My Dearest Jacob,

Today you are six months old and I absolutely cannot believe it. It seems like just yesterday that we were anxiously awaiting your arrival, wondering what you would look like and who you would be. I can honestly tell you that we did not even have a fraction of a clue how much we would love you until you got here. I think my heart doubles in size daily with you around. In honor of this milestone of a day, I figured that I could rattle off your current stats and compare your pictures from the past months, and even though I still may choose to do that later, I really wanted to write about who you are at this stage in your life. It's just as much for me as it is for you because I want to remember you exactly as you are right now. Sometimes when we're playing or I'm holding you I close my eyes for a moment and think to myself, "always remember this," and I am honestly not sure if I do remember all of those times. Only six short months have passed and I already have so many of those moments stored up, so by writing it all down I will be sure to not forget.

Jake, if you stayed six months old forever I would be one happy mama. Then again, I said that when you were my little "squishy newborn," and then again at months one through five. Around four months your little personality started to shine through and it gets bigger every single day. You are an incredibly active boy and you never stop moving. We call you our little wiggle worm (or just Wiggles for short) because you are absolutely incapable of sitting still. The only time we see you do so is when you're so completely worn out but don't want to go to bed for fear of missing anything. For some kids this would mean overtired fussiness, but for you it means a completely calm demeanor, your eyes slightly glazed over, and you just try and take everything in. Although, on extremely rare occasions, we have seen overtired fussiness, too. In general, however, I can probably count on one hand the number of cranky days that you've had (when Senor Crankypants makes his appearance) and in comparison to some tantrums I've seen from other little ones, I will take your crankiness anyday! You are an extremely happy boy 99% of the time.

Although I'm your mommy and therefore very bias, I do think you are just the cutest thing I have ever seen in my life. When people meet you they generally either comment on your beautiful blue eyes (where did those come from by the way?) or your great big smile. When you smile you use your whole face... even your eyes sparkle and both of those dimples show up. Oh how it melts my heart! And your laugh is my favorite noise in the world. Daddy makes you laugh more than anyone, but my favorite thing is when something just tickles you the right way and you just find it hilarious. I think you're going to have your father's sense of humor, but then again, you seem to take after him in almost every way possible.

Let's see, what else can I share? Oh yes, you are one determined little boy. When you were only 7 weeks old you rolled over the first time and you have not stopped trying to learn new things since. When you were 4 months old we were pretty certain that you would crawl any day, and when you got to the point that you could move your little hands, you accidentally figured out that you could sit up. After that, you lost all interest in crawling because you love your new trick so much. And it wasn't but a week after that when you began to try and pull yourself up on anything you can find... furniture, our legs, you name it. You still do your "inchworm" crawl (and quite quickly I might add) when you really want to get somewhere, but for the most part you spend your time sitting up and playing with whatever you can get your hands on. It's funny to me that you have so many toys, but your favorite things are cups and paper. Both of those things can entertain you for hours. Speaking of cups, you have already imitated us with how we drink from them and have no interest in the sippy cup; you would much rather drink from a big kid cup. I sometimes share my water with you, but you get just as much on your shirt as you do in your mouth. But you sure do love it! You also love to be outside, even if it just means sitting on the porch and watching the cars go by. You also love watching the puppies run around in the backyard and make several attempts each day to get your hands on them. So far they are much quicker than you are, but it won't be long before that changes.

Your appetite for life is only matched by your appetite for food (tha's my boy!)! So far you love everything you have tried. That list includes rice cereal, oatmeal, strawberry yogurt, peas, green beans, peaches, bananas, apples, squash, corn, cherries, strawberries, and a little nibble of a Dove chocolate bar, which you loved! Although you like everything, you seem to prefer the fruit and we think you might end up with mommy and daddy's sweet tooth. I wouldn't be surprised in the least, but you certainly are a kid who will not be having sugar much based on your energy levels! I have to be able to keep up with you somehow! You still wake up once in the middle of the night for a snack, but sometimes I wonder if it's really because you cannot possibly go that long without human interaction. You are such a people person (and a ham!) but you come by that honestly on both sides. I don't complain about getting up at night with you because I know that one day when you sleep consistently through the night I will actually miss it. It's our special time and I can never get enough of cuddling you!

Although I wish that you would stay little forever, I already know that you are going to grow up in the blink of an eye. Both of your parents were always a bit anxious for the next thing in life and you take after us both. You will fuss if we even attempt to hold you like a baby and you get frustrated if you cannot master something right away (hmmm... sounds familiar). I know that these qualities will bring you much ambition and success in life and that God is going to use you to do some big things in this world. I would say that I cannot wait to see how He uses you, but I very much can wait! In fact, every time you do something new I am a little bit sad, even though I am incredibly proud. It's just all happening way too fast for my liking.

Well son, I could go on and on and on for days without a doubt. You are already such a character and to describe you in words would fill up pages upon pages. I just wanted to do this so that a little bit of you would freeze in time since I cannot actually manage to make it stop. But before I end this letter, I especially want you to know that I have more love for you in this heart of mine than you can possibly imagine. Mothers try and tell their kids how much they love them, but it's definitely impossible to describe. I just hope that with every kiss, hug, cuddle, snuggle, and giggle we share you will see it and know that it's an infinite amount. And then one day when you have a kid of your own (let's not even think about that... I'm already in tears just writing about you being half a year old!) I know you'll understand. Thank you for giving me that gift. Aside from marrying your daddy, being your mommy is by far the greatest thing that has ever happened to me and the thing that I am the most proud of. I love you to the heavens and back.

Forever and ever (because that's how I sign letters to your Daddy),

Mommy

This is the perfect picture to capture you at 6 months... always on the move with places to go! You don't want to miss a thing!