To Tye, at 7 months

Dear Tye,
As each week passes, you grow so much.  Just this past week, you almost mastered sitting up on your own, which allows you to engage in the world around you in all new ways.  You're reaching further for things, and as you figure out how to move towards those toys that are out of your reach, you'll be crawling before we know it.  

The past month was full of firsts for you- your first trip to the zoo, where you loved the jaguar and flamingos, but the other kids most; your first visit to the aquarium, where you watched the fish swim through the water, but were most excited by other children; your first swimming lesson with GG in her pool; your first babbled consonants, strings of b's and d's and g's; your first jog in the stroller; your first street festival with Mama and Daddy.  You have such a relaxed, easy-going personality that you accept all these new experiences with a smile, as if you've done this all before.  So often, the big "first" is actually ours, as we celebrate our first time doing something old with our new family, through new eyes.  


Today was another first, just in time to celebrate your 7 month birthday.  You took your first bath sitting up.  With your new motor skills and core strength, you splashed away, hitting the water with your open hands and kicking your legs back and forth.  You are truly a water baby.



When I hold you, you still feel tiny and fragile in my arms, and yet you take up a great deal more space now than ever before.  I promised myself once that I wouldn't forget what it was like to hold a newborn, as other moms exclaim they have when they see a tiny baby.  I wouldn't say I've forgotten, but you still feel so tiny to me that I have a new understanding of that phrase.  How can you be so small, but have been so much smaller in the past?  


These have been the best seven months of my life.  I love you, love you, love you, love you.


Love, 
Mama