Matthew is half a year old already! Exactly 6 months and 22 minutes ago, he was born. And how very many important things have happened since then! And we’ll probably forget most of them. (Well, now we won’t, since I’m writing them down.)
When Matt was born, after I finished saying, “I love this baby. I love him so much,” (sob sob sob) I asked, “What’s wrong with his feet? Are they okay?” Everyone else was like, “Um, what are you talking about? They’re perfect.” Me: “But…they’re so big! Are they supposed to be that big? I thought babies were supposed to have tiny feet.”
And he had no eyelashes or eyebrows when he was born. It was the coolest thing seeing those tiny little eyelashes start growing. (The eyebrows, well, I suspect he may be growing a unibrow. That’s slightly less wonder-filled.)
And then we just watched and waited for new things every day, and they were so exciting! Typical conversation around our house:
Me: Did you hear that noise? Matthew made a noise! And it wasn’t crying!
Jeff: I know! That’s so great.
Me: It was like a little squeak. So cute!
Jeff: I know it.
And then one day he stopped scratching his face as newborns are prone to do. And one day he seemed to recognize us, or at least be able to differentiate us from a light fixture.
And speaking of light fixtures, when Matthew was a tiny baby, he had a great friendship with the ugly lights above our fireplace. Even when they weren’t on, he’d look at them in wonder and make little noises like he was talking to them. We joked about him taking orders from tiny aliens in the lights that we couldn’t see with our grown-up eyes. (Seriously, though, his affinity for these lights seemed a little creepy for a while there. But funny.)
He liked lights like most babies do, but the window in our living room was his particular favorite. Even if he was closer to the kitchen and the brighter windows, for a while he’d always look toward the living room window.
Then it seemed like Matt made his hands into tiny fists all the time for a couple months. We waited and waited for him to realize that he could do things with them. And then he did! (Now we call him Mr. Grabby Hands. The other day he sideswiped me and took a contact out of my eye. Yeesh.) Once he realized his hands were his, he stared at them for minutes uninterrupted. He particularly liked his index fingers; he’d bend and unbend his index fingers and look at them with a look usually reserved for people who have smoked way too much pot.
One day he figured out how to put his hands together, and man, Jeff and I were unreasonably excited about that astounding feat of coordination.
And the feet were next. Once he discovered that big toe, it was all over. He had a phase of putting his feet in his mouth at every opportunity. Imagine his surprise when he stuck his big toe in his mouth one day and the second toe went up his nose! He gave me quite the look of consternation. Apparently he didn’t appreciate my laughter.
Speaking of laughter, one time in church when Matt was only a couple weeks old, he chose his moment wisely; during communion after the hymn had ended and everything was silent, he suddenly had to fill his diaper, oh so loudly, and three rows in the back erupted in uncontrollable giggling. We were so proud. Or not.
So yeah, I could go on. But I’ve got work to do. I just can’t believe we’ve had this little guy for half a year already, and we love him more and more every day. I found an award the other day that I got for Outstanding Student in the MPA program, and that accomplishment is nothing compared to getting this little baby to giggle. Who would have guessed?
When Matt was born, after I finished saying, “I love this baby. I love him so much,” (sob sob sob) I asked, “What’s wrong with his feet? Are they okay?” Everyone else was like, “Um, what are you talking about? They’re perfect.” Me: “But…they’re so big! Are they supposed to be that big? I thought babies were supposed to have tiny feet.”
And he had no eyelashes or eyebrows when he was born. It was the coolest thing seeing those tiny little eyelashes start growing. (The eyebrows, well, I suspect he may be growing a unibrow. That’s slightly less wonder-filled.)
And then we just watched and waited for new things every day, and they were so exciting! Typical conversation around our house:
Me: Did you hear that noise? Matthew made a noise! And it wasn’t crying!
Jeff: I know! That’s so great.
Me: It was like a little squeak. So cute!
Jeff: I know it.
And then one day he stopped scratching his face as newborns are prone to do. And one day he seemed to recognize us, or at least be able to differentiate us from a light fixture.
And speaking of light fixtures, when Matthew was a tiny baby, he had a great friendship with the ugly lights above our fireplace. Even when they weren’t on, he’d look at them in wonder and make little noises like he was talking to them. We joked about him taking orders from tiny aliens in the lights that we couldn’t see with our grown-up eyes. (Seriously, though, his affinity for these lights seemed a little creepy for a while there. But funny.)
He liked lights like most babies do, but the window in our living room was his particular favorite. Even if he was closer to the kitchen and the brighter windows, for a while he’d always look toward the living room window.
Then it seemed like Matt made his hands into tiny fists all the time for a couple months. We waited and waited for him to realize that he could do things with them. And then he did! (Now we call him Mr. Grabby Hands. The other day he sideswiped me and took a contact out of my eye. Yeesh.) Once he realized his hands were his, he stared at them for minutes uninterrupted. He particularly liked his index fingers; he’d bend and unbend his index fingers and look at them with a look usually reserved for people who have smoked way too much pot.
One day he figured out how to put his hands together, and man, Jeff and I were unreasonably excited about that astounding feat of coordination.
And the feet were next. Once he discovered that big toe, it was all over. He had a phase of putting his feet in his mouth at every opportunity. Imagine his surprise when he stuck his big toe in his mouth one day and the second toe went up his nose! He gave me quite the look of consternation. Apparently he didn’t appreciate my laughter.
Speaking of laughter, one time in church when Matt was only a couple weeks old, he chose his moment wisely; during communion after the hymn had ended and everything was silent, he suddenly had to fill his diaper, oh so loudly, and three rows in the back erupted in uncontrollable giggling. We were so proud. Or not.
So yeah, I could go on. But I’ve got work to do. I just can’t believe we’ve had this little guy for half a year already, and we love him more and more every day. I found an award the other day that I got for Outstanding Student in the MPA program, and that accomplishment is nothing compared to getting this little baby to giggle. Who would have guessed?
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