Dear Claire: 6-Month Update

(I've been writing monthly updates to my daughter, Claire, documenting all the changes that come with the passing weeks. You can catch up on past letters here.)

Dear Claire,

Well, dear, you are six months. Six months! I can barely believe we've made it this far. I remember only a couple of months ago, it felt impossible that time would ever take us to this mark. But here we are. And I think we are both loving life more now than ever!

Right now, the word I use to describe you the most is "wild." But in a good, larger-than-life, ball-of-energy, full-of-smiles way. You are wild and vivacious and happy and excited about every. single. thing. I named you "Claire," because I liked the meaning behind it—"bright." And you truly are bright and radiate so much joy and happiness. You're a ball of sunshine who loves everyone and pretty much everything. It could not have been a more fitting name.

I think you're showing yourself to be quite the extrovert—which is so different from myself and your dad. We both are introverts who love to stay at home and hang out, reading books or putzing around on our own. But you love going out and meeting new people. You try to make eye contact with everyone you meet and smile wildly at them when you finally do—I won't be surprised one bit if you run for class president someday or end up on a stage filled with applause.

Speaking of being on a stage, you also have really become vocal lately. Like loud. All the time. You love being bounced so that you can play with sounds and hear them vibrate. You learned how to shriek and squeal so that people come running because we think you're in pain—but really you're just bored or wanting extra attention. You keep us all on our toes!

Right now, your new loves include paper (magazines have become your favorite toy!) and bouncing (we have consequently bought you a doorway jumper and a stationary jumparoo, both of which you get a kick out of!). You still love putting anything and everything in your mouth, but haven't had any teeth break through yet. You also are starting to get into animals and get a crazy, wild-eyed look of delight when you see any come nearby. So much so that I think your grandparents' pets are what finally motivated you to learn to crawl; the first time I saw you actually crawl (rather than do a modified version of "the worm" to move around) was when you saw my parents' dog and wanted to try to catch him! This just began this week so right now you're still feeling it out, but I know you'll be whizzing around in no time!

We've also started letting you try new foods. You've tried a lot here and there in bits and pieces, but mostly we've introduced you to bananas, apples, pears, plums, green beans, sweet potatoes, watermelon, avocado, barley and rice cereals. So far you haven't really liked the veggies (not even the sweet potatoes!), but we'll keep trying. (Because I can't believe a child of mine doesn't like sweet potatoes, deep down!)

Not surprisingly, thanks to all those new nutrients and nourishment, you continue to grow like a weed, busting out of clothes and growing that head-of-hair of yours like nobody's business. And growing a larger-than-life personality to boot. That's been the most fun for me, watching you come to life and sparkle and shine in such beautiful, wonderful, inspiring (and, let's be honest, sometimes exhausting!) ways. Here's to another month ahead of us!

Love,
Mom

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