Erin Loves Brad: Letter to my Little Lily: 6 Months

My sweet, sweet Lily,

Six months. It has FLOWN. I simultaneously cannot believe that it has been so long and yet cannot think of life without you in it. I know I write this to you every month, but you bring us so much joy. Your sweet spirit, your happy HAPPY disposition, and your laid-back and peaceful nature is the biggest blessing to us.

This month, you discovered your hand (on Poppy's birthday!). It's absolutely hilarious to watch you going about your day and then, all of a sudden, you see it. A hand! You must stop everything and just watch it move, as if by magic, in front of your face. I'd really like a video of it, but it's hard to catch you doing "Lily" things without you being distracted by my phone.

Your old man face.

You've also been rolling. As in, if you see something you want, you roll to it. You're pretty sneaky about it, too; I can look away for just a minute and you've rolled 4 feet away from where I left you. I'm going to have to keep my eye on you, it seems.

A couple of helpful things that you've started doing: putting your own paci in your mouth and alerting us to a dirty diaper. I'm a bit slow catching on, but if you are consistently loud and cannot be calmed by your paci, it is almost always because you need a new diaper. You'd think it would be the first thing I'd check, but alas. Maybe I'll learn one day.

We started letting you sit in the Bumbo in the middle of the dining room table while we eat. You used to sit in your little swing on the floor while we ate, but you decided that you weren't able to be as much a part of the action as you'd like. So, we started to let you literally sit in the middle of the table, and it did the trick. You've also been trying some solids! So far, you've had banana on October 8 (the first food you successfully ate) and carrot. You've been pretty happy with real food so far, and I've got plans to keep trucking with food introductions.

Speaking of eating, you'll put absolutely anything in your mouth these days. Your hands, our hands, your toes, any toys you can reach...while we were at Universal this month, Claire was holding her roll at lunch, and you reached over, grabbed it, and tried to shove it in your mouth. We barely got it pried out of your fingers. Claire was so flabbergasted, she couldn't even talk for 3 seconds!

Oh, we've also had to start double swaddling you. That's right: double. swaddle. You can't seem to stay asleep if you're not swaddled (you keep fidgeting in your sleep and knocking out your paci), but you're also getting too big for your swaddle, you stinker. So, I got creative and made a baby straight jacket. It works, too! And is a way better idea than Daddy's; he wanted to use ratchet straps. I just have no idea how long we'll be swaddling you...maybe we'll stop before college. Maybe.

You don't necessarily love the double swaddle, but you resign yourself to it.

You've started going to nursery at church and are doing well with it so far. We haven't taken you in during service yet (partially because I still need to feed you partway through and partially because Daddy likes having you in there), but you go during Sunday school. We're easing into it-- more for us than you, I think.

"I'm serious, Mom."

"Just kidding. I'm too jolly to be serious."

A very endearing little thing you've started this past month has been stroking faces. It's the sweetest thing. I've been extra careful to keep your fingernails trimmed (my LEAST favorite job) so that you don't accidentally claw someone while you're being so sweet. (you also like to touch and pull hair, which is a little less adorable) You've also started sticking YOUR hand in MY mouth while I'm feeding you. It's weird and funny all at the same time.

Your new noise this month is a purring-type sound. It's SO CUTE. I cannot handle it. I also cannot catch it on video. WHY, Lily? I want to remember it forever, and you are not helping. You make that sound often, and at one of the restaurants in Universal, you made that noise just as a waiter passed by. He doubled back to verify that it was actually you who had made the noise and then laughed out loud. His laughing made you laugh, and then we all did.

Matching Daddy in Boston College gear.

Baths. You love them. We've started putting you on your bath flower in the back of the tub while Claire is getting a bath, and you have the best time.

One of my favorite things that has developed this past month is that you've found a favorite song: James Taylor's "Sweet Baby James." Your face lights up when you hear it, and it has actual calming powers. The very best part is that Claire will sing it to you when you're upset, and you calm down. I love watching her sing it to you. I hope you always love it.