Six Months!

Dear Jonah,

Today you turn six months old -- six months! I can hardly believe it. I don't think I've ever had a half-year fly by so quickly.

This has been kind of an interesting month. On the one hand, you've become adept at sitting up and can now lunge for toys (folding yourself in half if necessary!), you are interested in a wider variety of toys (including Mommy & Daddy's remote controls, cell phones, and any and all other electronics), and you can get your Nuk back in your mouth (after a fashion). On the other hand, you've had your first cold and your first tummy bug, and on Tuesday your GG died.


That last one is kind of a biggy for me. Nana was a great lady, larger than life. Her death wasn't a surprise -- she was 91, after all, and had come down with pneumonia -- but it still seems impossible that she's not around anymore. I'm so, so glad that she got to meet you, and I'm simultaneously so sad that you won't remember her. She thought you were just the bees' knees, and loved you so much. Ever since she got the first pictures of you, she would talk to you -- she thought you were very handsome, and quite masculine! She would talk to your pictures all around her house, even though you were, apparently, very sassy to her! She loved to hear you over the phone -- every time I would call, she would respond to my greeting with, "Is that my Annie? How is my great-grandson?" She was beyond thrilled with your performances at Christmastime, and thought you were awfully clever. Her passing leaves a big hole in our family.

In happier news, we'll get to see Grammy & Grandpa next week, because they're coming to visit for my 30th birthday! Uncle Matt is coming, too, and they all can't wait to see you. I hope you'll let them hold you more than you did at Christmas, and that you'll be good for your babysitters when we all go out to dinner. And at church on Sunday, you're getting dedicated!


You have already changed so much, and changed our lives so much, it's just unbelievable. There are already lots of things I feel I haven't chronicled and I don't want to forget them! Things like the way your mouth was usually in a little "o" when you were tiny, as if you were trying to learn how to whistle. And how you used to make such noise when you were eating! Big gasps and wheezes. And how you used to be a very snorty baby, especially when you woke up -- Daddy and I would laugh at the little piggy noises you would make. And your white spot -- on the top of your head, you have a quarter-sized spot of white hair! I hope it will fade as you get older, but I don't want to forget that you had it. And how your eyes and eyebrows turn red when you're getting ready to cry -- that one doesn't seem to be changing yet, but it's so funny to see when the rest of you is so, so pale. Oh, and how you used to flail! I don't know when that stopped, but I haven't noticed you doing it in the last few weeks -- you used to flail, especially when you were nursing. The hand that wasn't up next to my body would hit me, as if someone were pulling back and releasing your arm like a catapult.



You've started examining your hands this month, as if you're stoned, which is hysterical: "woahhhh- hands! They move! That's crazy, man!" You turn them over and wiggle your fingers, as if they're not connected to you. I hope we can get a picture of it!


I hope the next six months don't go quite as quickly as the last six have -- I wish we could slow down the happy moments with you; I want to savor them forever.

Happy half-birthday, baby! We love you more than you can imagine.

Love, Momma