Love letter to Owen on his 6 Monthday

Dear Owen,

I almost can’t believe that you are now my six-month old little boy. Time, if you are listening, please slow down….even if only a little. I saw a 1 month old baby at the pediatrician’s office recently, and seeing her gave me mixed emotions. It made me realize how big you are now, how fast you have grown, have much you have developed, and how amazing you are, but it also reminded me that you are not the tiny little infant I brought home from the hospital anymore. It’s like I blinked, and when I opened my eyes, you were ½ a year old! In your short six months, you have brought us so much joy. Your smile lights up our world, and when I see it, my day can go from bad to wonderful in an instant. You are such a good baby, and I find myself wondering what I did to deserve such a well-behaved little boy. You are almost always happy and almost always smiling. Of course you have your moments, when you are tired or when you are hungry. I know you are tired because you rub your ears and your eyes. Your first two teeth came in several weeks ago….and yes, you bit your mommy while nursing several times. Let’s just say it hurts! You are now an ounce shy of 17 lbs and you are 27.5 inches long, so you are growing perfectly. At your 6 month check-up, the dr. was impressed by your strength and said you were “strong like bull.” Although, that might just be lip service that he pays to all the handsome little babies. You were sick with your first real ailment—RSV—a couple weeks ago. While we were at the drs, you peed all over the changing table and the nurse said she had never seen so much pee from a baby before…way to go! I had to give you nebulizer treatments to help with the RSV, and it broke my heart every time. You were such a trooper, and even while you were sick, you were happy and in a good mood. You are now eating big boy food and you seem to have quite the appetite. You don’t like peas, but you gobble down sweet potatoes, carrots, butternut squash, apples, pears, and bananas. You are still nursing when I am with you, and I come to visit you every day at lunch. Besides picking you and your sister up after work, it is the highlight of my day. You sit up and play, and now you can pull yourself up when you hold on to my fingers—something you couldn’t do just 3 short weeks ago. You can even scoot a little, which is a precursor to crawling. You are developing by leaps and bounds, and it’s so fun to watch all the stuff you learn to do in such a short time.

Your big sister is smitten with you. She loves you so much. I know a day will come when you two will argue and fight, but always remember how good she was to you when you were a baby, and how much she enjoyed having you in her life. She sings to you, she helps feed you, she plays with you, she tells you she misses you when she doesn’t see you, and she always wants to hold you (sitting down of course). The two of you share bath time now, and last night you discovered how to splash your feet. It was too funny—I started off dry, but ended up covered in water! You think she is hysterical. When she dances, you crack up. When she plays silly games with you, you laugh. I have enjoyed watching the relationship between the two of you grow—at first you simply co-existed, but now you know who she is and enjoy her company. I know she will be a good role model for you, and I hope that the two of you are not only brother and sister, but friends as well.

You are the apple of your daddy’s eye. He thinks you are the coolest little guy ever. He loves spending time with you, and he helps take care of you just as much as I do. He gets up with you every single morning so that I can go back to sleep for a little bit. He takes you downstairs, plays with you, gets you ready for the day, and insists that you love to watch Sports Center. He even hums the Sports Center theme song to you, and pretends that it makes you happy. I think you are a little too young to get the concept of sports, but I’m guessing there will come a day when you are an addict like your daddy. Before you were born, he couldn’t imagine loving someone as much as he loved Isabella, but since the day you arrived, his heart doubled in size and there has been plenty of love to go around. You are proof that a parent’s love is limitless. I hope someday you realize how lucky you are to have a daddy who loves you as much as he does. There isn’t a single thing he wouldn’t do for you.

As for me, I have fallen head over heels in love with you. Every time I think of you, I am overwhelmed with love. I don’t care how cheesy it sounds. I love that I need you as much as you need me. I love that you comfort me as much as I comfort you. I love that my mornings start with you and that my evenings end with you. Simply put, I love everything about you. I love our special bond, and when you smile when you see me—there’s nothing like it. You are so precious while you are sleeping, and I continue to stare at you for what seems like eternity. I kiss your face all the time, over and over, and thankfully, I see no permanent damage yet! I’m sure I will make mistakes along the way, but just know that no one could ever love you more than me and daddy love you. I never imagined that the second time around could be so sweet. I have been doubly blessed with you and Isabella, and I look forward to writing you these love notes for years to come. Even when you are big enough for them to embarrass you. We love you sweet Owen—Happy 6 Monthday.