How the Sixth Month Went

Dear Zachary,

Wow, I can't believe we've had you for half a year! If we had purchased and paid for you using PayPal, we would now no longer be able to return you. Which is good, because that thought gets a little too tempting when it's 4:30 in the morning and you're up for the fourth time. Oh wait, we didn't pay for you with PayPal, so that's irrelevant. Is it wrong to joke about wanting to return a baby? I hope not, but in case it is, let me reassure you that we would never do so. You are getting to be such a little personality; we can no longer imagine what our lives would be like without you.

We recently started checking out new churches in hopes of finding more new parent community, and one of the churches we visited has an awesome nursery where we can leave you for all of service. I'd gotten so used to having you with us all the time that it almost felt weird to worship and listen to a sermon without bouncing you on our laps or walking you around the back of the sanctuary. It was like Ricky Bobby in Talladega Nights: "I'm not sure what to do with my hands."

It's funny how quickly you've insinuated yourself into our lives and changed how we think about everything. We never used to pay attention to whether churches had good kids' programs, but now it's at the top of our list of must-haves. I used to vaguely kind of try to buy organic produce, but now I've got the dirty dozen infographic saved on my phone in preparation for when you start solids. I used to daydream about what costumes I could sew for myself, but now I make plans for all the fun cosplay I can do with you before you're too old to think that dressing up with Mommy is cool. As Jonathan Coulton sang, you ruined everything in the nicest way. I never used to think that song was so great, but now I understand.

love,
Mommy

Likes:

• Rolling over. You've been able to roll for a couple months now, but you used to only do so in the morning when you were feeling especially happy and energetic (and nobody was watching). Now, you do so within about five seconds every time we set you down.
• According to your babysitter at school, the number three and classical piano music. We are so blessed that the lady who watches you is committed to making your school experience as rich as possible; she sings to you and has you listen to all sorts of different composers and instruments, and she reports back to me about what your favorites are. 
• Grabbing yourself down there. It was only a matter of time, I was told by other mamas of boys. Well, it's happened, and bath time and diaper changing time are now exploration time as well. 
• Cold teethers. We got some teething rings for you that can be refrigerated, and you love chomping down on them. Once they come to room temperature, though, they are much less interesting. 

Warm teether discarded in favor of toes. 

Dislikes:

• Sleeping on your tummy. This is a problem, since as soon as we put you in your crib, you flip over. It's really too bad you don't listen to reason, because I've explained to you several times that if you don't like sleeping on your tummy, maybe you shouldn't flip over when I put you down. Anyway, this has made sleep training much more difficult. 
• Speaking of sleep training, sleep training. You are not a fan of waiting until the three hour mark to eat at night, you are not a fan of sleeping in your own crib instead of snuggled up next to mommy, you are not a fan of being put down awake, and you are not a fan of timed checks. I'm sorry, son, but it needs to happen. Sleep is too beautiful and necessary of a thing for us to put off teaching you about it any longer. Also your mommy is about to fall over from exhaustion.
• Having things put on you. This includes diapers and clothes. You were never really a fan of putting clothes on post-bath, but diaper changes used to be okay. Well, no longer. Ever since you developed the ability to scoot around by arching your back and pushing with your legs, you've been practicing this move by scooting away when we try to put on your diaper and clothes. As your 嫲嫲 likes to say, you need to move to somewhere in Africa where it's acceptable to wander around naked. 

Your favorite time of day: post-bath, pre-pajama.

New this month: 

• Arching your back and scooting around. As mentioned above, this is a new mode of transportation for you. We can no longer put you down and expect to find you in the same place. Just a sneak preview of when you start crawling, I guess. Sigh, I guess I should start baby proofing the house... 

Check out that neck strength! I can fit my arm under you with room to spare when you do this. 

This is a common occurrence these days: you have scooted all the way off of the blanket, then you see something worth investigating, like the octopus doorstop, so you flip to your side and start nomming away.

One time you scooted off your blanket and traveled in a U and ended up like this.

• Your first cold. Sad milestone, but milestone nonetheless. Thankfully it was a fairly minor cold that manifested as two days of sneezing, congestion, and runny nose. Still, it was miserable for all concerned: you, because it was hard to eat when stuffed up, and us, because we had to listen to your sad snuffling. 
• Noticing and attempting to interact with your big brother. You didn't use to pay any particular attention to Walnut, but now you actively track him when he walks by, and if he's close enough, you'll reach out your hand and try to grab his fur. Just last week, when he walked up to sniff you, you actually gave him a huge smile! 

• Seeing something you want and going for it, aka the beginnings of object permanence. In the last couple of days, you've suddenly noticed that Daddy uses an orange fish-thing to water you during bath time, and when he put it down in the water, you deliberately sat up and tried to grab it. You got upset when we tried to sit you back (because we didn't want you to face plant into the the water and drown!) and kept trying to struggle toward the fish. When we took you out of the bath, you cried until we gave you the fish to chew on. Now, the first thing you do when you get into the bath tub is try to find the fish. I'm slightly proud, but slightly annoyed, because now bath time is an ordeal. 



I can no longer take lobster comparison pictures with you lying nicely next to it. You see it there beside you, decide it's worth investigating, and then roll over to try tasting it. 

• Having preferences. Based on amount of smiling and time spent actually paying attention to the book, you seem to like the Pajama Time book the most of all the Sandra Boynton books, which is ironic since you 1) hate putting on pajamas, and 2) hate bedtime. But you really like the "Jamma jamma jamma jamma P! J!" chant.