happy half birthday!

my little bunny.  you turned six months old yesterday and woke up, as usual, full of fire and delight.  you are such a fun and happy baby every single day and your strong-willed personality is more and more prevalent.  you and i went to the farmers' market downtown in the morning, which you loved, and we spent the rest of the day hanging at home with your dad and your pups.

developmentally, you are making huge strides.  you're not quite sitting up on your own yet (i think you're capable, you're just way too busy reaching for everything and trying to go places), but you are pulling up onto all fours and really really trying to crawl.  it kind of scares me that you are about to be everywhere - you rock back and forth on your knees and if you could just figure out that you don't need to plant your forehead on the ground, you'd be motoring.  for now, you mostly roll, scoot, or "crawfish" as your dad calls it when you scoot yourself backwards.  you say mama and the ba sound, and i think we've heard a ga and a da in there, but they aren't regulars in your vocabulary yet.  it was amazing because one day you hadn't made a single consonant sound, and the next you were babbling all over the place.  you laugh a lot more now, especially in anticipation of being tickled or smothered with kisses.  you love most people, though sometimes you like to study a new person for a few seconds before you decide to light up with your huge grin.  you still don't have any teeth, but i don't mind that one bit.  your spit up is less and less every day, even though it's still present.  i would almost put you on a parallel with "normal" spits at this point.  you love to rip hair out of the pets' backs, and you and etta seem to have a special bond.

you sleep 10-12 hours at night and that makes us exceedingly happy.  my favorite time of day is getting you from a nap or in the morning when you're just hanging out talking and squeaking in your crib.  there is very little that makes you upset and you hardly cry at all for any length of time (except when we have to re-train you to sleep after traveling.  yuck.).  you love being outside.  you LOVE food (truly your mother's child) and have tried: avocado, pear, banana, mango, carrot, blueberries, oatmeal cereal, butternut squash, and sweet potato.  you think drinking water from a cup is the coolest thing ever, and you stick your whole tongue in there to try to lap it up.

you are still super busy all the time and in constant motion, even in sleep.  you make the circuit in your crib, and are forever kicking your legs and waving your arms around.  you have officially lost your ear beard, and even though i am glad for your sake that you're not destined to have an ear beard for life, i do miss those soft hairs and how little you were.

emme kay, you are truly a joy every moment.  i had no idea being a mother could be this delightful and rewarding - that just seeing you drift off to sleep or reach to grab stuff would be the greatest pleasure of my heart.  thank you for being you.