Loopeeeee: Marlo's 6 Month Letter

Dear Marlo,

Today you are Six Months Old. Wow it has gone by fast. Even with the first five weeks feeling like a year long.

I feel like we have finally hit our groove. I have come to accept that I am just not going to get as much done in a day as I had hoped. You are a cat napper that will often only have two 20 minute naps in a day. For the first three months you were home we could not get you to nap on your own. You would only nap in my arms you wouldn't even sleep with daddy. There were some nights I psychically couldn't hols you any more. My arms and shoulder had not built up the muscles they needed to hold a baby for that many hours in a day. We did get lucky for a while back in December when you were sleeping through the night. This promptly ended the first week of January when you had a growth spurt that was visibly causing you pain. You just cried and cried and ate and ate. It was like you grew six inches over night. There is only a few inches left in your bassinet. It is only a matter of time before you move out of our room and into your crib. I am not sure if I am ready for this big move. It is much easier to just lean over and feed you through out the night and not have to get out of bed.

You are slowly starting to sleep a bit longer and not needing to eat as much through out the night. you have also transitioned to falling asleep lying down and not in any ones arms. At night we have a wrap that velcros closed and it is like a baby straight jacket. You had such a hard time sleeping due to your little arms swinging and causing you to hit yourself and wake up. At first I thought it was cruel to bind you in only to discover you really like it. You will not go to bed at night unless you are in it. I am not sure what we are going to do when you out grow it.

You never managed to latch back on to breast feeding and I have been pumping ever since. I have struggled with this many times and have shed several tears over it. I was so determined to breast feed you. I had a great support system of women that helped me in the process and even had Rachael sharing Laura's milk with you. Your little belly struggled with the formula so much in the early days. Now four months later you are on my milk and regular formula, you would have never known we had such a rocky road getting you home. you are an average sized baby as of your last doctor's appointment. If I had to guess I would say you are above average in weight now.

You have had rice cereal a few times with nonna and gobble it up. You are not nearly as interested in the cereal when I am feeding you. I gave you some carrot soup yesterday and you made an amazing squinty face and stuck your tongue out all three times. It was pretty funny. We sit you in your booster seat at every meal and let you play with a spoon. You love being at the table with us and you are getting really good at putting the spoon in your mouth. Oh and you have learned how to drop things onto the floor too. It is a pretty fun game.

I have chose to cloth diaper you unlike Otis. The whole process has been pretty easy so far. I have managed to get your dad on board too. It only took a few months. He has realized how much more cost effective cloth diapering is. I won't lie we do cheat and use disposables at night. Cheating works out great when you poop first thing in the morning. Your poop kept us on our toes those first five weeks. I am so happy you are as regular as can be. The first night when we brought you home from the hospital you screamed bloody murder every time we needed to change your diaper. Now you love getting your diaper changed. Sometimes when you are loosing your mind we put you down on your change table and you settle right down. You unlike your brother do not like to have a dirty bum.

You love to gibber jabber and your lips are starting to progress through different letters. When you get really mad you yell "MAaaaaa" which is much better then a month or so ago when you would screech the most ear piercing noise you could imagine. There were times I was sure my ears were bleeding and the windows had cracked. Grunting is a favorite pass time for now. You sound like a wookie sometimes.

Your legs and arms flap and kick at lightning speed. If babies could fly you would take off. It wasn't until the past month or so that you have had any interest in putting weight on her legs. You are not a big fan of tummy time the anger of being on your tummy has led you to flip over onto your back. You arch your body to flip over from back to front but you just can't finish pushing your self over. I don't think you really want to as that would mean you are then on your tummy.

You can control your hands for the most part. You are able to pick some things up and sometimes hold your bottle for a short time. It is fun watching you focus on using your limbs. You are very focused it took you all last week to work on getting your toes in your mouth. Your were so proud of your accomplishment. You are also a very serious baby. You wear a very serous frown on you face, especially if you are meeting some one new.

You are in love with your brother. You whole face lights up when he walks into a room. He is the only one that can make you laugh. We can make you giggle, but he can make you laugh from deep down in your belly. It is amazing to watch. There is this bond that you two have. I look forward to watching it grow. It is only a matter of time before your really annoy him though. I assume it will start when you begin to travel around the house and play with his toys. Today he told your dad and I that when you get older and you need little girls toys he would share his money from his money bowl to buy you some.

I am having a blast knitting cloths for you. There are just so many cute patterns out there. I finish one and move right onto the next. It is amazing how many things you have already grown out of. Every time I do a load of you laundry several items never make it back into the dresser because they are to small. You are a very lucky girls and have more clothes then one little girl needs. Your closet is full of different size cloths some will fit you when you are three.

We have come up with many pet names for you: