Happy 1/2 Birthday!

I told someone at work today that it is your birthday, your 1/2 birthday. They said "She gets a half birthday?" Yes she gets a half birthday!!!! This is an important milestone, for you and me, Khloe. Thankfully you have survived your first 180 days on this planet with me as your mom, and thankfully I survived it too (at times it seemed questionable). Together we have learned each other's ways and gotten to know each other's language and I'm proud to say, we're doing pretty well together.

A half year old already! What does six months mean? It means you're getting more determined to get the things you want just out of your reach, you love to try and play with the TV remote and anything your sister is playing with, your communication skills are expanding rapidly (just this morning you learned some new "cough" and "grunting" sounds that you were so proud of), you're eating three solid food meals a day, you are wearing 6-9 and 6-12 month clothing, you love to reach out and touch our faces, you wrap your arms around my neck and bury your face in my neck (I just lovelovelove this!), you love to play Peek-A-Boo, you drool and chew on everything, your good natured about everywhere we drag you to, and your sister still ranks as Number One in your world. Your sleep pattern is evening out a bit better and I'm just learning to adapt to less sleep. You take a one hour nap in the morning and a two-three hour nap in the afternoon and sleep twelve hours (to the minute - how do you do that?) at night. Doctor Sarah said I can't complain. But I'm tired constantly, so I do complain, but I guess she's right.

You had your six month well-baby appointment today. You are a healthy 16.5 lbs (60%, evening out from your monstrous birth weight), 23.5” long (90%) and your head measured 90^th or 95^th percentile. You've got a big noggin. Khloe, I wish I gave birth to tiny babies that grew bigger instead of giving birth to large babies that get smaller.

You're taking your time getting around to some developmental benchmarks; as of your appointment you had only learned to roll one way, from your back to your tummy. But that was soooo yesterday. This morning you rolled - FINALLY! - from your tummy to your back! Three times! I'm not even sure you knew what happened it happened so fast. I thought you would NEVER learn to do this Khloe. You also have yet to get up on your hands and knees and begin creeping. You're perfectly content with the immediate world around you. And why wouldn't you be? Your loving sister is by your side every minute of the day. There's nowhere else you need to be.

In no time at all you'll be eating your first bite of cake with an “I’m 1 today!” hat on your head. And in many ways, that makes me sad today. There are two commercials on TV right now reminding your Daddy and I of how fast these baby years fly by. Are they mocking us on purpose? Pretty sure of it. There's the Johnson&Johnson commercial called "Having a Baby Changes Everything" and the Google Chrome: Dear Sophie commercial. Maybe one day your Dad and I will be able to watch these without shedding a tear. Naw, probably not. Those marketers - oh, they're good - know they're tapping into our raw, emotional side by reminding us of the reality of how you'll be grown in the blink of an eye. So, let us cry now Khloe, and let us cry when you're 18 too. I'm just warning you now, we will. Having a baby does change everything.

A quote I came across the other day sums up this 1/2 year birthday moment nicely: “Today is a most unusual day, because we have never lived it before; we will never live it again; it is the only day we have." Happy ½ year birthday Love!

 Couldn't get you to smile!

Happy Halloween almost!