Monday, April 12, 2010

6 months

Where to start?  I feel like it's been months since my last post - not just one month.  In the past month, Aggie has really blossomed.  I think it's the combination of her age and the developmental growth she's undergoing (nature) and her new day care (nurture).  Her day care plays no small role - they are fantastic.  When I drop her off in the morning, the older kids (ages 3 to 5ish) generally say "Hi, Aggie!"  She always has a great big smile for the ladies in the baby room.  She's a social girl getting her full daily dose of socialization and we're all the better for it.




She can now sit up all by herself.  She loves to eat solids, and prefers vegetables - squash is her fave - and would rather not eat fruit (so the opposite of me).  She really enjoys being outside, even if it is cold or windy, she doesn't fuss.  She made her first trip to the coast - Neskowin, Oregon - and saw but didn't get to touch the ocean.

Today, Aggie and I did our first full-on playing.  In the past, she's been too fragile, or I've worried she was too fragile, but today we bounced and rocked and hugged and giggled - it was so wonderful.  I really feel like we're becoming pals and becoming mother and daughter.

I feel like I've lost my words - that I can't put into written language what I'm feeling and experiencing.  Part of that is 'baby brain.'  I get half way through a sentence and completely forget my train of thought.  Words evaporate just as I'm about to utter them, or stumble and bump out my mouth.  This used to happen on occasion, but now it happens with embarrassingly regularity.  A co-worker said she's finally coming out of her baby fog - 7 years after her last child was born.  Though, she has three children - perhaps it won't take me quite as long.

Another part is the continued sleep deprivation.  Aggie still wakes up a couple times a night to eat - 6 oz. or more - and though she goes to sleep right after eating, it's still sleep cycle jarring.

A third part is the love.  For me, loving a child is very different than anyone else I've ever loved, including pets.  I have loved a child before - Christopher, a family friend's son, who was born when I was 10.  So, it's not that Aggie is my child, but that she is a child.  Loving infants - you see how beneficial love is, how it is as vital as food and sleep.  And you feel it, because they return it, but not deliberately - they are just sharing what they are receiving.  

Pic of the month (with cute-pie, Ailie):