Dear Lili - Half a Year and a Day

To my Sweet Lili-Pea,

Yesterday you turned six months old. I am fulfilling every cliché by asking this, but, truly, where did the time go? Yesterday you were the littlest baby in the nursing-moms room at church; now you’re the huge one surrounded by tiny little beans.

If I had to use one phrase to describe you, it would be “spunky and sweet.” You’ve been a little more challenging and demanding than your brother was – you cried more as a newborn, you don’t eat as well as he did, and you’ve been a lot more into knowing what’s going on in your world earlier than he was. It will be so interesting to see what sort of person this means you will become. You don’t often like to snuggle because this means that you’re missing what’s going on around you. Ideally, you’re not only facing out, but you’re also being held in a way that means you can kick your legs and wiggle and look around.

You adore a couple of things. Paper, for one: you really like to crinkle it and put it in your mouth. Your silicon teething ring and the metal end of the leash that should be clipping it to your shirt: you hold the ribbon and dangle the metal clip into your mouth like a little fishing lure. You love the dogs, and especially your Grandpa Jim & Grandma Kitty’s dog, Bailey. You smile and laugh when she licks your hands and your face, as long as she’s not too aggressive about it (I wouldn’t normally let her spend so much time in your face except that you seem to like it so much). You get a big grin on your face when I carry you upstairs in the morning or after a nap and there’s a giant black dog face waiting at the top of the stairs for you.

And, you love your brother. As your parents, we love that you are so smitten with your brother. Your first laughs were at daddy, but ever since then, your best and most frequent laughs have been at your brother. We went through a phase where we let him jump on his bed while we were trying to put him to bed because it made you laugh and laugh and laugh. A sweet, belly-to-throat laugh that might be mistaken for the beginning of a cry if it weren’t for the delight evident in your smile and your eyes.

You are vocal. You get louder and louder the more sleepy you get, so we can hear you escalating (but not usually crying) as you fall asleep in your crib or in your carseat. And every time you discover a new noise, you practice it over and over. Yesterday, it was “bah, bah, bah, bah.” When you’re not going through a phrase of discovering a new sound with your voice, you enjoy playing with your tongue. Some days it’s just sticking out a tiny bit, sometimes it’s sticking out and wiggling, and today, you’re sticking your tongue out almost as far as it will go. Don’t worry; I’ve got video of the sweet little tongue wiggle, so we can show it at your high school graduation party.

You also started growing your first tooth the other day, so your six-month-birthday present (arriving tomorrow) will be an amber teething necklace; I’m hoping it will help some of the crankiness that we’ve been dealing with. I wish the crankiness meant that you were more snuggly than normal, because it would be sweet to be able to cuddle you and comfort you. But no, you are still happiest sitting up, seeing what’s going on around you and grabbing at everything within reach. You got to have your first trip through Costco out of your carseat today (riding in the cart with Tito, propped up a bit by a blanket), and wow, you liked Costco so much more like that (and I can also fit our food in the cart again!). Congratulations on your tooth, Sweet Pea, and please don’t bite me because I can’t wean you yet, given your indifference to solid foods.

While I type this, you are lying on your back on the couch, chewing on an “Indestructable” book and babbling “bah, bah, bah, bah.” I look up from my typing to take a sip of coffee and see you and think, “I love her. My little girl.”

~ Your Momma