Six months. I will say it again: SIX MONTHS!! Wow. Our little man is just getting so big so fast. Although, I think Marc said it best the other night when he said, "Part of me is thinking, 'Wow, he's already six months old?' and another part of me is thinking, 'Wow, we've only been doing this for six months?'." It really has been absolute whirlwind, and I don't want to jinx us, but I think we may be getting the hang of things finally. These last six months have definitely been an adjustment, but I think Erica was right when she said that parenting isn't necessarily hard, but there are some very hard moments. For the first few months I think we were just doing what we could to survive, but now that we are settling back into our lives I think it's really hitting us, like, oh, this never really ends does it? I remember having this feeling when we first got home from the hospital that at some point in time Roman would just go away, as though he were just visiting, and then Marc and I would carry on as usual. But as the days passed and things didn't get back to normal I realized what "permanent" really meant. Probably the funniest (or saddest depending on how you look at it) thing that I have had to come to terms with is that when I go to bed I am not going to get a full night's sleep, not yet anyway. I used climb into bed and get settled in and fall asleep around 11 pm or so like I used to do, and then just a couple hours later I would be woken up to the sounds of a hungry baby and just think to myself, "Well that was stupid Emily; you really need to go to bed earlier." But for months I would head to bed as though nothing had changed. But I can honestly say that things are getting easier now that everything doesn't seem so new and overwhelming. Every day Marc and I are working at becoming a better team, and every day we are impressed by all the new things that Rome can do.
What really still amazes me is how many times I still find myself just looking at Roman and realizing that he's mine. He's MY son. MY baby. Erin called the other day, and we were talking about Rome, and she said something something something "your son... do you know how weird it is to say that?" Yes, Erin. Yes I do. I wonder if that feeling will ever go away; I kind of hope it doesn't.
We went out and finally took some family photos today, and I think they turned out really well. We haven't really had the chance to take many pictures together, and usually I am not feeling put together enough when Marc gets home from work to take them. Rome looks like such a little man in these photos! I love it! I must remember to take these kinds of pictures more often.
Our six month old Roman: still loves his Barnaby; will give you kisses; can sit up by himself for short periods of time; can roll around his play mat to get to his toys; is constantly working on his baby-push-ups; can scoot around on his belly (he's so close to crawling); makes this really funny high-pitched noise when he's really happy or excited (sort of like AAAAEEEE-AAAAEEEE); likes making raspberries- all the time-, and depending on his mood, the intensity of the raspberry changes (so if he's upset it's a fast angry raspberry, but if he's happy it's a slower sweet raspberry); loves fruit; is obsessed with Millie and Brock; still loves to be dangled upside-down; is getting really good at talking gibberish: Ba, Ma, and Da; can hold up and drink from his sippy-cup all by himself; is starting to give hugs back, but in trying to hold on, he will pinch the fat on the back of your arms, so watch out! He's just getting so big, and it seems like every day he learns a new trick. I can only imagine what he'll be able to do next month.