Dear Ingrid,

Today you are a whole half-year old. We can hardly believe it!  It seems like the last 6 months have flown by…. and that they’ve lasted forever. I can hardly believe that my little Buggy-Girl is you, and that you are so wonderful.

This month, you started to sit up on your own, really well. Of course, now that you can sit up, you have no interest in lying down or rolling over, so we figure you’ll go to college at UM and one of us will come by at night to turn you over when you need it.

You also started solid foods. We still aren’t sure what you think of those — you’ll eat them, but every spoonful makes your face wrinkle in a manner that clearly says "what the hell is that?" but you continue to open for a few bites.  I took pictures of you, just before your first cereal, though, because I can hardly believe that my body has brought you from 2 cells, dividing, to this laughing, happy, wonderful baby that I have today.  I wanted to document the little rolls and your ‘spare knees’ and those big soft cheeks, just ripe for the kissing.

We’ve settled into a nice little life, the three of us. Every day, Daddy comes home at lunch to see his girls, and after that you and I usually do something — go to Target, or the post office, or to the grocery store. We go to Mother Goose every Wednesday morning, and that is a highlight of the week. We like to sit near Jackson, and this week we cheered him on as he practiced his lurching crawl. On Fridays, we usually go to baby massage, where the mamas talk and the babies look at each other, and sometimes, babies get massaged.

Tomorrow, though, you start at the university daycare so that I can finish my master’s degree. I’m nervous (they have your crib on the lit, baby filled, playside of the room, and I worry that you’ll never sleep with that view!) as I should be, but I think you’ll be fine. I worry that they’ll overfeed you, or mess with your sleep, or just ignore you for no good reason. That’s fairly irrational, but I DO know that once my degree is finished, I’ll be about 90% less anxious in general, and that will be good for all of us.

Your first thanksgiving is this week, and grampy will be letting us borrow the good camera to capture it. Grammie bought you a winter dress, and we’re going to take some photos for a New Year’s card, and I know that by the time those get sent, you’ll be a newer version of yourself, again. Every month, every week, every day you evolve and change and miraculously get even better than before. It is amazing to watch.

I am so lucky to have had you all to myself for six months, so, so lucky. And I will be so happy to see you tomorrow afternoon — your two bottom teeth, your open-mouthed grin, your little hands waving in the air as you pant with excitement.

I love you, Ingrid!

Love, Mama