Dear Jonathan,
You are officially half-way through the first year of your life! It's so amazing how you have changed my life in so many ways... sometimes its hard for me to remember that there was a time before you were born. (I am holding you as I write this and after writing that last sentence, I look down to see that your diaper has just leaked on me. And then as I proceed to lift you up to inspect the damage to my pants, you spit up on me... yay, motherhood!)
Even in this last month, I am amazed by your many physical accomplishments. You have become quite accurate in reaching and grabbing any item that you may desire. You have yet to crawl, but somehow you always manage to scoot yourself to new far off places... I can no longer leave you alone! About a week ago, you learned to sit all by yourself. This new-found ability really makes you look like a "big boy".
You are becoming more and more animated. You take great pleasure in delighting everyone around you with your smiles, squeals, and, most recently, nose wrinkles. I can see your sense of humor developing as you make faces at me that you know will make me laugh.
You have expanded your food repertoire from just cereal to bananas, apples, pears, squash, peas, carrots, and sweet potatoes. Your favorite food is the pears, but you despise the peas. You wrinkled up your entire face and spit them all back out onto me. However, you don't realize it yet, but I have been secretly mixing them in with your cereal to get you to eat them.
You are quite the problem solver. One of our favorite games to play with you is "Where's the Baby?" Daddy throws a blanket on you and you used to kick and move your arms until you triumphantly emerged from underneath. However, you have now discovered that it is much more efficient to simply roll over and allow the blanket to fall off of your face. Despite the expedited process, you appear to be equally pleased with yourself. You seem to have quite a solid grasp on cause and effect. You love to drop items, lean over to see where they land, and then wait (not so) patiently for me to pick them up and hand them back to you only to repeat the process again. And again. And again.
It still melts my insides every time you smile at me. But this month, you finally did what my heart has been craving for- you reached for me! I love that you stretch your arms forward towards me as though I am the one person in the world that can make everything right for you. Daddy is still your favorite person to play with, but I relish the fact that when you want to cuddle, its Mommy that you want.
Everyday I take at least one moment to stare into your beautiful face, and I become so overwhelmed by my intense love for you, my son. And then I remember that God loves you even more than I do- and it is just too much for me to comprehend. I cherish every minute that God has given me to be your mom. I cannot think of a more wonderful calling. You are so precious and so valued and I can hardly wait to see in what ways you will continue to amaze me over the next six months. I love you so so much!
Love,
Mommy
