Dear Henry,
Today is your half birthday. That means you are 6 months old. You've been in this world for 6 whole months!
It feels like it was yesterday when Daddy and Momma calmly walked into the hospital and "checked in" with the doctors and nurses, who were all super efficient in making sure we met you as soon as we could that morning. We knew which day you were going to be born - 7 March - because Dr Baber and Daddy and Momma made plans for us to meet you that day. And you were perfect, right from the moment we first laid eyes on you.
In the past 6 months, you've grown from an adorable blob who didn't do very much, to an adorable blob who is engaging, interacting, and laughing with us. Your big brother calls you an "adorable blob", because you are. Sean can't wait till you can crawl and walk and move about a bit, so that he can show you how to get up to all sorts of mischief.
You have a very good appetite, drinking lots of milk, and as of a week ago, you have also started eating solids. It took a few weeks of experimenting, but you finally started to like the baby cereal, and you now wolf down your meals without blinking. You tried pear puree today. The look on your face suggested you didn't enjoy it.
You can sit up by yourself now, for short periods of time, without being propped up. You like sitting up and looking around. You like sitting up so much that when you are lying down, you try to sit up by yourself, but you only manage to do stomach crunches. But the look on your face when you are trying to sit up is priceless. Such a look of concentration.
You can roll from your tummy to your back, but you haven't yet learned to roll from your back to your tummy, at least, not consistently. You like to grab hold of something to help you roll from your back to your tummy, and sometimes, we see you throw your legs up in the air and drop them to the side, in hope that this momentum will get you onto your tummy. You haven't quite got the hang of that yet, but give it time. We're sure you will soon get the hang of it.
Although you can't roll, you can certainly still move about! You seem to be crawling, on your back! Scouching around on the floor, you can move quite quickly, and quite stelthily! We can't really leave you on the sheepskin rug and expect you to still be there 5 minutes later.
You haven't grown any teeth yet, but we can see 2 little nubs in the bottom gum. We're sure those little toothy pegs will come through soon.
You are such a happy baby and you love to smile and laugh, all the time. You light up when you see Daddy, but you positively beam when you see Momma. And you love seeing Sean do funny things. Your laughter is the best - it makes us laugh too!
You are a very gorgeous young man, who is often mistaken for a girl. So many people think you are a girl, and tell us in so many words. Some people refuse to believe you're a boy, and even go so far as to ask us if we were sure that you are a boy. Your big saucer eyes, fair complexion and your little curls might have something to do with everyone thinking you're a girl. But we know you're a boy, and we correct people when they are mistaken.
You are growing bigger and stronger every day. In the past week, you've learned to splash in the bath with your arms and legs. You and Sean often compete to see who can make the bigger splashes in the bath, much to Daddy's bemusement. You are so wriggly and strong, that it's often hard for Daddy to keep a hold of you. Perhaps it's time to start some swimming lessons for you, so that you know what to do if you slip from Daddy's grip.
Henry, we love you so very very much. You made our family whole, and you have given us so much joy over these past 6 months. We look forward to seeing what amazing things you will do as you grow. Sean for one can't wait for you to be bigger, so he can have a proper playmate!
Happy Half Birthday, little man. Daddy and Momma love you so very, very much.
All our love,
Daddy and Momma
