Dear Beau,

You are exactly six months old today. I cannot believe the time has flown by so quickly. It seems like just yesterday I was waiting for you to come out, and then being induced and finally holding you in my arms. You have been a really easy baby for the most part. You sleep well- which truthfully- in all other areas you could be difficult, but if you sleep well, you're a good baby to me. Because that is all I really need to be happy- sleep. But you are good in all the other areas in addition to that. You are a pretty happy little big guy, you smile all the time and it is easy to make you laugh. You are highly alert and love to look around at new things and reach for anything that catches your interest. You are already eating a little bit. You have been intensely studying food since you were about 3 months old. So about two weeks later, I finally cracked and let you have your first taste of rice cereal. We have been eating it on a regular basis for about a month and a half now with some vegetables and a little bit of fruit. Unfortunately, I think the rice cereal has stopped you up a bit, which has put a bit of a dent in your "easy" baby routine. But we are trying our best to take care of that with a little bit of apple juice here and there. Also making that dent a little larger is the impending arrival of your first teeth. You will gnaw on anything you can get your hands on, and your mouth is a saliva fountain. I'm still waiting for the suckers to break the surface, but my nipples are in no hurry if you know what I mean! The other week, we gave you a lemon because we wanted to see your reaction. To our amazement, you made no reaction at all. You gummed that thing for as long as I held it in your mouth. I'm pretty sure the taste didn't compare to how the cool sponginess of it felt on your gums. You are also trying so desperately to crawl. When I put you down on all fours, you try to actually stand on your feet- so I'm starting to wonder if you are one of the kids who will crawl like a monkey. That would be pretty funny. Your brother crawled on his six month birthday- so I wonder if you might just take off today. You get pretty frustrated with it, though, and you're pretty vocal. So if you haven't figured it out by today, its because momma can't stand to hear you cry.
You love your big brother so much already. You are highly attuned to his voice, so if he makes a peep while you are sleeping, your eyes pop wide open. Whenever he runs around, your head follows him, so I have to make sure he doesn't run circles around you, which he occasionally likes to do. You like his hair too. Well, you like anyone's hair. To reach out, grab it and pull actually. I love to see the joy you get from this, but sometimes it causes my follicles much pain.
You are a big baby for your age. I regret to say that I do not know how much you weigh. Number one because I haven't been able to take you to your well baby check ups. You see there's this problem with our insurance...so... We're gonna get you on as soon as possible. Number two, we don't actually own a scale- so I can't figure it out that way either. But I figure you are around 22 pounds, and you're really tall. Your brother didn't weigh that much until he was 1 and a half! I really wonder if you will catch up to him and pass him up. ( To a degree, I think it would serve him right.)
The other day, you were scooting around in your walker, being enamored by your big brother. I was gone for a minute and he tipped you right over in it- making you clonk your head on our not so forgiving, tile floor. All I heard was a big thunk and then you started your, "I've been hurt by my brother" cry. Of course, I came running and gave your brother a whopping spanking and a rather loud talking to. You see, you are my baby, and I just love you so much. I can't bear the thought of someone hurting you in any way, even if it was just an innocent accident. So if for some reason, you turn out to be a momma's boy, you can blame me. Because I just love to hold you and cuddle you, and I want you to stay your cute little baby self forever. I'm kind of scared that you may be my last child, so I'm savoring every moment of your babyhood. (Something I wish I'd done better with your brother.) I'm also kind of scared that if I do have another one, they'll never measure up to how easy you are, and I kind of tend to think- why ruin a perfectly good thing?
And there's this thing with your eye. It's kind of droopy. But your daddy and I think that your other eye is just really wide. Anyways, I want you to know that it is not an ugly thing. It makes you very cute and endearing. Perfect little faces often get boring to look at after awhile anyways, so we embrace your imperfection.
I love you my little Beau-monster.
Love, Momma