First {Half} Birthday!

Libby is six months old today.  Half a year.  Already. Wow!  Where is 2010 going?  I cannot believe that six months ago we had this little, tiny newborn girl and today she's a big, healthy baby getting ready to crawl!  She's developing SO fast!  In the past month she's learned to sit unassisted, is grabbing at EVERYTHING, scooting to get what she wants, reaching for people and pets, tasting food and |thisclose| to saying "mama."  She also continues to teethe like crazy and still, no actual teeth are in sight! Poor little.  She's fiercely independent.  And extremely curious.  She's also got a hot temper and a silly sense of humor.  She just loves to laugh!  And squeal.  Loudly.  What can you expect?  She's the daughter of two opera singers!

I can barely remember our life before Libby...isn't that weird?  I mean, we've been together almost nine years, so obviously there was a lot of life together before she came along.  But these past six months...I don't know...it's as if our life together before her seems like ancient history now.  And sure, we can get caught up in the day-to-day stuff like, "Did she poop today?" and "We need to wash her diapers" or "What time did she go down for a nap?" and "She needs new clothes, these ones are too small!"  but through it all we are so in love with our baby girl.  And more in love than ever with each other.  Watching her grow and change these past six months is nothing short of amazing.  What a miracle a new life is.  And how blessed are we to be her parents?  She has made our lives so much richer. 

I know that these next six months will fly by as fast as the first and soon we'll be celebrating her first birthday.  Wow.  And to think this time last year she was about the size of a plum!  Now?  She's a tall girl already...I figured she would be since I am 5'9" and her daddy is 6"3'. She's headed into size 24 month clothing.  I am not kidding.  Her 18 month size things are getting quite snug, both in length and width.  I doubt we'll be finding any cutesy item that says "Baby's First Christmas" in her size come December.  I try to find things that fit but are age-appropriate...especially developmentally appropriate.  She's not even crawling yet, so we need things that allow her freedom of movement and aren't binding at the waist...not an easy feat when most things her size are styled for toddlers.  Luckily, it's still hot so she wears one-piece bubble rompers or onesies most of the time right now.  When it turns cooler, I hope she'll fit into the one-piece Carter's outfits we have for her in 24 months size.  After that?  I suspect she'll be wearing 3T, which means no more diaper-friendly snaps in the crotch.  Oh boy.  Maybe once she starts crawling she'll slow down a bit on the growing, but I doubt it. And I think Santa need to bring this girl a basketball hoop.  Seriously.