Dear Hadley,
Today you turn six months old. Happy half birthday! It’s hard to believe it has already been half a year. Time just goes by so fast. You are such an amazing child and you make each day more enjoyable simply with your presence. It’s like you radiate happiness. Just yesterday we were driving in the car and Ana was making faces at you and you were giggling hysterically. Your dad and I exchanged a smile and I said I was pretty sure that was the most amazing sound I have ever heard.

You are truly aware of the world around you now. This has its advantages… and its disadvantages. You are very easily distracted, so it’s harder to nurse you. We often have to be alone in a quiet room before you give up and realize there isn’t anything more important going on and finally settle down to eat. At the same time, you are easily distractible. If you happen to get upset, we can calm you down pretty quickly by handing you a toy or an object you haven’t seen before.

When noticing things around you, you are particularly keen on things of mine. Anything in my hands you instantly try to grab: my phone, my keys, my water bottle. You name it. I assume you want to know what is so interesting about it that I have hand selected it and you immediately try to steal it to figure it out. You are also very fond of my jewelry especially the black rings. You grab, twist, and pull on my necklaces and on several occasions I have caught you turning yourself into a pretzel trying to chew on my watch.

But putting everything in your mouth is an important developmental milestone. You are figuring out the way things taste and feel, and at the same time you are probably getting some relief from the discomfort of teething. You don’t have any visible teeth yet, but you chomp down on just about anything you can get your chubby little hands on, so I am sure it’s only a matter of time!

Speaking of putting everything in your mouth, in the last few days you finally accomplished a task that you have been aspiring to achieve for weeks: you got your foot in your mouth. As any mothers of a well-rounded baby knows, this is no small feat (Ha! I almost just wrote “feet!”)! You noticed your tootsies a couple weeks ago and ever since then you have been reaching for them, grabbing and watching them just slip away. But once you got a good grip and were finally able to make contact with your mouth you looked at me like, “Did you know I could do this?!” Yes, yes I did. Chew on, baby girl.

Your interests do go beyond what you can put in your mouth. You have a very obvious appreciation for music. It soothes you when nothing else can. When I am in the middle of my Stroller Strides class and you are D-O-N-E being in the stroller, I can often calm you down by singing you a lullaby. Ana is aware of this as well and I have found her making up songs for you when you are fussy or upset. In fact, the other day she decided to share the music on her iPhone with you and let you wear her headphones for awhile. You weren’t quite sure what was going on, but you liked it!

Spring is desperately trying to arrive in Portland and with it comes glimpses of the sun. But for you, my fair-skinned, blue-eyed baby, this isn’t always the best thing. I hate seeing you flinch away when the sun blinds you, so the other day I picked up a pair of adorable baby sunglasses from this site web. You thought they were hilarious! You even kept them on for quite awhile before you managed to pull them off your face… and promptly decided to chew on them instead.

A couple weeks ago you were sitting on the Boppy on my lap after a feeding and you pushed yourself back in such a way that you ended up hanging upside down. Thinking you just lost control of your balance, I quickly righted you only to have you flip yourself right back into that position. Everything was instantly different and you were delighted in your accomplishment. But who am I to blame you for occasionally wanting a fresh perspective in life?!

I have a handful of friends who all had babies (daughters even!) around the same time you were born and we have finally gotten around to having a few baby play dates recently. Mostly it’s us mamas comparing stories and commiserating about 3am feedings, while you kiddos lay near each other on the floor but you are slowly starting to become more aware of each other. Now you are only staring, smiling, or even squawking at your tiny friends, but before long you are going to be whispering about boys and trying on each others clothes.

Last weekend we drove up to Mt. Hood Skibowl to get in a final day of tubing in the snow. You have been doing so much better entertaining yourself in the car, that we didn’t even hesitate about bringing you along. And I was so happy we did. We bundled you up (though it was such a nice day, we were peeling off the layers before too long!) and let you take in the amazing scenery, the fresh air, and the endless parade of people flying down the mountain on inner tubes. You were laughing at your sister’s giggles and squeals as she rode down the steep hill over and over again. I even set you down in the snow and watched you feel it with your fingertips and saw the delight in your eyes as you explored this new icy sensation.

Oh, Hadley. I love you so much. You are beautiful, intelligent, inquisitive, and loving. I could go on and on listing endless adjectives describing what a wonderful child you are, but the most important thing is that you are mine and I get to cherish every single one of the traits you are and look forward to discovering the ones you will become.

All my love,
Mama

Dear Hadley,
Today you turn five months old. To celebrate the occasion (and the unseasonably sunny weather) I packed up you and your sister and we spent the morning at the Wooden Shoe Tulip Festival in Woodburn. I had an amazing time walking around admiring the stunning rows of my favorite flowers, basking in the warm sun, and enjoying the company of my precious daughters.

While you have always been a pretty happy and content baby, the fact that you can now entertain yourself with toys has made you even happier and more content. We are able to actual get things accomplished while you stare contently at the faces of your toys or chew happily on whatever unsuspecting toy got within your ever expanding reach, occasionally lifting the item to your mouth and coating it entirely in drool.

Speaking of drool, you are constantly covered in it. I do my best to wipe you off, but before I have even had a chance to set down the cloth I dry you with, I look over at you and you stare back at me with a huge drooly smile. Now how am I suppose to be annoyed about the drool when it makes you so happy? So I almost never get to set down the drool cloth anymore. Not being a fan of drooly, messy, or sticky children (your older sister will surely attest to this) I do my best to keep you looking presentable. Besides, who wants to nibble on a soggy baby? And you know how I love to nibble.

But in the grand scheme of things, I have to admit, the drool is FAR better than the puke. You use to be a projectile vomiting queen, but (and I finally feel safe admitting this) it’s been well over a month (maybe even two!) since you have thrown up. I have never been so happy to have a baby outgrow a phase of life. I think your digestive system finally matured enough that you are now able to keep all the food I feed you down. All the better to fatten you up, if you ask me. How else would you stay in the 97th percentile for height and weight and keep up those adorable rolls on your knees. I didn’t even know babies could have rolls on their knees, but you do. And they are simply irresistible.

While your digestion has improved, I’m sorry to say your sleep habits have not. I was really excited about those long stretches of sleep you teased us with, but those seem like a distant memory now. The last week or so (it’s so hard to judge time when you are sleep deprived) you have been getting up about every two hours. All. Night. Long. It’s not your fault. We’ve all been sick and between not being able to breathe properly and spontaneous coughing fits, you’ve had the hardest time sleeping. Not to mention the teething your pediatrician assures me you are experiencing. I know that can’t be fun. So all in all, you’ve been a hot mess when it comes to sleeping. But thankfully you aren’t up for long when you wake in the night, so I am able to quickly comfort you and feed you, then your Daddy wraps you up and rocks you to sleep. Then your father and I crawl back into our bed, asleep before our head even hits the pillow, knowing that in two hours we get to do it all over again.

In this family, we aren’t very good at just sitting around. We like to get out and enjoy all the lovely things Portland has to offer. One of those thing we did recently was the Shamrock Run and it was your very first race. Sure, you rode in the stroller for most of it, but you were there! The best thing about the Shamrock Run is the amazing energy of the race. Everyone is happy, dressed in silly St. Patrick’s Day attire and they don’t even mind the cold, the rain, or that fact that it was day lights savings time and we lost an hour of sleep. It was a lot of fun and hopefully we will be able to make it a family tradition.

While occasionally having two children can be complicated (like helping a preschooler go to the bathroom in a port-a-potty with a baby strapped to your chest) there are times when having a second child is significantly easier. Ana loves to help me with anything and everything that involves you. She doesn’t even mind throwing away your dirty diapers. But she simply loves entertaining you. Whether that be dancing around the room to elicit your precious giggles, serenading you with a song she made up herself, or reading you her favorite book, Ana is happy to step up. Don’t think you are missing anything by having Ana do these things instead of me. She is a much better performer and you clearly prefer her talents to my own. Just to toss out a few more clichés, you have eyes only for her and she thinks you are the bee’s knees.

The other day us girls were walking through the mall and I casually mentioned (mostly as a warning to Ana who is not a fan of “fluffy” creatures) that the Easter Bunny might be at the mall. Instead of growing suspicious and leery, Ana was very eager to take you to meet the Easter Bunny. We originally planned to just walk up and say hello, but both you girls were very happy to see the giant fluffy animal, so we just had to get the picture as well. As you can see, you clearly don’t have a problem with the Fluffies. Yet.

Of all the fun things we do on a daily basis, my favorite thing is walking into your room first thing in the morning, when you have just started to wake up and are babbling to yourself. I love peering over the top of your crib and in that one moment when our eyes meet, a smile–the most beautiful and pure smile I have ever seen–takes over your face and I know you are happy to see me. Just when I thought my love for you couldn’t get any bigger, I wake up and discover that I love you even more.

All my love,
Mama

P.S. I totally almost forgot to mention that you rolled over this month! On March 17th you rolled over for the very first time. You were clearly less than impressed because you waiting until today to do it again. And that’s just fine with me. I think mobility is totally over rated anyway. Can’t you just stay a baby forever?

Dear Hadley,
Today you turn four months old. So many things have happened this month, it seems like you are growing up in leaps and bounds. You have such a defined personality and an array of facial expressions that rival most adults. I’m always trying to guess what you are thinking based on your face and often catch myself imagining the conversations we will have just as soon as you have the ability to vocalize your thoughts with more than just squeaks, squawks, and grunts.

If last month was all about you trying to get your hands to your mouth, this month is all about you chewing on those hands. You have a really unique way of chewing on your hands too: you stick out your thumb and forefinger in opposite directions and bite down. Almost like a tiny little bite guard. And with all that chewing comes lots of drool. Your hands are constantly wet, as is much of your shirt. People keep asking me if you are teething and while I don’t see anything, I’m not taking it off the table just yet. I mean, there is a LOT of chewing and drool.

You have also started playing with toys this month. This delights Ana to no end. She is so excited that she can give you things that provide you with endless entertainment. I find it convenient that we can now keep you distracted in your car seat for a longer period of time. I can also set you down on the play mat you got for Christmas and you will reach for the toys, batting them around and chatter away while I finish chores around the house. I use to have to wait for you to fall asleep to get anything done, but now that you are better at keeping yourself entertained, our house is going to be a much cleaner place to hang out!

A couple weeks ago we had our first outdoor Stroller Strides class of the year. It just happened to be unseasonably cold that day, but since the sun was shining I decided to bundle you girls up and take you for a fun adventure at the park. You did fabulously and managed to sleep through the majority of the class, enjoying your plush, cozy, little bundle of warmth.

You are getting so much stronger and you love to practice sitting up in the Bumbo. You are already trying to sit up on your own and when I lay you on my lap or on the Boppy half the time you try to pull yourself up, so much so that you are almost constantly doing a V-sit! You also love for me to hold your hands and let you stand up on my lap. You like to lean, dip, and sway to get the feel for what your body is capable of doing. It’s only a matter of time until you are able to master those physical abilities and use them to move yourself around!

When it comes to sleep, you have always been pretty great. Sure, you get up in the night, but we get some long stretches in there. For the most part you are asleep by 8:30 or 9pm and sleep for about seven hours or so. Then you wake up for a very brief time and go back to sleep for another three or four hours, waking up for the day around 7:30 or 8am. But we have had numerous days where you slept from 9pm-6:45am or 8:45pm-7:15am and it was AMAZING. (Sure, my boobs weren’t particularly happy, but the rest of me figured it was a fair trade.)

On mornings where Ana is up before you, she waits til she hears you talking in your bed and then I hear her feet pitter patter across the floor and then up to your room. She just loves to be the first person to talk to you each morning. She keeps a stool in your room which she drags over to your crib, climbs up, and peers in at you. She unwraps your swaddle blanket and lets you stretch and smile as you gently wake up. Then she generally sings you a song, tickles your tummy, or just enjoys you until your Daddy or I come in to pick you up out of the crib. It’s so amazing to watch you and Ana together. I can already tell you are going to have an amazing relationship.

We decided we needed to have a little family getaway so we spent this last weekend in Bend. This was your very first trip away from home. In our family we have this little tradition when we go on vacation: the first thing we do when we get to our room (before anyone has a chance to mess it up) is take a picture on the bed. So on Friday night, you got to be a part of your first hotel bed shot.

You adjusted well to sleeping in a strange bed. Most hotels provide a crib (or at the very least, a pack ‘n play) and you adapted quite nicely. You woke up a couple more times than normal, but I think it was because the heater in the room kept kicking on in the night and waking you up. But otherwise everything went smoothly.

Another exciting thing about staying in a hotel is playing in the pool. On our Bend vacation you went swimming for your very first time! It’s pretty special because this was the very same pool where Ana swam for the first time. It’s one of our favorite places to visit, so it’s only appropriate that we have so many wonderful memories and first milestones take place there.

Like most other moms, I spend a lot of time just staring at you. Marveling at the things you do, cherishing the person you are, and pondering who you will become. One day last week while I was looking into your beautiful blue eyes you looked back at me, reached up and rested your tiny hand on my cheek. At that moment you and I made a connection that melted my heart. It was like you were telling me “I know, Mama.” And I don’t want you to ever forget it.

All my love,
Mama