Six Months

Dear Abe,

Today you are 6 months old. We've lived together for 1/2 a year. I've never been away from you for more than a few hours. There is no one else on the planet I could possibly be that close to for 6 months and still like so much.
This past month you learned how to sleep at night. You still wake up once to eat, but I love that time I spend with you in the middle of the night. It's quiet and sweet. And I literally praise God everytime I walk up the stairs to your room for helping you learn how to sleep through the night. Sleep is so severely underrated.
You can now roll over both ways and if I prop your knees up underneath you, you can hold yourself up in the crawl position and rock back and forth. Yesterday I sat you upright surrounded by pillows and gave you a bunch of toys. You entertained yourself for nearly 20 minutes. It was amazing considering a month ago you could barely sit up in my lap.
Everyday you re-discover your hands. You'll be playing or waving or batting at a toy and suddenly you say to yourself, "Oh! The hands are back!" You open and close your fingers, twirl your hands, and bite your fingers.
We've decided to introduce you to solid foods. You eat avocado now. Sometimes you eat it with your fingers, sometimes I put some on a spoon and give it to you. You eat the avocado and chew on the spoon and smile. It's crazy we're starting this phase of life already. I'm hoping you don't eat me out of house and home within a year because you are a big kid. You're already over 16 pounds. And while you'll cringe at this when you're older, I just have to mention that you grew from 7 to 16 pounds because of my BOOBS. That is so sci-fi.
You still love walks in the stroller and the Johnny Jump Up. You also love the car seat now. Never thought I'd see the day!! One day I had to take a friend to the airport during your nap time and instead of screaming the whole way, you quietly played with a toy until you fell asleep. I will probably never forget that day.
The other day, you laughed. Abraham, it was the most incredible sound I've ever heard. Your father was bouncing a toy on your chest and as clear as day, you giggled. We laughed and screamed. Your daddy exclaimed, "That's the best noise in the world!" I think all of our hysteria frightened you a little bit because you haven't laughed audibly since then. But that's ok. That one laugh will get me through the next month. It was that good.
This month we are starting swim classes. I'm also going to start going to a gym that has daycare. That's right. I'm leaving you with people I don't know while I run on a treadmill or take a yoga class. I'm pretty scared, but I know that you are going to be fine and that the folks running the daycare are going to LOVE you. Everyone does. We are also going on an airplane for the first time to see where I used to live and re-introduce you to your Aunt C and Uncle J. You'll also get to see your twin cousins and a bunch of other people who already really like you. I hope that you are a baby that likes to travel, because we have a lot of plans this summer!
Six months ago the month of "March" sounded like the year 2022. I am so happy that the first six months of your life are over (they were very hard but very worth it), and I can't wait to watch you change and grow through the next six. I love you more than words can say.
Love,
Mom