Six months old!

(yesterday, but whatever - I did take the picture yesterday, so I think it counts)

I'm not one of those people who go around saying "time flies" or "it feels like just yesterday," or any other cliche. And, truthfully, I don't feel that way about the last six months. It is amazing to me that we've had Natalie for six months, that she's our six month-old baby and we're her six month-old parents. But I remember all of those difficult first feedings and challenging nights and screaming car trips and baths full of yelling. Those were loooong, dude. But I also remember the first smile and the first laugh and the first peaceful bath and all the morning snuggles. So six months feels about right, I guess.And it is so right.
Natalie is really developing into a little person. An adorable little person, of course. This month brought rolling over. It also brought food beyond baby cereal: delicata squash and zucchini. Surprisingly, Natalie liked both of those; I tasted the steamed, pureed zucchini, and I did not think we'd have success there.Natalie is also starting to express preferences in other areas. She'll cry/fuss if she's bored, wants a new activity, or wants something she can't reach. So I guess this will only last for the next 18 years. Or something. Along with our growing understanding of Natalie's preferences comes, perhaps, some projection on our part about what is her "favorite" rattle/song/book/etc. I don't know that the rattle below is her true favorite (whatever that means for a six month-old, anyway) but she does enjoy kitten-tonguing it. And if you hold it out to her she really just shoots her arm right out and takes it from you, just like a real, coordinated person!Another major innovation is this month is that Natalie has started spending nights and naps in her own room! This took some work - and some support from our good friends - but we're really making progress in this area. I don't have a picture to illustrate this (dear readers, I love you, but not that much!). However, one thing that has really, really made this process easier on us has been the video baby monitor. I understand there was a time before video baby monitors, and even before baby monitors at all, but, heck, I don't want to live in that time! It is so reassuring it is to be able to see her when she cries in order to determine if something is a sleep noise or the start of a problem noise. The first night she slept in her room, she slept fine, but I spent the night squinting at the little TV screen every 25 minutes. That behavior on my part has since passed.(reading a story in the rocking chair in her room)

Natalie's other big milestone this month has been her teeth. She's getting her two front bottom teeth. And they are SHARP! They haven't seemed to bother her that much, although they are definitely bothering me during nursing. I spent a few days wondering if she was a vampire, a wolverine, or a chupacabra. One tearful call to the hospital lactation consultant later, I now have a few new strategies and things are going a bit better.(you'll have to imagine the fangs. I tried to get a picture, but the model was uncooperative. You know how tempermental the talent can be)

Last, this month marked the end of Mike's lovely, long paternity leave (coincidentally, and thankfully, also the near-total recovery of my arm). On the two days he doesn't teach, he usually stays until Natalie goes down for her first nap (around 8:15am, after a wake-up at 6am); and on the days he does teach, he's usually home by 4pm. So we're still getting plenty of Daddy time!