Happy half-birthday, Christopher Luke! Loving you for the past six months has been one of the greatest joys of our lives. How we are already in the second half of your first year of life, I have no idea, except that time truly does fly when you are having fun. And we most definitely have fun with you! Here are some of the ways you have grown this month:

• You have taken off this month and are now crawling everywhere. You still occasionally like to be on hands and feet, or sliding on your tummy, but most of the time you are crawling on hands and knees – and fast! Your favorite things to crawl toward are the internet cords along the wall in the living room, the patio door (trying to go out?), and the bookshelf of all your sisters’ books!
• You figured out how to get from a crawling position to a sitting position this month. You are very fast at it and seem so proud of yourself. You will often put both hands up in the air and look around to see if anyone saw you!
• You will sometimes stay in that sitting position for a while playing with your toys, but if we take our eyes off you for a second, you make a break for something you’re not supposed to have! When you do play with your toys, though, your favorites are your hedgehog (ezis), crinkle books, and Christopher taggie.
• You officially outgrew your Moses basket this month – and of course it happened while Daddy was at camp for a week. One day you just rolled over in the basket and got up on your hands and knees and it was clear that if I gave you another minute, you’d be out of that thing. So I had to figure out how to put your crib together all on my own! But I did it successfully, and you’ve been sleeping now in the crib for several weeks. You really seem to like having the extra space and sleeping on your tummy (which you couldn’t do in the Moses basket). You still wake up a few times a night, but it’s sweet snuggle and nursing time and I know you’re only little once. You are, however, taking 2-3 pretty good naps each day!
• Along with outgrowing your Moses basket, you’ve also almost outgrown your bassinet pram. We’ve still been taking you for walks in it, but we can’t leave you unsupervised or I am sure you could find your way out of it. We need to get out the big boy seat part with the seatbelts soon, but I’m not sure I’m ready to say goodbye to the pram just yet.
• While you haven’t tried any foods yet, we did go ahead and buy you a high chair from IKEA. You have really enjoyed sitting with us at the table and playing with toys while we eat. You do like to throw your toys down and see which of your five admirers will be the first to pick them up for you! Actually, your favorite thing at the table is when we sing the doxology before we eat. You put both hands in the air and get the biggest grin on your face and sometimes even try to sing along!
• You went to church camp for the first time this month and did great! You were so flexible with the crazy schedule and sleeping all over the place and sitting (mostly quietly) for meetings, and being passed around to different people all the time. You really are a charmer, and everyone adores you.
• You are really enjoying figuring out all the different sounds your voice can make. Your favorites are Ma-Ma, something that is getting pretty close to Da-da, squeals, and blowing bubbles. You also have a funny little trick where you use your forearm to make a “ba-ba-ba” sound on your mouth.
• I’m afraid our silly little nickname for you has stuck – “Fiņš” (pronounced Feensh)! You respond to it just like you respond to Christopherand Kristofers.
• You love playing with Daddy and have just recently figured out how to grab his glasses. You also like to grab his bearded face in both of your hands and pull him toward you for big slobbery kisses. You do this with Mommy and your sisters too, but it’s more fun with Daddy!
• You have gotten quite giggly and ticklish this month. You will just laugh and laugh and laugh when we do silly things with you. You really are the happiest baby and we just can’t get enough of you.
• You just had a doctor’s appointment and you are almost at the 19 pound mark. You are a big boy! You really surprised the doctor when you just sat up on the table while she was examining you. She wasn’t expecting that!
• It seems like you may be outgrowing any food sensitivities that you may have had, for which Mommy is very thankful! We are looking forward to trying some foods this next month!

Christopher boy, what a wonderful first six months of life we’ve had with you! Your snuggles, your joy, your laughter, and your excitement were just what our family needed in this season of life. We love you with all of our hearts.

Love,

Mommy and Daddy