I have been talking an awful lot about my training, and not nearly enough about my baby girl. Why? Well, quite frankly, because my baby gi
rl has been the theme of my daily life, and by training has become very very difficult. Between a twisted ankle and a long trip to Texas, tri training has been quite trying. Say that three times fast.
But what I notice as training becomes more difficult is that I don’t particularly mind. I feel so fortunate to have a healthy, beautiful baby girl that most everything else fades into the background. What started as a small blue and white image on the tv screen quickly became the most all-consuming little entity of my life. And my role was clear. Every day, all day, I was to feed, change, and bathe this little being. She counted on my wife and I for survival, for protection, to make it from one day to the next. Our job was essential, and though fulfilling, it was exhausting. But I must say that when my daughter turned about 6 months, she completely changed. She went from a baby in need of parents for survival to a baby that needed her parents to help her enjoy the world. The difference was palpable, as the (barely) controlled chaos of daily parenthood became, dare I say, fun.
Now she is beginning to develop a personality all her own. She is waking up bright eyed and bushy tailed in the morning, squirming with energy, ready to absorb all she can from the world around her. She can sit up now. She can pass her octopus toy from one hand to the next. She can lock eyes with those around her and make them melt into bubbly goo with her cute baby smile. She giggles at her reflectoin in the mirror, rolls from stomach to back, stomach to back, until she gets tangled in the chair, and is much more entertained by boxes than by the Christmas gifts they contain. She neither smiles nor frowns when taking a bath, lest she spare any mental focus that could be used to splash the water in daddy’s direction. She has started blowing bubbles, and even had a foray or two into solid food.
So, for all new parents out there, yes, the change is undeniable, but what you give up is nothing compared to what you gain. The joy of watching your child grow into a person, with likes and dislikes, opinions, habits, and idiosyncrasies all her own, far overshadows the independence and loads of free time you had to give up.
Has anyone else found this significant change at around 6 months? What are your experiences on watching your kids grow?
Filed under: growing up, parenting Tagged: | fulfillment, parenting
yes, yes, yes. It is so much better than the free time lost. I watch Dominic walk around with so much curiosity it makes me melt. The new thing for us is that he will grab a book, walk my way, hand it to me and climb into my lap for the story. Oh, and he sits still for the story.
Absolutely! Sometimes I feel like Dominic changes overnight while we aren’t watching. It truly is a fulfilling job that we have! Make sure to savor those first moments of wobbly sitting, the first attempts at crawling on hands and knees, because the 6-9 month phase is one that disappears fast as the little ones start walking!
It definitely gets cuter, but , to relate this to training (however indirectly), you’ll notice an increase in your “training” as soon as she starts walking. It’s a bit of a shift from an arm workout to an ab and back workout.
Im glad you agree! Ryan, that makes me melt just hearing about it. Our daughter will sit through maybe half a book, then try to eat it….
Renee, I know what you mean about the transition from being immobile to crawling and walking. Our little on is not yet walking, or crawling really, just rolling. You still have to watch where you put her down, lest she roll off the steps or out the front door. And yes, it is a lot of bending over to pick them up!
Do you two ever laugh when they look up, ever so innocently, as if totally unaware that our whole lives now revolve around them?!?!
We’re almost at the I’m-my-own-person-and-I-can-sit-up-and-entertain-myself-for-entire-moments-at-a-time stage with Gregory, and I’m looking forward to it with great anticipation, but I think the thing that has made me just smile the most recently is the sheer unadulterated JOY of Michael eating a popsicle (had to google how to spell that!) Ebullient (did NOT have to google to spell that!) exclamations of “It’s COLD!” and “It’s sweet!” and un-containable happy noises, and smiles and grins between licks, the first time, and the second time and the third time. It’s just amazing to see him sooo happy about something sooo simple, and yet so good.
[...] talked about the changes in what “parenting” entails when my daughter was 6 months old, and indeed, a year later, at about 18 months, the changes were again incredible and beautiful. So [...]