5 months

it's hard to believe that i am someone's mother. it's even harder to believe that i was so scared to become a mother, and yet it's come very naturally to me. it's even harder still to believe that my son is 5 months old today. in some ways, time has flown, and, in other ways, i feel like it was yesterday that ryan and i lounged around a hospital room all day waiting for "the moment" to come.


wil is a complete joy. i look back at pictures of that first week and hardly recognize the little baby that he was then. he has become such a personality - a true character with an already defined comedic and mischievous streak. i won't pretend that those two things, especially in combination, don't frighten me a little bit! denise has said for years that her greatest joy with her kids started around the 5th or 6th month. i now understand why. if you are a parent you know...they suddenly come to life and it is a joyful thing to behold.

at his last doctor's appointment wil weighed 18.6 lbs and is 27 inches long. the doctor told me that he thought wil was going to be "really tall" and i wondered if it was his height or his huge hands and feet that gave it away. he continues to be in the 90% for growth and i am worried that he'll be eating us out of house and home before too long. (look for two skinny parents and a hearty, growing boy in the near future!) i am continuing to make all his food and have found it to be fun and educational. he loves fruits, sweet potatoes and chicken and finds all things green to be so-so. as true testament to his loyalty for both ryan and me, he chokes it all down with a smile, even when some things (peas) trigger his gag reflex.


in the last few weeks he's found his feet. faye often asked me if he'd "found his feet yet" and i never truly realized what she meant by it. i am picking up socks left and right these days and am amazed that he can actually get his toes in his mouth! teeth appear to be next and i suppose the sky is the limit beyond that. he can just almost sit up on his own. he makes it for a few seconds and then topples forward but never goes all the way down anymore. he wants to be good at everything on the first try and gets super frustrated when he can't move a bead from here to there, or pick up a ball, as quickly as he'd like. he loves music, especially singing, and is showing a keen interest in books (yea!) - especially putting them in his mouth - which i think means he's going to gobble up books as quickly as his mom.


he absolutely adores our animals, especially stone, who he finds hilarious. she is very patient with him when he pulls her ears so hard that she goes cross eyed; however, she seems hurt by his big belly laugh at the sight of her. (even cats have body image issues these days!) he chatters with her incessantly, more so than to either ryan or me, and we find it charming. maybe he is a cat whisperer of some kind...


all of this is simply to say that we adore our son. he is an amazing gift that gives us more joy, more love and more hope than we ever thought possible. we are grateful for his good health and for the fact that he seems so happy and content. i am thrilled to have him here, cannot believe i was ever scared and cannot imagine my life without him. i am overjoyed to celebrate him today - happy 5 months wil!

for more pictures from april, click here.