Six months with H in through the looking glass.

How fast he is changing now.

We kept finding him with one arm pulled up out of the swaddle, bent at the elbow with his hand on the back of his head, posing like a model. When we stopped swaddling his arms, he slept instead with both arms splayed straight out, and stayed that way through his time with the thick, full-body sleepsuit we dubbed “the Marshmallow.” Now when we lay him down he rolls to his side, or sometimes his stomach, pacifier firmly clutched in both hands.

We started doing a regular bedtime routine right after he turned three months old. He loves it. He smiles and bounces in anticipation of every step - getting undressed (his “favorite state of being”), the massage, the transition into his sleepsuit, reading books, laying down in his crib as we recite the Shema with one of my hands over his eyes as the other strokes his head. He puts himself to sleep every night, usually without any tears.

He rolled to his side first, his arms often outstretched, reaching for everything. I was so worried I would go back to work and miss seeing him roll over for the first time, but he did it the last week we were home together, on my birthday, as I was describing that very worry to another parent. He went, surprisingly, from back to front, and was slow to learn the other, easier way because he was so happy to be on his stomach, to “swim” with arms and legs flapping, and eventually to rotate in circles with his arms lifting and turning as his feet anchored. Now he will set each arm down in front of him and drag it back across the floor, over and over, deep in concentration, trying to will himself to inch forward toward a coveted toy.

He seems to favor picking things up with his left arm, but kicks more vigorously with his right leg when he’s excited. He loves to stand, to grasp his toes, to roll over and over and over. He recently started sitting up and seems to really enjoy it, but is still wobbly enough to need a constant spotter.

He now delights in gurgling, squealing, and copying us as we make motorboat noises. He is hilariously skilled at seeking out a patch of my skin to make raspberries on again and again.

The freckle on his arm grows ever bigger and darker. Everyone seems to comment on his long, thick eyelashes.

He’s still calm and observant. Our “Zenry.”

When we strap him into a carrier, he will often just look around around quietly, even when we try to engage him otherwise.

He reaches, both arms outstretched as far as they can go, for everything, and he loves to scratch at new textures.

At around four months he started watching the water glass as I brought it to my lips, and would even twist himself in my lap to reach out for it with both arms. I eventually let him have it, and now he loves to grasp the glass in both hands as he gums the edge.

He stares deeply into our eyes now, especially from under the cover of the baby carrier when he’s supposed to be napping, or to take a big, gummy pause to smile at us before voraciously jumping back into nursing.

We traveled to: New York NY (via Amtrak, to visit family for the Seders), Dallas TX (to visit family), New Orleans LA (for a friend’s wedding), and Berkeley Springs WV (for the annual Shavuot retreat with the minyan).

What else? E. and S. still love him. S. invokes “BB Henny” in his family’s daily roll call and E. loves to give him monster hugs that topple us all over. He started going to daycare at David’s office right at four months, and they all love him there too. I still try to make it to library storytime whenever we can; we both enjoy the singing and play. We moved from a one-bedroom to a two-bedroom unit in the same building right before he turned six months. He likes to look at himself in the mirror; a lengthy discussion about “baby in the mirror” and what he’s up to today is a great way to cure a bout of fussiness. But the best way I know to calm him is to sing to him, especially in Hebrew.

Last updated July 22, 2019