six

Six months. 

Half a year. 

To take the words right from every mother's mouth... HOW? I feel like I was holding her limp little newborn body folded in half on my chest just moments ago, but I also cannot for the life of me remember my days without her either. We met our girl six months ago, and boy have we grown. 

She is 14 pounds and 15 ounces. And 26.5 inches long. 

She is now a sturdy, lively little girl. Sitting up with strength. Lunging toward whatever she wants with vigor. She can "walk" while we hold her hands. She recognizes the words "hungry" and "nigh nigh" and responds with an excited whimper to both. She is starting to know what "no" means, too. She also recognizes my mother's voice (specifically when singing "You Are My Sunshine.") Anabel's grin is gigantic whenever she sings to her, and it is such a sweet thing to witness. Anabel taught herself peek a boo, and how to wave, although her waving doesn't mean what our waving means. She said goodbye to California, her first home, dog, and the first people who met and loved her this month (which was far harder on I than her). She road tripped with us across Nevada into Utah and is surrounded by family and snowy mountains for the next couple of weeks. She takes awhile to warm up to new faces, and will squeak for a few moments, but is slowly learning that it is fun to be the center of attention. Seeing her flirt with my father and grandfather is something I will remember for the rest of my life. 

Anabel likes food. She still loves mama's milk, but we started letting her taste little bits of things at the tail end of her fifth month, and we haven't looked back. She has loved everything she has had, and has only made faces a few times. As of right now she has tasted blueberries, raspberries, avocado, bananas, carrots, squash, pumpkin, peaches, mango, clementine (juice), green beans, zuchinni, potato, peas, grape (juice), apple, and most recently rice cereal. She is a water fanatic and wants sips from our cups constantly. And ice in her teether.

Speaking of which, she has a TOOTH. After many feverish, sad nights (in our temporary housing, no less), and a lot of chewing, the top left tooth finally peeked through. She's still working on a couple more, I think.

Our lady is feisty, demanding, and determined. She is brilliant, bold, and so dang funny. She communicates so clearly. Her feelings are always written all over that sweet face of hers. I find myself thinking "I love her, I love her..." so often throughout our days together. I cannot wait for the next six months... six years... six hundred years of knowing her.