Baby Update: Six Months

My son turns six months old today. Amazing how time flies.

Heading into this big baby milestone, I feel pretty good about where we’re at. Adam is happy, healthy, and playful. He’s everything I wanted my child to be.

We’ve learned a lot about parenting the last six months, and we’ve had eight weeks of quarantine to really get to know our son.

The best thing I can say about Adam is he’s a happy baby. Like super happy. He smiles and laughs at the drop of a hat. It’s impossible not to be smitten.

Also Adam LOVES me. Obviously, I’m his father, but it’s pretty cool the way he lights up when I walk into the room.

Adam’s favorite thing is when someone gets right in his face. I don’t know what it is, but just leaning into his face really quickly makes him laugh and giggle and squeal.  He also loves playing with blankets. He’ll repeatedly pull one over his eyes, just to yank it off.

Adam has gotten quite adept with his hands, and he’s reached the stage where he puts everything into his mouth.

He’s still not really into solid foods. We’ve tried a few times, but he seems more confused than anything else. He does enjoy licking fruit like watermelon or papaya.

We’ve had lots of fun together, but a few scares too. A while back he fell off the bed when my wife and I were out of the room. He must have squirmed four feet across the mattress and I still don’t know how he did it.

More recently, I cut his thumb pretty bad with the nail clippers. He bled and cried and I felt awful. These things happen, I guess.

The whole Covid thing has been a bummer, and I wish I could take him out more. We spend 98% of our lives in the same three rooms, and I fear he’s missing out on more diverse stimulation. I’d love to take him down to the pool sometime, or go for a walk around the mall.

I’ve refrained from writing more about the coronavirus because I think we’re all just over it. Malaysia is into a third month of lockdown and we’re pretty much stuck at home all day.

They have started lifting a lot of restrictions, but we still can’t travel out of state. We really want to meet with family. It’s been two months and I wish they could see how much Adam has changed. I feel like he’s growing in leaps and bounds, but I can only show him off through video chat. As soon as travel restrictions ease, my Mom plans visit from the States. Fingers crossed.

Of course the time at home isn’t all bad. We’re hanging out more as a family, and cooking (mostly) healthy meals every day. I’ve been writing a lot (I’m working on a novel!) and generally trying to be more spiritual and serene.

My wife and I are both learning to let go of things we can’t control, while trying to make the most of those we can. That would be my advice to anyone who seeks it.

Other than that, we are riding it out just like everybody else. We have a lovely little boy at home, and this will all be long passed before he even knows what happened.

A few more facts about Adam:

• He hates pooping, but loves baths.
• He goes by the following nicknames:
  • Buddo
  • Buddo Jones
  • Drools Verne
  • Droolius Caesar
  • Atomic Dog
• He can’t crawl, but it’s hilarious to watch him try. He just ends up going backwards or spinning around.

Adam remains insanely cute. I’m sure I’m biased, but he really seems to have that special something. Some X-factor that makes you stop and say, “OK, that’s a cute baby.”

All in all, it’s been a great six months. I can only imagine what the next six will bring.

Happy (half) birthday, Buddo. We love you more every day.

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