we could never have prepared for this...

hello my love,

you just turned 7 months old. wow! oh my love, i thank God for you each day. your daddy and i love you and you make us so proud. you wake up each morning with a smile. you sit up all on your own, roll over from back to tummy (sometimes this is a problem because when you roll over in your crib, you get stuck on your belly and get frustrated) and sometimes tummy to back. you spend 90% of your day smiling. you squeal and scream with joy. you play with your favorite dog, monster truck. you try to pet the cat and she has warmed up to you. you also get the biggest smile on your face after a long day at work and daddy walks in the house. you truly do light up when you see him. it blesses my soul to see how much you delight in your father. you two have so much mutual love for one another. it's absolutely precious.

on your 6 month "birthday", we gave you your first solid food! avocado! you really enjoyed it. okay, well... you weren't quite sure at first. you spit it out and i think we got more all over your face and chest rather than in your mouth and tummy. but the next day, i smashed up some avocado and you chowed down! we tried green beans a week later and you scarfed that down! so far, i think green beans are your favorite. you also like spinach. however, you really don't like it reheated from the freezer. daddy says he doesn't blame you. hehe! funnily enough, you do not like sweet potato or banana. i thought for sure you'd like those two foods because they are on the sweeter side. nope. i think it's great that you love the green foods! you also have had cantaloupe and watermelon, which you liked as well. you just really enjoy eating! and i am so glad to give you healthy and good foods that will help you grow big and strong.

speaking of growing: at 6 months old you weighed 17.7 pounds and were 28 inches tall. you are definitely bigger now! you were the average weight of a 6 month old child and in the 95th percentile for height. you're my lean and tall young man. simply perfect!

you have had your first trip to pennsylvania to visit a group of your daddy's friends. you also had your first sleep away from home at auntie neva's house. both of those trips were interesting. in pennsylvania, you decided that you were going to stay awake until 10:30 at night! thankfully, you slept through the night once we got home and stayed on your schedule the following day. when we stayed at auntie neeves, you went to bed kinda late, but you definitely did great then too. what an exciting time! you're getting to do so many things! hooray!

you have a tooth! as of this week - you popped your first tooth. please, do me a solid and stop biting me. thankfully, you don't bite me often. but every now and then, you like to test out your new tooth while nursing on mommy's breast. can we just say... OWWWWW! but hooray! you have a tooth. it also looks like the tooth next to it will pop through soon too. once it comes up a little more, i'll be able to get a better picture of it. i must say... it is difficult to picture you're amazing smile full of teeth. and i am reminded that you are growing up into a big boy and its bittersweet. i love you so much at this age and at every age you've been so far. please, just don't grow up too fast.

mother's day and father's day have past and having you there in our arms on those days made the days so very special. granted, daddy is not a huge fan of holidays, it was still special. in the past years, mother's day and father's day were hard because we were missing a person in our life, one that we never got to meet. you. and now, you're here and we are so excited that we have you. our lives feel so much more complete with you in it. thank you for being our little boy. thank you God for giving us such an incredible son!

i apologize for taking such a long time to write. i've just been spending most of my time with you and when i'm not, i am pretty exhausted and ready to just crash. but its a good exhaustion. you're the absolute best reason to be tired. thank you for being here and making me tired.

for now i must go. but i love you and daddy does too. we are so very happy to know you and to have you be a huge part of our lives. i love you.

love,
mommy.