In what will be the first of golden birthdays for Mr. Barrett, today, on the sixth, we celebrate six months of his fantastic existence. It has been a whirlwind of emotions and experiences but here are the top 6 things I know now that I did not know six months ago:
1. You can make it through life without food, sleep, showering and cheese. What you cannot live without when these things are lacking are the love of your family and the support of your friends. Having Barrett has made me realize just how lucky we are to have such a ridiculously fabulous group of friends and amazing family members.
2. Having a babe will leave a lasting impression on your heart. It will also leave a lasting impression on your body. I won’t get into it… I will simply say, hopefully by year 1 things are back to the norm.
3. Throughout the first year of your babe’s life, you have a get out of jail free card for just about anything. You don’t want to go to a birthday party — it’s cool, you just had a baby. You don’t want to shave your legs for two and a half weeks — understandable, you just birthed a human. Your house is a wreck — no worries, you have a fresh infant. I am biding my time with this one… hoping it never runs out.
4. Seeing your baby smile, roll over, grab at his paci, squeal with delight … all of these things will mean more to you than what’s on CNN or Fox News. When you have a baby, you become obsessed with life on a micro level and the macro issues seem less and less important.
5. You will dislike people who do not seem thrilled with your baby and enchanted with those who do. Even people who you never really knew prior or you didn’t really think were your type of people can easily win you over with love for your child. Those who could seem to care less… well, you care less about them.
6. You will absolutely never regret having a baby. I can honestly say, I feared while I was pregnant that I may regret the choice to get pregnant when we did… I feared that I may think I should have waited, that I may long for the former life I lived. I’m not being ridiculous and saying that I don’t miss things I used to do but not once … even through the sleepless nights, the countless hours of breastfeeding, the dietary changes and the screaming… I’ve never thought “wow. this would be better if it didn’t happen”. We just love Barrett so intensely and we feel so connected to this little man, I cannot possibly fathom never having him and if we had taken on parenthood at any other time, we wouldn’t have had our Barrett.
We will visit Dr. Dek for B’s appointment next week for the true test but until then, I believe he is right on par with most 6 months old outside of his weight and length. He’s mr. roly poly these days, rolling all about… he smiles, giggles, coos and ah-goos with regularity… he’s grasping, grabbing, pulling and batting at all things within (and even some out of) reach… he loves to stand and sit with assistance, spend time on his front and back and of course bounce and dance like a crazy man. Barrett Brehm is an absolute delight to be with and is by far the cutest baby we’ve ever had.
Hard to believe six months have come and gone and it is truly a reminder to take a breath, relax and enjoy the gift of having this little precious peanut as our very own. Happy six months, Double B… every single day gets better and better!
