my dear ramona bean,

you gave me a helluva time getting good photos this month. you are moving and a-grooving. i couldn’t even make you smile bc you just wanted to stand and wiggle and scare me to death with your antics on the rocking chair. so, no more rocking chair.

you are an army-crawling machine! one day before you turned eight months old you got up on your hands and knees and did some “real” crawls but mostly you’re dragging yourself with your arms and pushing with all of your legs. it’s cute. and however you do it, you sure can get to where you want to. you’ve also started pulling yourself up onto low things. there’s a floor cushion/foot ottoman thingy we have and you snake your little belly and arms up onto that. and one morning last week i was taking a shower and you tried to crawl right in there with me. you also like to try and be like max by standing up at the couch or the coffee table. your legs are strong but you’re not entirely certain about the balance thing yet.

the fun surprise this month was the two little teeth that just seemed to pop up overnight. they suit your big-little grin so much, poking out from behind your lower lip. the buds arrived with little fanfare but something else in your mouth is sure making some commotion. you are obviously uncomfortable and your nose and mouth will not stop running (snot and drool, respectively). maybe your two top teeth are next?

also, suddenly, you seemed to show intertest in solid foods. we’ve reevaluated baby-food-making in the powerdriver kitchen and now just offer you whatever we’re eating. sometimes we mash it up or cut it into small pieces but you are just as content and skilled at scraping bits of fruit (apples and bananas and pears) off in your mouth from the larger chunk you hold. eating this way with you has encouraged papa and i to eat more whole foods — things we feel most comfortable offering your new, little belly. nona fed you almost an entire cup of kurdish lentil soup when we were visiting minneapolis. and you also gorged on pita and melitzana at anna’s. the night before we went to minnesota we went out for sushi with diri and dido and you ate everything we offered you including a teeny bit of wasabi!

the only things you absolutely won’t eat are applesauce (you crazy, lady) and anything pureed offered to you on a spoon. unless you have control of that spoon. avocado and peanut butter and the spicy tomato salsa from papa’s breakfast burrito at crema seem to be your favorite things this week.

you’re spunky. and i sense a little stubborn. you are spirited, extremely independent, and really tough. you are determined, content, and an excellent communicator. we are having so much fun.

love, mama.

see how she’s grown!: seven months, five months, three months, one month, one week.

ramona bean. beanie bop. dingle bat. minka moo. mo mo.

i love you.

you are seven months old! this has been a big month for you, my little army crawler. you are scooting all around using your arms to pull you across the floor. if you need to get somewhere, you can get there — there’s a lot more intention in your actions and i love seeing your determination. sometimes you will push yourself up to your knees but so far you haven’t figured out what to do next. your movement delights and terrifies me bc you are already pretty speedy with the uneconomical mechanisms of the grasp and pull. you are only going to get more efficient with your crawling. go girl go!

food is happening. eating, not so much. but we’ve been introducing different foods to you and are attempting to establish a lunchtime habit of calories from other sources besides me. banana, apple sauce, peas, sweet potatoes, turkey, blueberries, chicken wild rice soup. we’re really easing into this. next is peaches.

you’re not necessarily fond of these foods but i think that’s bc you haven’t quite figured out the whole eating and swallowing thing. you certainly are not a fan of apple sauce or turkey that your mother may not have added enough liquid to. but you certainly got a kick out of sweet potatoes and blueberries. you’re not always the most willing to let the food into your mouth either by spoon or your own hands. but we’re getting some of it in there. most of it ends up on your bib or in your neck rolls. we’re experimenting and it’s fun.

now that i’ve gone back to work one night a week, your papa and you get some extra special time together. i chose to try work out since the extra cash is nice and i was feeling like maybe i could use some more time outta the house — at a place that requires make-up and fancier clothes that i don’t typically get to wear bc of that whole need-to-be-able-to-acces-the-milk-machines thing. i was really nervous bc no one but me as ever put you down to sleep for the night and we didn’t even know if you would take a bottle of pumped breast milk. but your papa and i prepared for it and i pumped a ton and i got all dolled-up and kissed you both goodbye. i figured i’d come home late to an exhausted and screaming baby (and maybe papa), if i hadn’t received a desperate text before that. but i was all wrong: you chugged 5 oz of warm milk and passed out on your papa’s shoulder. no problem. he really is the best and that’s the last time i’m underestimating his ability to soothe you.

my minka, you are fantastic. it is encouraging to watch your growing independence (and baby body!) as you learn to figure out the world around you. and i love knowing that, when you need it, you are so confident that i am your homebase when you need a little loving and snuggling. you have strength — both physically and in your spirit. and there’s a warmness to your demeanor that will be so cool to watch develop as you learn more and get older.

i love you so much,

your mama

see how much she’s grown: six months, four months, two months, one week.

my dearest ramona bean,

you are so big and so strong and so happy and so curious! you are six months old now and papa and i cannot believe it has already been half a year since you arrived. somedays, it seems like just yesterday we welcomed you into our home, and yet other days we can hardly remember what it was like before you were here. you were meant to be with us.

you make sounds, lots of them: coos and giggles and squeals and squawks and a farting noise with your lips where spit gets on your chin (this one is your favorite) and this suck-in-your-breath-zombie-slash-robot-noise that makes me laugh so hard. it’s really cool hearing you find your own voice. soon, i’ve been told, this will turn into more coherent babbling (oxymoron?) and more syllables. just to be sure, we say “mama” and “papa” a whole lot, hoping you’ll catch on.

you have these giant blue eyes and you will stare people down with them. you’re not trying to scare people, you’re engaging them. but you are so intense about it that i can see people getting a little intimidated about a baby that looks like its peering into their soul. really. i love it. usually, if they stare back, you’ll break out in this ridiculous grin like it was all just one big prank. and those big, blue eyes (that surely come from me — wink, wink) are topped by two amazing, expressive, and undoubtedly-papa’s eyebrows. they’re papa’s because they make this curious scowl that is the spitting image of your father’s brow when either A) he does not have his contacts in or B) he is thinking about something intently and traversed into his own little world. you make this exact same face.

this month (christmas morning, to be exact!) you were able to sit up on your own. this has been a lifesaver for mama, especially when i’m handling both you and max during the week. this new strength has given you a lot more interest in the world around you. for a second there, you were starting to get really annoyed and pissed off that you were stuck on your back and could, pretty much, only roll in one direction and only from your back to your tummy. boring. but now! you can sit and stretch and grab and explore. and if you’re really feeling ambitious you’ll even find a way down from your newly found seat (fall to the side) and start rolling all around! our upstairs is now officially baby-friendly so i let you roll wherever you want. you’re fine until you get stuck under the credenza.

we’ve slowly started to broaden your food horizon. we’d like this phase to be one of exploration for you so we’re not pushing the solids too hard. but we have discovered that you are not a fan of apple sauce but will tolerate sweet potato. i wasn’t sure you were actually eating any of the sweet potato until i changed your diaper today and smelled and saw sweet potato. so yes, now i know you were ingesting some.

every night, when i nurse you to sleep and place you in your cradle at the foot of our bed, there’s a part of me that feels this sense of relief; that finally i get some time to myself, some time with papa. and i do relish this time. but then as i’m getting ready for bed, i cannot wait to be with you again. we’ve started putting you to sleep in a cradle so papa and i can have some snuggle time and actually stretch out in bed. and you are good with this until 10:30 or 11:00. but–and lately it seems this happens as soon as papa and i have climbed under the covers regardless of the time–you seem to know we are there and ready for sleep and let out your first little whimper. and so we wait a little to see if you will go back to sleep, which rarely happens, so we reach down and pull you up in between us and the three of us (sometimes it’s four if otto can sneak his way to the foot of the bed) have a cozy night together.

you are turning into quite the little lady, minka: exactly as i imagined but, at the same time, so much more than i ever could have. i’m so glad you are you.

love, mama

my dearest little bean,

 you are now five months old. time is flying by and i hardly recognize that teeny blob of a baby in photos from months past.

this past month was the hardest one for me as a new mama. you were sick once. and then, as you were getting better, you started teething and then got two vaccination shots. these changes seemed to send you over the edge again and you got sick. again. and then i got sick. and there is not much rest for a mama taking care of a little one. with your teething you had a slight fever, poor appetite, excessive drool and were quite irritable and not sleeping so well. this, of course, was compounded by the cough and plugged/runny nose that kept waking you up during naps and nighttime.

your sleeping habits up until this point had been amazing. so all of these changes really rocked papa and i. i wasn’t prepared for this change and i spent a little time worrying i was doing something wrong to make you feel like this. now papa and i realize that you are still growing and going through so many changes that, like most things in this life, it is just a season. some seasons just happen to be easier than others. and you know what, ramona bean? we’re happy to go through all of these things, easy or hard, with you.

and thank goodness for the wonderful people in our life during times like this. amy, after receiving a pathetic text from me, came over and hugged you close and sent me to my room so i could take a much-needed nap. i was happy for the rest and it helped a ton! you and i got better shortly after that. you are so loved by so many people.

you still go to bed like a champ. last night you even fell asleep at root down and stayed asleep for the entire dinner. mama and papa got a rare chance to dine and commune w family without having to rush home to put you to bed. but you are waking up so so early now. 3:39 AM and you are wide awake and happy as can be. sheesh. i do not know how to be wide awake and happy at 3:39 in the morning. silly girl.

but even with all these crazy sleep changes you are still the most charismatic and engaging baby. your smile takes up your whole face and you give it freely to most anyone. generally, (unless you are in need of a nap or a boob) you are easy-going, charming, and filled with glee. you have a little giggle. it seems to come out in the evening or anytime you are naked. papa and i call it the little fat boy laugh: a low laugh that’s sort of a chuckle. it’s adorable, really.

you continue to grow long and, well, chunky. you are still in the 90th percentile for everything and we see that as a very good sign that you are healthy and thriving (as if we needed numbers to notice that). you have rubberband wrists and ankles: your healthy fat folds over into the most delicious rolls and your arms and legs look like sausages.

you’ve discovered your feet and toes (who knew you’d be able to reach them with all that chub!). you grab at the bows on your socks and hang on to your feet with both hands like a monkey, rocking around on your padded diaper butt. this gives mama a helluva time trying to change your diaper or clothes. it cracks me up really.

you exhibit a lot more independence  and comfort in being away from me for longer periods of time. previous months i had to wrap you up snugly to keep you happy when out and about. now you are fine to ride alongside max for long walks in the stroller. you even fall asleep in there sometimes! also, it doesn’t faze you to be passed around from friend to family member to regulars at the shop. you are content to be in most anyone’s arms. it’s really been a slow but natural progression to have you less and less attached to me at all times. and humbling too. i know i’m still your world but you’re discovering that there are many more people and things besides me and i–so soon, too soon!–am learning to be ok with your explorations and acquainting yourself w the bigger picture. after you’ve been “away” from me–be it a nap in the swing or being snuggled up with someone else–i love nothing more than to cuddle you in close and wrap you up. i always will. stop growing up so fast!

silent night, holy night

all is calm, all is bright

round yon virgin mother and child

holy infant so tender and mild

sleep in heavenly peace

sleep in heavenly peace

love, mama