A letter

Dear Sophie,

Today you are 6 months old. You are such a joy. I can say that now, now that you enjoy the company of people who don't have to shove a boob in your mouth every hour. And that includes me. Sometimes you will even go three hours without insisting on being fed. You've always been great while we were out, you can go ages and ages without eating, but if we were just hanging out at home you were insistent upon eating almost constantly. Which, you know, kind of drove me crazy. There is something to say, however, for being the love of one's life. I wonder how much longer that will last.

Not long judging by the smiles your daddy gets now. Tonight when he was reading the Herald-Sun online you stood on the sofa looking at him and calling out and laughing every time he responded to you. God, your laugh. If I could bottle that laugh, I'd be rich. Who doesn't love a baby laugh?

So what can I tell you about you at six months?

You are trying so hard to crawl, you are doing pushups and falling back on to your stomach. You give it a go for a bit and then you go back to rolling everywhere. You love your toys, but mostly you love Saoirse's weebletown. You press the button to make the things spin around and then put down the little weeble and try to catch it. You've figured out that if you put your hand on the discs you can stop them from spinning. Take your hand off and they go again. You can do this over and over for a good 15 minutes and it never fails to amuse you.

You have discovered the joys of food. Farley's rusks, arrowroot cookies, jars of fruits, rice cereal, toast, you love them all. But avoid the carrots, not only do you hate them, but there's a big orange stain on the highchair table. I can't leave the bowl on table otherwise you dump it all over yourself. And did you know blueberries stain clothes? Something terrible, actually. One of your onesies looks like you rolled around in mud.

Saoirse adores you. Every night before she goes to bed she gives you kisses, and it has to land on your mouth, so she will give you kisses until it does and a big hug, which is really just her touching her head to yours with an "aaahhh." She plays with you pretty well, except for when she tries to move you and decides to do it by using your head. She did give you your first sleigh ride today, which I am sure you would have enjoyed but she kept stopping to make sure you were okay. "Okay, baby? Are you okay?" Taylor and Liam are also great with you, and love to get your big smiles. It's your daddy where we are seeing the most improvement though. You used to cry whenever he held you, but now you will willingly go to him, even putting out your arms.

You look a lot like Saoirse, but your hair is a bit darker. You have the exact same eyes, the light blue of Daddy's surrounded by my dark blue. You also have Daddy's slightly wiry eyebrows so a tweezer will be an important part of your life. I don't see me in you at all, but some people say you have a bit of Liam about you so there must be a bit of me there. You have your two bottom teeth, which you have used once or four times or so to remind me that you are eating. As if I could forget. They make you look like you are growing up and I am sort of regretting wanting those first couple of months to speed up.

Sophie, you make every single day such a pleasure. Unexpected gifts are always the best.

Love you lots and lots,

Mummy.