Six Months!

Sometimes I simply cannot believe that I have a child. A little human who relies on me for just about everything. Okay, everything. And to say that she's been here for 6 months already is nuts!
To say it was the "best" 6 months of my life would be an understatement. I simply cannot use a word that describes 7th grade camp or turtle cheesecake when summarizing the last half year.
To say it was exhausting and joyful at the same time or simultaneously terrifying, draining, fulfilling and delightful...might be more like it.
So, in lieu of a sappy post (we'll save that for when she's a year), we'll take a look back to see how much she's grown!

Darby used to love Charlotte. She prefers to have her own space now. My goal was to have a photo each month to show how big Charlotte was getting in relation to her dog, but Darbs won't have it.

This pretty much sums up the first month. She was not colicky, just fussy. I had to implement the 5 S's from Happiest Baby on the Block at least 5 times a day. But at least I had discovered what worked within the first month.

We started cloth diapers at 2 months. They were huge and hilarious.

Look how huge those leggings are on her chicken legs!

She started to get a little more fun at 3 months. But right when we thought we had the sleeping thing down, she threw us a curveball. And we didn't sleep for months.

Starting to look a lot more like Papa Elf Bear

Pudging out a little more! And being hilarious in general.

I won't lie about it. I like the pouty lip shots because it's the one time she sort of resembles me.

No teeth yet, but love to chew on just about everything.

Around 5 months she really started to get easier. She smiles all of the time, is a delight to be around (when she's not grunting her fool head off) and loves to play with toys.

Such a sweet, sweet girl.

Sitting up!

Laughing at Dad and looking exactly like him.

Life is good at 6 months.

If I hadn't carried her around in my giant belly for 9 months, you'd barely know the kid was mine.

I've really noticed lately how independent she is. I know that seems like an oxymoron...independent baby. I picture a diaper clad baby with a wide brimmed hat and satchel taking on the town...Think "Madeline" but squishier and smaller. Uh, anyway.

She's independent in the way that she sometimes prefers to play alone and holds her bottle by herself. I guess these are just little things, but it just makes me see that she can do a few things without the assistance of her hovering mother. Soon, she'll be choosing her own outfits and riding a bike...but today, she is still little. And there's nothing I can do to keep her this way. And dammit, I've made myself cry.