your tailbone giving birth, or b) possible for a tailbone injury to NOT HEAL FOR SIX MONTHS. Please, send me sympathy and/or painkillers.
Joking aside, I’ve been doing a lot of reflecting these past few days, marveling at all the amazing moments we’ve had so far and how much he’s changed already. He won’t be able to read this for another few months (I’m kidding, obviously… he has till he’s two to learn how to read before we move on to algebra), but for posterity’s sake, I thought I’d write the dear boy a little note to mark the milestone:
Dear Ryan,
It’s hard to believe you’re six months old already! In some ways it seems like just yesterday that I was apologizing to the labor and delivery nurse for screaming during my contractions (true story; I’m pretty sure she was happier than I when the anesthesiologist finally arrived to give me my epidural. Also pretty sure my apologies were more annoying than the actual contraction vocalizations), but then it also feels like you’ve been here melting hearts with your cuteness for ages. The last six months have truly been the most wonderful, exhausting, exciting, thrilling months of my life, and I wouldn’t change any of it (except the tailbone).
Here’s our first meeting – love at first sight!
You’ve come a long way since that night. When we brought you home from the hospital, you didn’t even fit in the darling outfit and hat I had brought for you, and every component of your carseat was set to the smallest size:
(By the way, hospital policy dictated that I had to leave the hospital in a wheelchair, holding your carseat in my lap. Do you have any idea how bad my tailbone hurt in that position?)
Now, you’ve long outgrown the newborn padding and insist on having at least two toys (and a paci) share the seat with you:
Aside from the aforementioned carseat, the only place you would sleep those first few weeks (for the approximately 8 minutes you slept per day) was your swing. You were so tiny in it, though, I wasn’t even quite sure how to securely strap you in. I settled for this:
And now it’s just about time to retire the swing before you figure out a way to launch yourself out of it, since it’s totally boring compared to all the other cool stuff you can do now (sitting, rolling, playing with and/or chewing on toys… sitting quietly in a swing is for babies, mom!):
Speaking of toys, can you believe there was a time that you didn’t care about having 1 or 10 nearby to chomp, throw, bang, or fondle at all times? You didn’t even care about your very first Christmas present (note the Hannukah paper in which it’s wrapped – I covered all the bases, kid!):
Now, you know where your favorite toys live:
And you can even sit up all by yourself to play with them:
I have to say, you’re a lot more fun now than you were six months ago. No offense intended, of course, but six months ago, this was the highlight of my day:
And this was about the most fun you could have with Daddy:
Now we have a blast playing together (and you make me feel like the best comedian in the world with your hysterical laughter at my antics!):
And you’ve discovered that not only is Daddy a lot of fun (although let the record show that I still do not condone the throw-baby-in-the-air game you two both seem to love), but he also has a really cool and scratchy beard to explore:
One thing I do miss – just a tad! – is that you used to sleep whenever we’d go out and about (I know I mention often that you never slept as a newborn, but technically that isn’t true – you did sleep, it was just never at a convenient time or for a reasonable stretch!). For instance, we went out to eat an awful lot those first few months, and you were always a perfect little angel (perhaps I should have gotten a recording of restaurant sounds – plates banging around, chatter, etc – for your crib at home?! Patent pending!) while Daddy and I ate:
But then at some point, you wised up and realized it was far more fun to sit on Mama’s lap and try to eat things than to take a snooze amidst our meal. Can’t say I blame you, this does look far more enjoyable:
Thank you for helping me perfect my one-handed eating skills! I rarely even drip sauce onto your head while taking bites anymore.
Bubba, you’ve changed my life in ways I can’t even begin to express. I am literally at a loss for words to explain how very much I love you and how happy I am to be your mama. There is nothing in the world I’d rather do than take care of you, even at 3am (but please do continue sleeping through the night – I’m just sayin’). I am giddy with glee just looking at you every day. Thank you for being the absolute perfect baby – even though you still won’t let me feed you rice cereal:
Let’s try to master that before you’re one, okay?
Love,
Your mama
The Baby Is Fine 