Half a Year

Kate is six-months old today! I can't believe it has been half a year already. It seems to have flown by, and yet I barely remember what life was like before she was born! Life is so much busier, and yet so much more joyful and meaningful.



We'll take her six month Marcel photo tonight, and find out her stats at the doctor tomorrow, but for now, let me share what our little Katemonster is up to these days:

Kate has become a total wiggle-worm on the changing table, to the extent it often takes two people to hold her down during a change. It's like wrestling an alligator, if alligators wore jumpers with tiny buttons.

She hated being on her tummy until she learned to roll over herself (around four months) and now, she seems to prefer it, flipping over the moment we lay her down. That's how you go places, she's learned! I just don't want her to "go" over the edge of the dresser!

Kate loves her paci, and though we have at least six of the style she currently uses, they often get lost--scattered around the house or fallen behind the crib, where we have to lay flat on our bellies and/or use a yard stick to retrieve them. Mom gave us a Bella Tunno Binky Strap a few weeks ago, and it's very handy for day care and at night (solving the aforementioned behind-the-crib problem, except when I have to change her leaked-upon jammies in the middle of the night and pop the paci in her mouth but forget to attach the clip to her fresh jammies so the paci AND the strap end up lost behind the crib for me to retrieve as I'm running out the door, which certainly did NOT happen to me this morning. :0)

The strap also keeps the paci close enough for Kate to grab and put back in her mouth if it falls out. Unfortunately, she can't seem to figure out which end of the paci goes in the mouth, so she'll end up nomming on the side of the thing.

She's recently decided she loves paper--crinkling it, grabbing it, and putting it in her mouth. She destroyed my handout in Sunday school the other day, making a lot of noise in the process, before our accompanist handed her a small maraca she keeps on her keychain. Here she is attempting to destroy the church's insurance documents. Fabulous!

She has also recently become fascinated with the cat, always wanting to reach out and pet MowMow, grab her tail, eat her paw, etc. If Charlotte so much as walks by, Kate is rapt with attention. Once Kate is really on the move, I imagine there will be some mad chases going on, and once Charlotte learns how to leap over them, baby gates will be her best friend.

In the past two weeks, Kate moved up to size "1-2" diapers, and started day care, solid foods, and creeping. She's just starting to wear some 6-9 month clothes, but plenty of 3-6 month things still fit her and I only just retired some 0-3 month things. She's kind of petite, I guess, but we're always blown away by her strength. She's a strong and smart little girl. Her coordination and dexterity are increasing by leaps and bounds.

When she was really small, I wanted her to stay my tiny baby forever. Every new stage, however, brings delights of its own. The next half year is going to bring so many more changes, and I relish every moment.